Skin Cancer And Tanning
SKIN CANCER & TANNING
The idea of a “healthy tan” is a myth which must be corrected in order to reduce the increasing incidence of skin cancer in the world.
An individual's skin color is determined by their genes and their environment. Our skin can change color in reaction to sun exposure. This is called the "tanning response." When skin absorbs UV radiation, melanin is produced and transferred to the keratinocytes cells within the skin thereby darkening the color of the skin. Melanin in the skin absorbs and scatters UV radiation entering the body and helps protect the skin from adverse reactions to radiation. Thus, the "tanning response" is really a defensive reaction by the body to the presence of damaging radiation, and an effort by the body to protect itself from the harmful affect of ultraviolet A and ultraviolet B (UVA and UVB) rays (“Anatomy”).
A tan still remains in the minds of many as socially desirable. Each day we are confronted with images on television and in magazines of golden-brown models and celebrities. In addition, we are the targets of local advertising and promotion of tanning salons. People must understand that a tan is not necessary; and that in addition to the premature aging of the skin, there are serious and possibly deadly consequences from the overexposure of one’s body to UVA and/or UVB rays. The deadly consequence is skin cancer.
When people think of cancer they relate to the threat of colon cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer or the more than 90 other forms of cancer ( “Cancer”) but they seem to either disregard the potential seriousness of skin cancer or are simply unaware of it. The fact that many people may be unaware of a potentially dangerous killer is inexplicable.
The National Cancer Institute in January 2007 published a list of the most common forms of cancer in the United States (those cancers diagnosed with the greatest frequency - annual...
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