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Many young people at risk of skin cancer

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Despite warnings about the dangers of excess sun exposure, young adults still get sunburned or use indoor tanning beds, federal health officials said.

Both activities increase the risk for skin cancer including potentially fatal melanoma.

"People need to realize that exposure to ultraviolet light, whether it's from the sun or tanning beds, is dangerous, particularly when you are young, and they need to limit their exposure," said Dr Marcus Plescia, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's division of cancer prevention and control.

"We are concerned that tanning is becoming more prevalent and we are concerned that this is going to become a real epidemic if we are not careful. The problem is you don't see the cancers crop up until 10 to 15 years later," he said.

To protect this generation from widespread melanoma, the CDC said public health efforts are needed to increase shade and sunscreen use in recreational areas.

The findings appear in two reports published in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

How the study was done

In one study, the CDC researchers found that 50% of people 18 to 29 years old had at least one sunburn in the past year, despite an increase in sunscreen use and other protective actions, such as sitting in the shade and wearing protective clothing. Among whites, 66% had been sunburned.

In the other report, researchers found indoor tanning common among young adults, with the highest rate among white women between 18 and 25. Many reported tanning nearly 28 times on average in the past year, according to the report.

About 6% of US adults reported indoor tanning at least once the previous year. Among the white indoor tanners, 58% of women and 40% of men had used tanning beds 10 or more times in the past year, the researchers found.

"People need to understand that there is a risk to using tanning beds," Plescia said.

Indoor tanning before age 35 increases the risk of melanoma by 75%, the report noted. The fact that melanoma rates are higher among young white women than young white men might be explained by their more frequent use of indoor tanning, the authors suggested.

Indoor tanning a problem

The US Food and Drug Administration is considering requiring labels on tanning beds to inform users about the risk of skin cancer, he said. But he doesn't believe banning indoor tanning is realistic.

Dr Daniel Siegel, president of the American Academy of Dermatology, said the numbers weren't unexpected. "I am not surprised we are seeing lots of people tanning. It's just like smoking and other risky habits; you're young and you think you are immortal," he said.

"This is one more bad habit people need to change," Siegel explained. "You need to protect yourself from the carcinogenic ultraviolet light you get from the sun and tanning beds."

Melanoma is increasing at an alarming rate, Siegel added. "If you look at the lifetime risk, it's close to 1 in 50; it was 1 in 1 000 forty years ago," he said.

To reduce the risk of skin cancer, the CDC recommends:

  • Stay in the shade, especially from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  • Wear clothing to protect exposed skin.
  • Wear a wide-brimmed hat to shade the face, head, ears and neck.
  • Wear wraparound sunglasses that block most ultraviolet A and ultraviolet B rays.
  • Use sunscreen with sun protective factor 15 or higher that blocks both ultraviolet A and ultraviolet B rays.
  • Don't use indoor tanning.

Read more:
Caring for your skin

More information

For more information on skin cancer, visit the Skin Cancer Foundation.


(Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved.)

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