Tanning Beds Moved To Top Cancer Risk Category

I've never been shy about my feelings regarding fitness centers who promote tanning beds. I'm all for people making a buck but to me it's hypocritical to be promoting health/fitness/wellness on one hand while offering a service that puts people at higher risk for cancer on the other.

I can't imagine these same gym owners renting space in their fitness center to a McDonald's or Dunkin' Donuts. And yet, someone could at least choose a healthier option from those menus.

Not so with tanning beds.

Cancer experts from around the world have recently placed tanning beds and other types of ultraviolet radiation into the top cancer risk category; researchers now consider them as deadly as arsenic and mustard gas.

A recent analysis of earlier studies has found that the risk of skin cancer rockets to 75% when people start using tanning beds before the age of 30. Researchers now also conclude that all types of ultraviolet radiation are carcinogenic; previously, scientists thought that only one type of ultraviolet radiation was lethal.

Stay out of tanning beds, folks; it's not worth it. If you really feel the need to look tan, try the sprays or lotions out there; they've really improved over the years.

Tomorrow I'll post the story of Body & Soul member, Andrea, a gold medal tanner. Her story begins with sun tanning but tanning beds play a major role. Come back and check it out.



P.S. Be prepared to find comments from those who make a living off of tanning beds trying to demean me or the above research. It's happened before.