Tanning Beds and Cancer

According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, on an average day, nearly thirty million people tan indoors in the United States (“Skin Cancer Facts” 2011). What is even more alarming is, “a new study has shown that people who use tanning parlors once a month or more have an increased risk of developing malignant melanoma by 55%. Melanoma is one of the deadliest forms of skin cancer” (“Skin Cancer Facts” 2011). If this statistic does not scare those who use tanning beds, it should. Although a nice bronze glow accompanies your body after your trip to the tanning bed, a lifetime of trouble for your skin will follow, also. Is a nice tan really worth a lifetime of health concerns for your skin? To many, it is because of societies definition of beauty. Society thinks the idea of beauty involves harming their skin and receiving potential cancer in return for laying in a bed for “color”. This needs to change just as much as we need to stop the increase of skin cancer. One-way to stop this delusional sense of beauty and to decrease the number of skin cancer patients is to ban tanning beds. Tanning beds should be banned in the U.S. because although you may get instant, temporary, tan skin, developing a deathly cancer called melanoma can create more permanent unpleasant medical issues and the real idea of beauty needs to be re-established. To begin, many people have heard the term melanoma but it is important to know and understand what it is. According to the article “Melanoma Stage Three Prognosis,” Melanoma is a cancer that forms in the melanocytes of the skin. These are cells that make melanin, which colors our eyes, hair and skin (“Melanoma” 2011). These cells can be found in moles usually brown or black in color, but sometimes pink, red, or even blue. Not only can these moles and other spots be cancerous, they can be deadly. Melanoma is one of the deadliest cancers in America, and also one of the fastest spreading cancers (“Skin Cancer Facts” 2011). People