10 June 2009
Skin cancer experts at Epsom and St Helier hospitals are alerting local residents to the dangers of sunbeds.
It follows the story last month of ten-year-old Kelly Thompson from Port Talbot who spent 16 minutes on a sunbed and suffered burns to 70 per cent of her body.
Dr Christopher Harland is the Trust's top expert on skin cancer. He said: "Sunbeds aren't a safe alternative to tanning outdoors. In fact, sunbeds are estimated to cause around 100 deaths from the most serious type of skin cancer (called melanoma) every year in the UK. The more you use a sunbed, the greater your risk of getting skin cancer.
"Like the sun, sunbeds give out harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays which damage the DNA in our skin cells and can cause skin cancer. Using a sunbed once a month or more can increase your risk of skin cancer by more than half. Sadly, the tan fades but the damage remains."
Dr Harland added: "There are all sorts of myths around tanning and sunbeds and they are all untrue; a sunbed tan doesn't protect you in the sun, you don't need to burn to get a tan in the first place and, because we all have our own 'tanning limit' spending more time on sunbeds won't make your tan look any better. In fact, short periods of intense, irregular UV exposure, like you get on a sunbed, are the fastest way to damage your skin.
"And if the health effects don't dissuade you, just remember: sunbeds also cause premature skin ageing, which means that your skin becomes coarse, leathery and wrinkled at a younger age."
Additionally, you should never use a sunbed if you:
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are under 18;
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have fair or freckly skin;
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burn easily;
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have a lot of moles;
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have had skin cancer in the past;
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have a family history of skin cancer;
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are using medication that increases your sensitivity to UV.
Dr Harland had a word of warning for local residents: "80 per cent of the people we see with skin cancer have spent too much time unprotected in the sun or on sunbeds.
"Please don't let yourself be one of them."
