SUNLIGHT: Fry Now and Pay Later. This slogan has been made popular by the American Cancer Society, emphasizing that sun and skin are a bad combination.

A tan is not a sign of health; it is a sign that your skin has been damaged by ultraviolet radiation. Sun tanning is dangerous and could eventually lead to cancer.

The views on tanning have changed over the centuries. Before the Industrial Revolution, bronzed bodies belonged to manual laborers and to be brown was a symbol of low social class. Pale skin was popular mainly because rich people stayed indoors. By the 1930's, the sun tan stood for health, wealth, and style because now a tan meant that you had money and could afford a leisurely outdoor life. When sun tan lotion came in the 40's, it was designed to assist with the roasting. In the 60's, the sun lamp brought the tan to your living room. Throughout the 70's and 80's, the fashion press promoted the sun tan as something to make you look and feel healthier and younger (Kenet and Lawler 161).

Whether you want to believe it or not, there is no safe way to tan. While spending a day at the pool or beach, your body is getting a harsh beating from the sun’s ultraviolet rays. UV-A rays penetrate the lower layers of skin and cause premature aging and wrinkling (Poole and Guerry 108). UV-B rays hit the surface of the skin and cause burning and peeling (Kenet and Lawler 35). You should not believe that you can escape the sun’s cancerous rays by going to a tanning bed. Tanning salons were called "an unregulated bad experiment" by Dr. Arthur Rhodes, of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (Kenet and Lawler 166). The National Institute of Health found that some tanning booths actually put out five times as many UV-A rays than the amount that reach the Earth on a given day. Since UV-A is also capable of penetrating the deeper layers of skin, it is even more dangerous as a means of receiving a tan (Kenet and Lawler 167).

The only fatal form of skin cancer, the malignant melanoma, has several signs. A mole may become lumpy, non-symmetrical, reddish along the edges or completely brown and black (Kenet and Lawler 43). There may also be a change in sensation, itchiness, tenderness, or pain (44). This is not a disease to joke about. In 1980 the lifetime risk of getting melanoma was 1 in 250; by the year 2000 it will be 1 in 75 (Poole and Guerry 37). If you recognize these symptoms early enough, there is a 99% cure rate (Thomas, Jason).

Some people are at a greater risk than others. Here are a few characteristics of those who are at high risk of getting skin cancer: a high number of moles, red or fair hair, blue eyes, fair skin and freckles, tanning with difficulty, or a history of the disease in two or more family members (Kenet and Lawler 8). Also, people who live at a high altitude or close to the equator receive stronger ultraviolet rays.

Dr. Guerry states that sun screens "are certainly likely to protect you from melanoma and non melanoma skin cancers, and they can play an integral part in keeping your skin healthy and young-appearing" (109). This seems to be a very good incentive for you to apply sun screen before going outdoors. You should also avoid the sun at its peak (11am- 3pm), seek shade, and cover up with clothing and a brimmed hat. Thin clothes don’t protect you very much from the sun. If you hold your clothing up to a lamp and you can see light through it, the sun’s rays are going to be able to get to your skin through the clothes fairly easily. Just because it is cold outside does not mean the sun isn’t reaching your skin; snow can reflect the sun’s rays. Also, many people do not seem aware that UV radiation is still harmful on cloudy days because the clouds let the UV light pass through.

There are many forms of treatment for cancer. The doctor's main goal is to remove and destroy the cancer completely with as small a scar as possible. Total cure may only be achieved if one hundred percent of the cells are destroyed. The destruction of 99.9% of the malignant cells may still leave enough of them behind to grow and spread. One form of treatment is surgery. The removal of a primary melanoma is usually a simple procedure, requiring only local anesthesia (Kenet and Lawler 111). Radiation therapy is a second treatment. Radiation is the use of high-energy x-rays that inhibit the ability of cells to grow and divide (Kenet and Lawler 111). Chemotherapy is the last form of treatment for skin cancer. Chemotherapy includes drugs which poison cancer cells. There is a risk that goes along with this treatment. All of the cancer cells in a person's body may be killed, but permanent damage could be done to healthy organs.

The sun should not always be seen as the evil villain out to attack unwary, innocent people. Mild exposure to the sun is not harmful for most people. One benefit of the sun, that most of us probably do not think of, is it’s ability to boost our spirits. Just think, after a rainy day, who wouldn’t be happy to see a little sunshine? Some doctors even believe that a slight tan could protect you from skin cancer (Poole and Guerry 25).

Excessive exposure to the sun, or use of the tanning bed, will only make your skin look ugly, drying it out and making it appear leathery. Keep in mind that a tan is not forever, but the damage done to your skin is.
 
 
 
 
 
 

                              Works Cited

Kenet, Dr. Barney, and Patricia Lawler. Saving Your Skin.  New York:  Four
    Walls Eight Windows, 1994.

Poole, Catherine M., and DuPont Guerry IV MD.  Melanoma:  Prevention,
   Detection, and Treatment.  New Haven:  Yale University Press, 1998.

Thomas, Jason (1998).  Skin Cancer- The Facts.
   <http://homepages.tcp.co.uk/~jas/skincancer/facts.html> (1999, Feb 3).