Tanning

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What do you really know about tanning? Tanning consists of a wide variety of ways to accomplish that golden glow. The benefits of tanning continue to be discovered and are unknown to many. Different types of artificial tanning made their way into our generation and continue to gain popularity. Naturally tanning, believed to be healthier for our skin, isn’t always the case. But, risks of tanning also provokes the people against tanning. Skin cancer became a threat in 1980 when scientists realized tanning was a risk for receiving skin cancer (www.skincancer.org). “One in every three cancers diagnosed worldwide is skin cancer” (www.who.int/mediacentre).
I. General Facts of Tanning
What do you think tanning is? In the article, “Tanning Addiction: The New Form of Substance Abuse”, defines tanning as caused by harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun or tanning lamps (www.skincancer.org). “Tanning” states sun tanning or simply tanning is the process whereby skin color is darkened or tanned (www.studymode.com). “Melanin pigment produced when UV light meets the skin literally enshrouds and shields skin cells in the skin’s epidermis, protecting each cell from getting too much UV exposure” (www.tanningtruth.com). Melanin, a powerful anti-oxidant, can help the skin get rid of free-radicals that cause damage (www.tanningtruth.com). The outer layer of skin thickens as the skin tans therefore making it naturally more resistant to receiving a sunburn (www.tanningtruth.com). “Sunburn is a popular term applied to the marked erythema and pain that commonly follows injudicious sun exposure” (health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care). “Intermittent exposures to intense ultra violet radiation leading to sunburns, especially in childhood and teen years,...

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...rcinoma (SCC) by sixty seven percent and basal cell carcinoma (BCC) by twenty nine percent” (www.skincancer.org). Indoor tanning can increase a person’s risk of melanoma by seventy five percent (www.aad.org/dermatology). A non-tanners risk of melanoma is point two percent compared to a tanner’s risk of point three percent (which is a difference of one in one thousand) and the body needs ultra violet to survive (www.tanningtruth.com).
“UV-B radiation may suppress proper functioning of the body’s immune system and the skin’s natural defenses, leaving you more vulnerable to diseases, including skin cancer” (www.fda.gov/forconsumers). “Many studies about sun bed usage don’t actually study professional sun bed salons, but rather include sun beds used to treat cosmetic conditions in doctors’ offices and unmonitored home-based tanning units” (www.americansuntanning.org).

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