That’s my 30-year-old daughter, justifying her recent trip to the tanning salon. Yes, she knew it caused wrinkles. Yes, she knew it was linked to skin cancer. But she heeded not a single warning—either from me as a concerned mother, still nagging after all these years, or as a medical reporter who sees the data.
Image courtesy Flickr user redspotted (Creative Commons)
My most recent eye-opener came last week at the WONCA World Conference of Family Physicians, where Dr. Tina Ninan said it plainly: When it comes to tanning, vanity is queen.
Dr. Ninan, a general practice physician in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England, wanted to find out how much patients know about sunbeds and their associated risks.
She distributed simple surveys to patients waiting at a dermatology clinic at the University Hospital of North Durham. Most of the respondents were women, with 60% over age 40. Of the 102 patients surveyed, 34 said they used sunbeds. Most of these (27) were women, meaning that 42% of the women surveyed admitted to using the devices. But they weren’t alone—18% of men surveyed said they used sunbeds, too.
Almost 90% of the tanners said they had started using sunbeds before age 35, a period considered critical in the development of skin cancer. Forty percent used them at least weekly, and many used them without any supervision, favoring either coin-operated sunbeds or home-use models. These people were not ignorant; 94% said they were aware of a link between sunbed use and skin cancer. They wrote in other risks as well: “It’s bad for your skin.” “They cause wrinkles.” “They are bad for your eyes.”
But apparently the lure of a tan is too strong to resist. The majority (64%) said they used sunbeds for cosmetic reasons, either they were trying to get a base tan before holiday or they just “liked the look of a tan.” Fourteen percent said they were trying to treat a skin condition with ultraviolet light; acne and rosacea topped that list.
A recent study found sunbed tanning as addicting as alcohol. Published in the Archives of Dermatology, the study used two validated addiction questionnaires to qualify sunbed use among 421 women at a northeast U.S. university.
More than half of the women were “users.” When using the DSM-IV addiction criteria, 39% scored as addicts. The CAGE (Cut down, Annoyed,Guilty, Eye-opener) Questionnaire determined that 90% were addicted. ”Users” also had significantly more anxiety and greater use of alcohol, marijuana, and other substances than non-users.
So what’s a white girl to do? Spray-on tans are becoming increasingly popular, as are pills containing beta carotene or canthaxathin, a natural food colorant. A quick Google search also delivers plenty of results for pills that claim to stimulate melanin production. I found just one product currently under scientific review. Clinuvel, an Australian drug company, is developing what it calls a “photoprotective drug” (afamelanotide), marketed under the name Scenesse. A form of alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone, afamelanotide is being investigated for prophylaxis of photosensitive disorders, not for any cosmetic indications. It doesn’t take a leap of imagination, however, to wonder whether it could become—literally—the golden child of the self-tanning set.
In the meantime, I’ll keep preaching the gospel of high SPF to all my children, and try to follow my own advice. I came back from the WONCA meeting Cancun with a little glow myself, and—although I hate to admit it—I loved the way it looked.
—Michele G. Sullivan