Time for the annual skin cancer warning. Research is piling up on the long term effects of tanning beds (1) and sun bathing. No contest really. You tan, you get skin cancer. The only question is what kind of cancer will you get? The picture is a young man with the least dangerous form of skin cancer, basal cell carcinoma. Doesn’t usually kill you, but we will all agree that it can be quite disfiguring.Now melanoma is a different story. At the same time you are getting your tan (and basal cell carcinoma) you may also be triggering melanoma. This cancer caused 8600 deaths in the US in 2009. Mostly avoidable by NOT TANNING.
OK. Suppose you have tough cancer-resistant genes and you don’t have to worry about skin cancer? (You don’t but go along with me a minute here). The other effect of getting a tan is the destruction of the collagen under the skin that supports it and gives it the resilience you feel when you pull or press on your skin. Tanning radiation ALWAYS damages this material, resulting in the condition known as “wrinkles”. Straight line function: the more you tan, the more you wrinkle (add smoking and the wrinkles are deeper and sooner).
So do yourself a favor and protect your skin, your beauty and your life.
(1) http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/59753/title/Tanning_bed_use_linked_to_melanoma_risk
Image (cancer): http://www.nature.com/nrclinonc/journal/v4/n8/fig_tab/ncponc0883_F4.html
Image (wrinkles) :
Hey Woody. Before I start this comment, Happy Birthday. 70 is quite an accomplishment this day and age especially if you are still active and have all your marbles intact. I read your post on skin cancer and thought I would throw out some food for thought. While I don't encourage people to suntan on purpose, sun exposure has been thrown to the forefront of medicine in the form of Vitamin D. Vitamin D has been on the table for a few years now. Recent research has linked Vitamin D deficiency with a lot of chronic disease. Now, I don't know where this is going to land but I can tell you what I know for sure. I've been screening Vitamin D levels randomly in patients for months. Out of 50-75 tests so far, I've had 3 patients who had normal levels. Needless to say, a lot of patients are getting Vit D prescriptions these days. Research is showing that the old RDA levels is not nearly enough. Evolution has given us a wonderful mechanism for vitamin D production. The human body will produce 10,000 units of Vitamin D with 30 minutes of full sun exposure during the summer. Compare this to the current RDA of 400 units and you can see where this is going. It seems to me that nature gave us this mechanism for a reason. Today, with TV, air conditioning, Ipod, Internet.....PEOPLE DON'T GET OUTSIDE ANYMORE. Vitamin D is being linked to everything from Hypertension to Cancer. Again, who knows where research is going to take us. But this I know. Vitamin D is the "key" to our innate immune system. Without it, the machine doesn't work properly. Many of the common bacteria that we associate with colds, pneumonia, ear infections etc have figured out a way to survive in our bodies long term by manipulating (depleting) Vitamin D levels. These "smart bugs" allowed to survive and replicate long term cause considerable changes in our bodies over time because our immune systems aren't functioning properly. The current RDA of Vitamin D is 400 units. Research is revealing that this doesn't even scratch the surface of what our bodies actually need. Personally, I've taken an interest in so called "autoimmune disease". You know, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, Scleroderma, Fibromyalgia. Traditional medicine follows the 50 year old concept that these people awoke one day with their immune systems attacking their own bodies. Bullshit. An alternate theory that was proposed at the same time suggests that its not our immune systems attacking the body, but rather our "poorly functioning" immune systems trying to fight off a chronic bacterial infection. To make a long story short, I've been treating patients with known Rheumatoid Arthritis for about 2 years with combination antibiotics (because these bugs can become intracellular and hide from the immune system). The results I've seen personally are miraculous. I have about 15 patients currently that have been symptom free for over a year after decades of debilitating pain. The key to this treatment is Vitamin D. I've been able to kill most of these bugs with antibiotics while supplementing with Vitamin D to give their immune systems a fighting chance. I could talk about this stuff for days but I'm short on time. The moral of the story is, GET OUTSIDE AND GET SOME SUNSHINE, BUT IN MODERATION. Ron Lindquist. WOODY FOR PRESIDENT.
ReplyDeleteR. You are right on the money. Sal and I take a vitD supplement and calcium with D. I think the main problem with humans is that we live too long. Most of the bunnies that tan like goddesses and gods would have died by the time they were 30 or so of other things. Now they live long enough for the accumulated damage to skin and immune system to kick in. The alternative is to go back to dying young (too late for us). Thanks for being a faithful reader and taking the time to comment.
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