I foudn this site in advertisement on another site and was just digusted. With all the information about skin cancer out there how you can willing expose yourself to ultra"violent" rays. What is so great about being tan? I don't get it. And to those of you who own tanning salons, how you sleep at night knowing your making money off of someone getting melanoma and dying? I hold this issue very close to my heart since I have a family friend who at age 29 died of melanoma. She used baby oil and very low spf and went to tanning salons. And she paid for it with her life. I don't plan on being an active member on these boards I just needed to share this information with you. I am 16, probab;y the age where most people use tanning salons. This is an article I wrote for my school (OLL, lourdes) newspaper The name of my friend has not been changed. You can go to www.recordonline.com and find her obituary if you think this is a joke. There is so much better things in life then being tan, and I personally don't even think a tank looks good. I hope you all change your ways. This is reality and you are all being ignorant. Don't think it won't happen to you because it can. You are not invincible.

Melissa Bambino graduated from our rival Cornwall High School. She attended the University of Notre Dame and worked for Teen Vogue Magazine. On December 29, 2003, just 11 years after her graduation from high school, her obituary appeared in the newspaper. The cause of death was melanoma: a fatal type of skin cancer acquired from exposure to the sun, sun lamps, and tanning beds. She was 29.

For a long time tanning beds were believed to be a safer way to sport that “awesome” glowing look. However, medical evidence has found that the use of tanning beds are actually more dangerous than baking in the actual sun. There are two types of Ultra-Violet rays in the sun, UVA and UVB rays. UVB rays are what cause sun burn. Tanning beds have less UVB rays which is why you don’t get burned, and the reason they are believed safe. However, they contain 10-15% more UVA rays which penetrate deeper into the skin and cause permanent and possibly fatal damage.

A person’s best defense against melanoma, as well as other type of skin cancers, (half of all new cancers are skin cancers) is to avoid tanning beds completely and to wear a minimum of SPF (sun protection factor) 30 sunscreen. Reapply the sunscreen every two hours. Though tanning beds are very dangerous, the actual sun is also. Only 30% of Lourdes students wear the recommended SPF while sunbathing. It only takes one blistering sunburn in your lifetime to double your chances of getting cancer. 45% of Lourdes students have had a blistering sunburn. And just because you are not a blue eyed blond, or a green eyed red head doesn’t mean you are off the hook! While it is true that Caucasians are 20-40% more likely to develop skin cancer then African Americans are, no one is risk free. The most common African melanomas occur on the soles of the feet, palms of the hands, and under the nails.

Melanoma usually presents itself as a strange mole which changes in shape or color. If you have a suspicious mole, it is best to have it checked out by a dermatologist before the problem becomes worse. Melanoma is curable only during the earliest stages, while the melanoma is thin. The thicker the melanoma, the lower the survival rate.

. Melanoma is one of the most common forms of skin cancer, as well as the deadliest, because it easily spreads to other parts of the body. The treatment of melanoma includes chemotherapy, lymph node removal, radiation to the brain, skin grafts, biopsies, mole removal etc. These treatments are very painful and have a variety of side effects such as hair loss.

Aside from cancer, there is another risk of using tanning beds and sunbathing unprotected. This risk affects your looks, which is probably the reason you want to be tan in the first place. The sun causes your skin, especially on your face to prematurely wrinkle. Those who expose themselves to UV rays will look about 10-15 years older then they really are. This generally starts to occur in the mid-twenties.

Teens have become dangerously devoted to tanning. 22% of the OLL students surveyed have admitted to using a tanning bed at least once. Most teens do not take the risks seriously, and believe that it “won’t happen to me”. I have a friend who told me I could come to her funeral when I warned her about what she was doing to her body by
going tanning.
There is one way to sport that “awesome” glow without exposing yourself to any type of ultraviolet rays. Sunless tanning has become more and more popular, as the death rate of skin cancer has gone up. You can buy a sunless tanning lotion at drugstores and beauty shops and apply it yourself. The other option is to go to a salon and have them spray you with the tanning solution, as if you are taking a shower. The latter is probably the easier way to go as you won’t have to worry about brown palms, or finger streaks. Many salons in the area now offer “airbrush” or “mystic” tanning. Look in your local phone book for more information.

