Cancer-Kissed Skin
Attention, teens and twenty-somethings! Doctors have a lifesaving health warning for you: You could have deadly skin cancer right now and not even know it.
That’s because a new study found that a record number of young people are developing deadly melanoma. And experts say it’s because teens are addicted to the sun-kissed glow they get from tanning beds.
Researchers from the Mayo Clinic compared melanoma diagnoses among young people from the 1970s and from today.
The result? The number of young people diagnosed with melanoma has jumped sixfold. And doctors warn that melanoma is the deadliest type of skin cancer since it rapidly spreads throughout your body. But experts say that even though a lot of young people know that tanning is dangerous, that’s not stopping them from hitting the tanning salon. In fact, because most salons offer unlimited packages, a lot of customers go tanning several times a week – and sometimes every day to get their money’s worth. But doctors warn that tanning beds give off 7 times more radiation than you get from the sun.
That’s because tanning beds darken your skin with primarily UVB rays, which are the ones that cause the most damage.
Right now, lawmakers are trying to make it illegal for teens to use tanning salons, saying that they’re just as deadly as smoking cigarettes.
In the meantime, the number one thing dermatologists say you can do to slash your risk of developing melanoma is to never go tanning. You may think dark skin makes you more attractive. But doctors say tanning ages your skin by 20 years. So embrace your natural shade, it works for “Twilight’s” Edward and Bella.
That’s because a new study found that a record number of young people are developing deadly melanoma. And experts say it’s because teens are addicted to the sun-kissed glow they get from tanning beds.
Researchers from the Mayo Clinic compared melanoma diagnoses among young people from the 1970s and from today.
The result? The number of young people diagnosed with melanoma has jumped sixfold. And doctors warn that melanoma is the deadliest type of skin cancer since it rapidly spreads throughout your body. But experts say that even though a lot of young people know that tanning is dangerous, that’s not stopping them from hitting the tanning salon. In fact, because most salons offer unlimited packages, a lot of customers go tanning several times a week – and sometimes every day to get their money’s worth. But doctors warn that tanning beds give off 7 times more radiation than you get from the sun.
That’s because tanning beds darken your skin with primarily UVB rays, which are the ones that cause the most damage.
Right now, lawmakers are trying to make it illegal for teens to use tanning salons, saying that they’re just as deadly as smoking cigarettes.
In the meantime, the number one thing dermatologists say you can do to slash your risk of developing melanoma is to never go tanning. You may think dark skin makes you more attractive. But doctors say tanning ages your skin by 20 years. So embrace your natural shade, it works for “Twilight’s” Edward and Bella.
