Tanning Beds Can Greatly Boost Melanoma Risk

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3/31/11 To health.usnews.com re Tanning beds and melanoma
Although I commiserate with the people who have melanoma, their stories simply are not adequate proof that tanning (or tanning booths) caused it. While in Germany, I noticed the remarkably clear and beautiful translucent skin which the girls and older women had. I don't know what their Vitamin D levels were, or if they, like veal, were just examples of beautiful tender meat without nutritional strength, produced by withholding essential nutrients, e.g. UV light.
I have read many reports by herpetologists, which described the problem of softening of tortoise shells in the absence of UVB light. One told of installing a new, balanced UV lamp, only to find, after a few weeks, that her tortoise's shell had become very soft. Upon examining the lamp, she found that it had a plastic diffusion cover, which was opaque to UV radiation. She removed the cover, and in a couple of weeks, the tortoise's shell had grown quite hard, and was then described as "healthy". I suppose that the human equivalent might be thick and strong fingernails and skin. But, since we modern human animals don't have to continually fight off other beasts, maybe we don't need tough hide and claws.
I am always disappointed in the database which is used to support these arguments. While personal narratives and experiences may jumpstart a research project, they are not a substitute for real data mining and analysis.
Are there any large n studies which show that people in sunnier climates develop more melanomas than those in cooler, cloudier locations?
Are there real longterm studies of large numbers of subjects who sunbathe or use tanning booths, showing their levels of melanomas vs levels of those controls who don't sunbathe or use tanning booths?
Without controlled data of this type, everything becomes guessing, superstition or hypothesis, which is only the beginning of the scientific method.

Bob Whaley of IL 1:58PM March 31, 2011

This study has stumbled on a major medical breakthrough. Who knew that tanning actually suppresses the need for women to smoke. Now all we need is something to keep the women from tanning. I'm thinking of government sponsored shopping sprees?

Kyle of XY of CT 12:28PM June 01, 2010

In our society, you must be cautioned to take the information that is given to you and believe it is fact. You must be your own advocate. Do your research. Research the study. Find out it's biases. If you do this, you will see that what is being reported on the study is not necessarily a scientific fact.
Please remember, too much of anything isn't a good thing. Tanning every day is not moderation, and can have negative consequences. But moderate tanning is not as dangerous as is reported. Drinking every day can cause damage to your liver. But the level of drinking that most individuals engage in is normal, legal, and acceptable. What if the government decided to ban alcohol? You say tanning should be banned because nothing good can come out of it (which is also disputable)... I'd like to hear the argument for how great alcohol is. And if there isn't one, maybe it should be banned, right? So think about it next time you want to ban something that "could" be bad for you. That list would be a very long one.

av of WA 2:08AM May 28, 2010

why should people have a choice when it is proven to cause cancer? Why isn't their a ban on sales and recall of all units.

Marjorie Hansen of CO 10:51PM May 27, 2010

Assuming this is true, the next question would be, do those who use tanning beds show health benefits (fewer infections, reduced incidence of other cancers that might be prevented by elevated vitamin D levels, etc.), compared to those who do not? Matter of fact it would be stupid to condemn the use of tanning beds without answering that question first.

Chuck Cardiff of AZ 5:08PM May 27, 2010

My daughter actually purchused one of these booths for herself, and her two daughters...today all three are fighting melanoma. How much more evidence does one need then this? In my mind there is no doubt that these tanning beds/tanning booths...whatever you might want to call them cause this deadly skin disease.

bobbie of CA 3:49PM May 27, 2010

I used to work right by Johnny O's side in all of this. I am ashamed based on this report. I am further ashamed at his character to call this obviously legit study, which is littered with facts, "contradictory". Damn John, how much does that paycheck REALLY mean to you? You're letting people die to feed your family, wtf is wrong with you???
Looking back, i see the ITA and the entire industry are no different than the tobacco giants - make money at the risk of others health.
And much like big tobacco of the 60's/70's who refuted evidence-finding reports that sought to ban their product, they pointed out their own "contradictory" findings to defend their profits. In 20 years, just like big tobacco, the new message of that day about indoor tanning is sure to be "We know it can cause cancer so we'll label it and let people use it at their own risk" - sound familiar???
Dear ITA and Its Board of Directors and Members:
Please let us know when you have spent weeks by the bed side of a close friend or family member as you watch the cancer they incurred by using your products eat away at their bodies and kill them. Maybe at that point the check wont quite worth it anymore.
The Rest of Us

Who Cares of NY 3:36PM May 27, 2010

but then again these articles are always a little misleading. Of course, exposure to certain bands of ultraviolet rays will increase your risk of skin cancer. What these articles never say is how tanning beds rank compared to tanning in the sun. I live in Southern California, and I use tanning beds and also tan in the sun. Its a lifestyle choice I make and I understand the risks associated. Now if someone came to me and said I could tan all summer long out by the pool and I would be better off than if I sat in a tanning bed just 5 times, then I might re-think the way I tan. But the way I see it, you can control your exposure to just minutes per week and its possible never to get burned versus not knowing when is too much sun until its too late. Who can really answer if 5 miuntes a week of indoor tanning is really worse than laying out in the sun for a few hours on a Saturday?

M of CA 3:10PM May 27, 2010

Bell,
How long have you been irradiating yourself in tanning booths? I believe it's beginning to affect your brain...and I don't even want to think about what it's done to your skin. Did you actually read this article?
10 to 15 minutes of tanning bed per week, as you recommend, will more than double your risk of melanoma within a couple of years. With continued exposure, the risk increases until you're "married to cancer".
You can't keep running around telling people to take suicidal risks, as you have here, without somebody, somewhere, holding you accountable.

Roger Josek of CA 3:04PM May 27, 2010

"John Overstreet, spokesman for the Indoor Tanning Association, said that 'the latest science is contradictory. A study out just two weeks ago from the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center found that UVA light does not cause melanoma.'"
False. The study says that EARLY EXPOSURE to UVA light does not cause melanoma.

Truth of IA 2:56PM May 27, 2010