Do Sunbeds Cause Cancer ?

by Adrian Fletcher

Having tanned skin has not always been popular. Today it may represent health and vitality or an outdoor lifestyle. As recently as the 1940's it represented working outdoors in manual labor or poorly paid work.

During the 1950's, people became more prosperous. They had more time for leisure activities as opposed to working. These type of activities involved spending time at the beach or other outdoor activities. they also had time and money to spend on exotic vacations to warmer climates.

It was not long before having an all over tan was a sign of an affluent lifestyle. It represented the living of a healthy and vital life and was highly desirable. Pretty soon, getting a suntan became an activity in itself. People would spend many hours in the Sun 'working on their tan'.

People wanted to look suntanned all year round regardless of the time of year. Others wanted to look tanned before they went on vacation. With these attitudes prevalent, the development of the sunbed began.

Since this time, sunbeds and tanning salons have proved to be extremely popular. Strangely enough they are even more popular than a regular suntan in regions where there is plenty of Sun (I guess there is no sand or wind to deal with).

But the question that most people that use sunbeds have and prefer not to dwell on is, is skin cancer caused by sunbeds ?

The answer is very clear. Any tanning of the skin using ultraviolet (UV) radiation will eventually cause skin cancer. The amount or frequency of exposure may vary from individual to individual, based on things like their skin type or a family history of skin cancer, but eventually it will cause the development of skin cancer.

Many people that use sunbeds may be at pains to point out that the radiation that a sunbed uses is different to the radiation from the Sun. UVB radiation is responsible for burning the skin in the Sun. It has a different frequency to the radiation used in sunbeds. A sunbed uses UVA radiation, that was thought to not be as harmful to the skin. For instance, it does not cause the skin to burn. However, recent research suggests that this is not the case and any UV radiation is harmful to the skin.

The salient point to all this is that any form of tanning of the skin will lead to skin cancer at some point. Maybe you will be fortunate and never reach that point during your life but the aim of skin cancer prevention is to limit a persons exposure to the cause of skin cancer, ultra violet radiation. That is why people should always wear sunscreen when outdoors. They should try to cover their skin with clothing and wear a hat and sunglasses when out in the Sun.

Getting a weekly sunbed tan is like going out into the Sun without protection. This seems like a potentially hazardous thing to do to get an all over tan.

About the Author:

For details on the common symptoms of skin cancer and details on the types of skin cancers that can develop, visit http://symptomsofskincancer.net