Comments about ‘In our opinion: Clarify risks of tanning’

tanning salons are prime businesses for organized crime to launder money, because there's no actual exchange of goods, and the clientele is easily fabricated. it was a very popular outlet in the state of washington, and of course, when you don't see the sun for 6 months out of the year, you can bet that there's a justification for there being a tanning salon in every stripmall.

Numerous other "scientific" studies indicate that there is an epidemic of not enough vitamin D at all ages caused by too little sun exposure. Exposure to natural sun light is good. Let's not confuse natural sun light to a tanning bed experience.

"The growing scientific consensus is there's no such thing as a safe tan. " Not true. I don't believe in these tanning salons because I'm not confident in their technology. But there is growing scientific evidence that natural tans, while placing us at risk for common skin cancer, nevertheless offer protections from much worse cancers. We Europeans have our white skins via natural selection to help us absorb natural sunlight.

Look at the girl in the picture. Tanning can turn your skin GREEN!

Ha ha. Maybe the photographer for the story watched Avatar too many times.

This is what happens when you tan in a Gamma-Ray tanning bed. She's probably going to hulk-out!

I like to go on vacation in April before the busy season. Visiting the tan bed 3 or 4 times before I go to a sunny place reduces my chances of a burn.

to Anonymous 11:00 am

Sun screen also reduces your chances of a burn.

The link between sun exposure and melanoma IS NOT well established. Higher cancer survival rates ARE linked to higher vitamin D levels.
Vitamin D deficiency is linked to a long list of diseases: cancers, depression, weak immune system; even M.S.
The anti-sun dermatologists have created a myth which hurts overall health by encouraging vitamin D deficiency. Do the research on Vitamin D; look at all the latest studies. Dermatologists are a little like the global warming extremists; they won't even consider that they might be wrong even as studies to the contrary continue to come to light. If you want to believe the dermatologists and avoid the sun or tanning beds, fine; supplement with 1,000 to 4,000 IU of vitamin D every day.

My wife's doctor has put her on Vitamin D. He said she could get it naturally, but with the fear people have of the sun lately... Many people are vitamin D defficient, so they have to go on pills.

He said if you wear sun-screen whenever you are out in the sun you will probably eventually become deficient. She is fair skinned so she always wears sun-screen... thus the deficiency makes sense.


Moderation in all things.

The Indoor Tanning Association just entered into a proposed settlement with the FTC to resolve charges that made by the FTC against the Indoor Tanning Association regarding misleading advertising including the failure to warn about the increased risks of cancer, among others claims. The links between tanning bed exposure and melanoma HAVE been well established. Vitamin D deficiencies are real, however, the tanning industry is falsely claim that tanning beds are healthy source for vitamin D. That's like saying cigarette smoking is a great way to calm the nerves.

Please contact the FTA, FTC and your legislators and ask them to BAN the tanning industry to sell cancer exposure to our minors. The FTC is currently seeking public comments on this issue and the FDA meets on February 17 to discuss tanning beds! Your opinion matters!

Visit "Ban Indoor UV Tanning" on Facebook.

Whenever I see the picture the song comes to mind... Ho Ho Ho.... Greeen Giant.

The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) announced today that it has moved UV tanning beds to its highest cancer risk category -- "carcinogenic to humans." In an interview with WebMD, the IARC’s Vincent Cogliano, PhD, called the scientific evidence linking indoor tanning to the deadly skin cancer melanoma “sufficient and compelling.”

A dramatic rise in melanoma, especially among young women, has been seen in recent years.

My 18 yr old neighbor was diagnosed with melanoma, and she used tanning beds. Melanoma is a very serious cancer--unlike other skin cancers. There is no 5 yr "cure" for melanoma. It can spread to internal organs and reappear 7-10 yrs later.

The pro-tanning comments in here remind me of a lady I met when I was 17. She was running a tanning salon that my friend was using. I told her I didn't tan and she handed me a leaflet with red underlining stating that tanning was good for you. This lady had leather thick, crusty tan skin that was sagging in all the wrong places. She had a smokers rasp and wrinkles deeper than any natural crevice . . . the last person I would take "healthy lifestyle" advise from.

But even politicians use tanning machines, setting a bad example for our youth. Witness a tanned Boehner.

Walking between the tanning salon and her car she can have a cigarette. We've got our priorities out of place.

Let's cut to the chase. The underlying problem is not tanning salons, but the obsession with artificial beauty of all forms, from fake tans to breast implants to tummy tucks to botox injections to hair implants and all the rest. If we could we stop the narcissism, which the advertising industry so strongly promotes, the tanning salons would go away naturally. Until that happens, people will continue to engage in self-destructive behavior in a vain quest for improved self image. Vanity rules, unfortunately.

Indoor Tanning Association Settles FTC Charges That It Deceived Consumers About Skin Cancer Risks From Tanning
The Federal Trade Commission today charged the Indoor Tanning Association with making false health and safety claims about indoor tanning. Contrary to claims in the association’s advertising, indoor tanning increases the risk of squamous cell and melanoma skin cancers, according to the FTC complaint. The association has agreed to a settlement that bars it from any further deception.

“The messages promoted by the indoor tanning industry fly in the face of scientific evidence,” said David C. Vladeck, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The industry needs to do a better job of communicating the risks of tanning to consumers.”

for further information go to the Federal Trade Commission's website

It is just like anything, ( Moderation, Moderation ). I have fair skin , and never get that dark. I stay out of the direct sun between 1100 am and 400 pm, especially between late March and late September. Dark tans are NOT good for your skin, but a little color doesn't hurt. Winter is the time your skin rests from the Summer sun. Don't use a tanning bed from November until February, period. Unless you live in the Southern Hemisphere!!!! LOL

A lot of research is coming out right now that people don't get an optimal amount of Vitamin D. That if we got more a host health issues would improve, including a stronger immune system.

Perhaps the draw of tanning is that the body is craving vitamin D.

It probably would be better for the health though if people would take less vitamin D through the skin and more orally.