by Allison Roberts
Managing editor
Photo from http://www.equatortanning.com/?page_id=25
One of the things many people seek during the summer is tanned skin, be it from natural sunlight or tanning beds.
Research has been done both to condemn and defend sun exposure and, in some cases, purposeful tanning.
Southeastern’s Director of Student Health Services Nurse April Lehrling explained that “exposure to the sun for benefits of achieving a tan is not safe for the skin,” while acknowledging that “tanning is a byproduct of sun exposure.”
According to Melanoma Foundation New England’s website, five to 10 minutes of unprotected sun two to three times a week is enough to assist your body in the production of vitamin D, which is essential to human health.
The website explains that “getting more sun exposure won’t increase your vitamin D level, but it will increase your risk of skin cancer.”
D-Feat Breast Cancer is a website that describes the merits in natural breast cancer prevention of vitamin D, which it defines as “a hormone your body produces naturally and most effectively when your skin is exposed to UVB in sunlight.”
It continues that the chemical reaction in the skin started by the energy from the sun produces a type of vitamin D carried in the bloodstream to the rest of the body.
So it is true that certain levels of vitamin D are necessary for healthy skin, but are there other potential benefits? According to online sources including Web MD, Vitamin D Council and MedPage Today, higher levels of vitamin D are linked to lower risks of breast cancer.
Vitamin D Council’s website states that one of the first cancers vitamin D was found to protect against was breast cancer. “Now there is ample evidence that vitamin D lowers breast cancer risk,” it says.
Still, it isn’t that simple. Vitamin D is not the only factor in determining breast or other types of cancer risk. Diet, weight, season and “genetic variants regarding vitamin D metabolism” can all influence risk, MedPage Today explains.
The possible protection sunlight can provide from breast and other types of cancer varies among individuals.
Though the skin’s reaction to the sun can provide protective vitamin D, there are still health risks associated with sunlight, particularly from ultraviolet radiation.
UV rays penetrate Earth’s atmosphere and impact people’s health all while remaining invisible to the naked eye. This is because even the longest ultraviolet rays, UVA and UVB, have wavelengths shorter than that of visible light.
According to the Skin Cancer Foundation’s website, UVA rays can reach the Earth’s surface, even through clouds and glass, during daylight hours with consistent intensity throughout the year.
This is why it is often suggested to wear sunscreen during the day even when it isn’t necessarily sunny; UV radiation can still be damaging to the skin even though it can’t be seen.
The website states that both types of rays “play an important role in conditions such as premature skin aging, eye damage (including cataracts) and skin cancers.
“They also suppress the immune system, reducing your ability to fight off these and other maladies,” it continues.
The site explains that excessive UV radiation damages the DNA of skin cells. This damage then causes genetic mutations leading to skin cancer.
It is the often-studied link between skin cancer—particularly the most deadly type, melanoma—and UV exposure that has many researchers speaking out against the use of tanning beds and suggesting ways to protect skin from the sun.
Lehrling expressed her opinion that being outdoors is important to emotional and physical well-being but that being outdoors in order to tan is unsafe.
As for people who purposely tan from indoor or outdoor UVA rays, she said that she believes it to be done out of vanity. “No one likes to be sickly pale, as some have described their skin color when they’ve been lighter complected,” she said.
She continued that many view tanned skin “as an outward expression of being physically healthy” while countering with a statement that a natural skin tone is a healthy one.
Graphic design and visual media student at Southeastern Skylar Harrison expressed other reasons as to why she tans occasionally. “I like the way it feels when I’m tanning, all warm and snuggly,” she said, adding that she can see how some get addicted to the feeling.
Harrison also explained that when she tans, it seems to clear up any skin problems she has and make her look healthier.
As for the risks involved in using a tanning bed, Harrison said she thinks “a person’s skin color plays a huge role in determining their risks for getting skin cancer” but that the idea gets blown “completely out of proportion,” continuing that many other things can be harmful to a person’s health.
This is true; some things people interact with on a regular basis may be detrimental to their health in various ways.
It has also been speculated by the Association of Health Care Journalists’ website that an often-touted statistic used to deter people from tanning is not presented clearly enough to the public.
While it may be shown by a group of studies that indoor tanning before the age of 35 can lead to a 75 percent increase in melanoma risk, what is sometimes not explained is the difference between a relative risk and an absolute risk.
A relative risk compares one risk to another as a ratio whereas an absolute risk is just the chance of something happening. Because of this, relative risks when presented as percentages are often significantly higher than absolute risks.
The site says that the 75 percent figure is based on a group of studies, the strongest of which followed over 100,000 women over a period of eight years.
That particular study’s findings were that “less than three-tenths of 1 percent who tanned frequently developed melanoma while less than two-tenths of 1 percent who didn’t tan developed melanoma,” according to an article the AHCJ referenced that can be found at Delaware Online’s website.
The AHCJ website explains that when paired with other studies, what was actually a 55 percent relative risk increase became one of 75 percent. Even that number leaves the absolute risk of developing melanoma from indoor tanning before age 35 below 1 percent.
However numerous they may be, the opposing studies done on indoor and outdoor tanning, UV radiation exposure and cancer prevention and causation are unlikely to end in the near future.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration stands by its position that indoor tanning leads to skin cancer while Health News’ website reported on June 19 that new research is being done on a potential link between sunlight exposure and pancreatic cancer prevention.