It is expected that this year over 1 million people will be diagnosed with various forms of skin cancer. About 8,000 of those people will die. Don’t become a statistic, sport your natural skin tone now, and at your OLL class reunion in the years to come you will be cancer and wrinkle free!

Pale and Proud

"On December 29, 2003, just 11 years after her graduation from high school, her obituary appeared in the newspaper. The cause of death was melanoma: a fatal type of skin cancer acquired from exposure to the sun, sun lamps, and tanning beds. She was 29."

Sorry, but smoking CAUSES more cases of skin cancer than UV exposure EVER will. You will hear of this much more in the near future.


"However, medical evidence has found that the use of tanning beds are actually more dangerous than baking in the actual sun. There are two types of Ultra-Violet rays in the sun, UVA and UVB rays. UVB rays are what cause sun burn. Tanning beds have less UVB rays which is why you don’t get burned, and the reason they are believed safe. However, they contain 10-15% more UVA rays which penetrate deeper into the skin and cause permanent and possibly fatal damage."

This is mostly incorrect. PLEASE READ Dr Hollick's book THE UV ADVANTAGE before you start throwing stones. Like every activist you are acting on RAGE and HATE and DO NOT HAVE ANY REAL FACTS.

?On December 29, 2003, just 11 years after her graduation from high school, her obituary appeared in the newspaper. The cause of death was melanoma: a fatal type of skin cancer acquired from exposure to the sun, sun lamps, and tanning beds. She was 29.

OVEREXPOSURE is what can cause a cancer breakout NOT exposure. Should there be a ban on drinking water cause it can cause drowning? ALSO if you are PREDISPOSED to skin cancer (runs in the family) YOU HAVE SKIN CANCER. Just a matter of time before something causes it to develop.

Now my favorite:
"Teens have become dangerously devoted to tanning. 22% of the OLL students surveyed have admitted to using a tanning bed at least once. Most teens do not take the risks seriously, and believe that it “won’t happen to me”. I have a friend who told me I could come to her funeral when I warned her about what she was doing to her body by going tanning."

Hey genious, WHAT ABOUT UNCONTROLLED, UNREGULATED OUTDOOR TANNING? Oh yeah, for some reason you believe that indoor tanning is WORSE than sun baking. Sorry, but in order to a side of an issue doesn't COMMON SENSE have to be involved?

engfant,

At 16, this poor girl lacks the ability to rigorously analyze information. She if venting, grieving and using a scapegoat that is simplistic and shallow. But you can hardly blame her. The dermotologists, their cosmedic industry financiers, and the willing media are the real ones to blame.

She has been led to believe that non-erythemal UV exposure is what causes melanoma. The studies done by the dermotologists themelves DO NOT support that claim. She has been led to believe that UVA has a significant relationship to cancer of any kind. The dermotologists studies do not make that conclusion.

She probably has no idea that most melanoma occurs on UNEXPOSED areas of the body, therefore having NO connection to UV at all. And that MOST fatalaties from skin cancer are caused from this type.

She probably has no idea that for 80% to 90% of indoor tanners, their tan actually REDUCES their risk of skin damage when exposed to the outdoor sunlight.

She probably doesn't realize that the sunburns that "pale and proud" people get from the sun increase their risk factors for serious effects more than the regular, non-fragmented, and moderate exposure that indoor tanners get from tanning beds.

And she probably doesn't realize that her statment that Quote:medical evidence has found that the use of tanning beds are actually more dangerous than baking in the actual sun. is COMPLETELY BASELESS and false. In fact, the actual "evidence" from the dermotologists' clinical studies shows the complete opposite.

