Addressing the risks of indoor tanning

With May being Skin Cancer Awareness Month and in tandem with our event Wednesday co-hosted with the Congressional Families Cancer Prevention Program, The Hazards and Allure of Indoor Tanning Beds on College Campuses we are running a series on skin cancer. Be sure to check back daily for posts on skin cancer including how you prevent and detect it. Enjoy!
It is not the kind of selfie we usually expect to see on Facebook. A young woman looks forlornly away from the camera, her face covered from top to bottom with bloody scabs—the result of treatment for skin cancer. The therapy is aggressive; but it is necessary, because at the age of just 27, Tawny Willoughby has had carcinoma six times. Almost every time she sees the dermatologist, she has to have more cancerous tissue removed. By posting her painful photo on Facebook, Tawny hopes to save others from a similar fate. At the time of writing, the image has already been shared almost 70,000 times.
Tawny’s risk of developing skin cancer was greatly increased by her frequent use of a tanning bed. Research published in the British Medical Journal links indoor tanning to more than 170,000 cases of skin cancer in the U.S. every year. People who start using tanning devices when they are young are in still greater danger. A panel of experts at the World Health Organization found that using a tanning bed before the age of 35 was linked with a 75 percent increase in the risk of melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer. Melano...

Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - May 19, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Advocacy Cancer Source Type: blogs