Tanning Beds Increases Melanoma in Young Adults

Tanning beds are bad news for younger people, and still 40% of them do it!  In Mayo ClinicProceedings, a study reports that between the years 1970 and 2009 the incidence of melanoma increased eightfold among young women and fourfold among young men between the ages of 18 and 39.  Besides the tendency of younger skin to be vulnerable and younger people less likely to use sunscreen protection, the researchers linked the risk of melanoma to tanning-bed use.  Tanning beds can give seven times the dose of UV radiation as the sun.  In 2009, the International Agency of Researchon Cancer declared tanning beds a human carcinogen, moving them into the top cancer-risk category alongside cigarettes.  

Source: Time Magazine 

Robert G. Tupac, DDS, FACP, Inc., Diplomate, American Board of Prosthodontics (661) 325-1275 | www.drtupac.com 5060 California Ave., #170, Bakersfield, CA 93309