She also probably doesn't realize the the dermotology community is probably the most unethical medical group in the world due to their CONFLICT OF INTEREST as a result of their massive financial payoffs from the cosmetic industry.

But most other people don't realize any of this either.

We better start to ban cigarettes, alcohol, red meats, eggs, fossil fuels and the list goes on. Better yet living in a bubble may best the answer?

Pale and Proud..... You obviously are JEALOUS of all the cute girls with nice tans this prom season, the big deal of having a tan is the fact that you look and feel GREAT!! My advice to you is go get yourself some REAL literature on tanning, and I bet we will see you in the salon next season!! How could you be pale and proud? You must look like a ghost, actually, you probably are being treated like one at school, and that is why you are venting here. EVERYONE LOOKS BETTER WITH A TAN!!

Sorry for your loss, but I love tanning. This is more than a hobby. It not only relaxes me to no end, but it feel really good about myself when I am tanned. I lost my mother age 40 to cancer. I just want to live my life doing what I love and be happy. I know that consquences goes along with tanning, but I also feel that you subject yourself to many things in life. If its not tanning, its drinking, drugs, smoking, breathing the smoke from friends, loved ones or strangers; STD etc. from sex. I have no opinion on any of these. If your happy its your life. As for me I enjoy as much as my life as I can. Life is too short to live unhappy. I would rather live on week happy than 80 years sad, fearful and worried.

Sorry for your loss, but I love tanning. This is more than a hobby. It not only relaxes me to no end, but it feel really good about myself when I am tanned. I lost my mother age 40 to cancer. I just want to live my life doing what I love and be happy. I know that consquences goes along with tanning, but I also feel that you subject yourself to many things in life. If its not tanning, its drinking, drugs, smoking, breathing the smoke from friends, loved ones or strangers; STD etc. from sex. I have no opinion on any of these. If your happy its your life. As for me I enjoy as much as my life as I can. Life is too short to live unhappy. I would rather live on week happy than 80 years sad, fearful and worried.

You are obviously mis-informed when it comes to this issue. I have skin cancer (Basal cell carcinoma) which is the least dangerous form, and I got it before I ever stepped foot into a tanning salon. Now I work in a salon and tan only before I go on vacation very carefully so I do not burn and my dermatologist knows about it!! You don't get cancer from tanning, you get it from your family genes. Not everyone that tans gets skin cancer. The only guaranteed results from tanning are getting a Tan and LOOKING HEALTHIER!!

You are obviously mis-informed when it comes to this issue. I have skin cancer (Basal cell carcinoma) which is the least dangerous form, and I got it before I ever stepped foot into a tanning salon. Now I work in a salon and tan only before I go on vacation very carefully so I do not burn and my dermatologist knows about it!! You don't get cancer from tanning, you get it from your family genes. Not everyone that tans gets skin cancer. The only guaranteed results from tanning are getting a Tan and LOOKING HEALTHIER!!

Skin cancer has just become a problem the past 40 years. Before that we lived on this planet for thousands of years working outdoors in fields. We didnt have cars we walked or rode horses. WE WERE CONSTANTLY EXPOSED TO THE SUN FOR HOURS EVERYDAY. Sunscreen didnt exist then and we were exposed to the rays of the sun all day daily. So that being said and a fact why is skin cancer more of a problem now than it ever has been in the history of man? Diet and genetics. Everyone looks to blame anything they can besides the real issue at hand. My boyfriend is from Sicily they live off the land there. Work in the fields all day every day. There are no Mc D's, BK's or KFC's over in Sicily where his family is. None of his family have had skin cancer. If you take care of your body from the inside the outside will reflect it. I'm a big believer in our diets being the major cause of most health problems we have. North America has the highest skin cancer rate over any other country on the planet. We also have the worst diet of any other country on the planet. Your skin is an organ its no different than your heart, lungs, kidneys, liver. What you put into your body affects your skin just like it affects your other organs.