Sun beds & cancer
August 6, 2010
THE University of Sydney has
released the results of its ‘Australian
Melanoma Family Study’ which
revealed that the use of sunbeds
increased the risk of melanoma in
people aged between 18 and 39.
The project involving 23
participants, is the first study to
examine the link between sunbeds
and melanoma in young adults,
and found that those using the UV
machines increased their chance of
developing skin cancer by 41%
compared to those that had never
baked in a sunbed.
“Participants who began using
sunbeds before 20 years of age or
reported more than 10 sunbed
sessions during their life doubled
their risk of melanoma,” said
co-author Professor Bruce Armstrong
from the University of Sydney.
Researchers also found that
sunbeds caused around three
quarters of melanomas in users
under 30.
“If we extrapolate to all cases of
melanoma and not just those
among people who had used a
sunbed, we estimate that 16 per
cent of melanoma cases in patients
aged 18-29 years and 3 per cent in
patients aged 30-39 years would be
prevented by avoiding sunbed
exposure,” said senior author of the
study, Professor Graham Mann.
“The dangers of using sunbeds
are now well known, but there is a
special message from this research
for young people.
“Avoid them completely,” he
added.
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