HHS HealthBeat (January 16, 2008)

Campus tans

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Skin doctors say indoor tanning raises the risk of skin cancer. But that doesn’t seem to stop people from doing it. So a researcher decided to see what was on some of these people’s minds.

Joel Hillhouse of East Tennessee State University surveyed college women. His study in Archives of Dermatology was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Some tanners were special eventers – preparing before, say, a prom. Others tanned when the mood hit them. The hard core just tanned a lot. And some combined reasons.

Hillhouse says different tanners may need different ways to convince them that indoor tanning isn’t safe. And he says:

``There’s other options available out there, such as the spray-on or self-tanner. These do a pretty good job, they’re quick – and, more important, they don’t seem to have any health effects.’’ (8 seconds)

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: January, 15 2008