DermHelpCentral

Tanning "Parlor" Wars

F.D.A. Proposes Ban on Indoor Tanning for Minors to Fight Skin Cancer (This article appeared in the December 19^th 2015, NY Times)

“The Food and Drug Administration on Friday proposed barring everyone under 18 from using tanning beds, a sweeping move that medical experts say is a major step toward reducing the risk of skin cancer in the United States.”

The incidence of melanoma has been steadily rising over the past two decades. Importantly, as this article states, “death rates [from melanoma] have not gone up, however, a testament to earlier detection and better treatment.” This may not be a result of early detection and treatment, but because pathologists are calling lesions melanoma that would not have been labeled as such in the past (diagnostic drift) or because melanomas that are stimulated by artificial UVL behave less aggressively than melanomas that are caused in other ways.

Demonizing “tanning parlors” may well be attacking a soft target. Still, we agree that regulating the use of artificial tanning facilities, especially for minors (who appear at increased risk) is prudent. Thinking that this is based on good science, may be off the mark.

Tanning Addiction

Jane Brody had a recent column in the NY Times on new studies which indicate that some people may actually be addicted to natural or artificial tanning.  The focus is on tanning salons which are more easily accessible to the public.

Here's an excerpt.
"Dermatologists express great frustration with their seeming inability to deter tanning behavior, particularly among adolescents and young adults, who are most at risk for the ill effects from these otherwise life-giving rays. There are many explanations for this failure, including the widespread belief that people look better (read healthier and perhaps thinner) when they are tan. This notion has helped to foster the multibillion-dollar indoor tanning industry, supported by some young patrons as often as 20 times a month.  But in recent years, another explanation has emerged for which there is now considerable scientific support: the idea that exposing one’s skin to UV radiation has addictive potential. As with alcohol, not everyone who is exposed becomes dependent on the sun. But there are enough UV abusers — one in five college students, perhaps half of beach habitués and 70 percent of indoor tanners, according to various studies — to warrant a new medical diagnostic category: tanning addiction.

The full article is worth reading.