Tanning Increases Risk of Cancer, Premature Aging? Teens Don't Care

If you live hard and fast, you might figure that you're going to, as they say, 'die young.' So what's the harm of roasting in a tanning bed? Sure it can cause skin cancer and premature aging, but that's what plastic surgery and lasers are for (if you live that long, ANYWAY).

Rest-assured, members of Greek-life across the country, blondes everywhere and Texans are trading their future alligator skin for a fabulous, sun-kissed glow throughout their younger years.

According to a recent study, despite the fact that researchers have continuously reported that using tanning beds are not safe. (In fact, as we mentioned previously, in some cases, they can indeed kill you.) high school ladies just don't seem to listen. They'd rather be tan or die. 

"The reason tanning turns your skin brown is that it becomes damaged by ultraviolet radiation. This is true regardless of whether those UV rays come directly from the sun or from an artificial source, like a tanning bed or sunlamp. Both short-wavelength UVB and the relatively longer-wavelength UVA damage the DNA in skin cells, increasing the risk of malignant melanoma and squamous and basal cell carcinomas," noted the American Academy of Dermatology.

In fact, according to the organization, there is a 75 percent increase in the risk of melanoma, the deadliest type of skin cancer, in those who have been exposed to ultraviolet radiation from indoor tanning, and the risk increases with each use. 

This recent study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that new data from the 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Survey and the 2010 National Health Interview Survey regarding tanning beds reported that approximately 29.3 percent of white high school girls used tanning beds at least once a year; 16.7 percent of them tanned more frequently, and others under 35-years-old (24.9 percent), used tanning beds at least once a year. Fifteen percent of the same age group also used them more frequently.

Previous CDC reports have shown that people who use indoor tanning beds before the age of 35 increase their risk of melanoma from 59 to 75 percent. For those who start using indoor tanning beds before 25, their risk factor increases from 40 to 102 percent. (Yikes!)

Whatever happened to pale skin being in? Guess those days are over. (Tear) 

The study was published in JAMA Internal Medicine.