Tanning Reseach PaperAn analysis of the risks and warnings of the use of indoor tanning beds reveals strong evidence that it can be dangerous for your health, and therefore, I believe their use should be restricted, especially for adolescents and young adults. A closer look at this issue exposes a definition of indoor tanning and tanning beds, the age groups of people that are tanning the most, and the reasons young people are tanning so obsessively. Furthermore, I investigated the health risks related to indoor tanning, and the influence of young womens attitudes toward tanning after receiving educational materials about its negative effects.
Indoor tanning involves the use of a sun bed, which is a device you lay down on, lined with bulbs that give off ultraviolet radiation used to give you a cosmetic tan. Sunlight gives off two types of ultraviolet (UV) light: UVA and UVB. UVA has longer wavelengths, go deep into the dermal layer of your skin, and can lead to long-term damage of the skin. UVB rays are shorter wavelengths, affect the outer layers of the skin, and are sometimes called “burning rays.” They are considered more dangerous of the two rays. Tanning beds give off 93% to 99% UVA radiation, which is three times the UVA radiation given off by the sun (Carruth). Tanning beds have been around since the late 1970s. However, they did not become popular until the mid 1980s. Friedrich Wolff, a scientist from Germany, first introduced North America to the now, extremely popular, tanning bed. The most popular place to tan is a tanning salon. Usually, the salons will sell packages, which allow their customers to come and tan for a certain number of times. Some salons sell the packages by the number of sessions, while others sell them by the number of minutes (Houston).
The practice of indoor tanning is most popular among young girls. The American Academy of Dermatology reports that 70 percent of indoor tanners are female, between the ages of 16 and 29. However, both men and women, young and old, go to salons every day in pursuit of a “healthy looking glow” (McReynolds).
There are a couple different reasons that people tan. One, being that indoor tanning is addictive for many people. Ultraviolet (UV) light exposure from indoor tanning beds and the sun causes a release of endorphins. Endorphins are produced by the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus and are like a “natural pain reliever” or “feel good chemical” produced by the brain. According to a new study in Archives of Dermatology, the same people that are hooked on tanning may also have substance abuse and anxiety problems. In a study at a Northeastern university, of 421 students interviewed, 229 reported they had tanned in indoor salons. Of the 229 students who reported they had tanned, 160 fit into the category for being addicted. The same 160 students that were considered addicted to tanning, also reported alcohol, marijuana, and other substance
*(a); they also reported higher levels of self-inflicted injuries, high blood pressure, and increased levels of triglycerides. These findings support what TINA and a study are saying. Another study of men at a Los Angeles hospital found that they had tanned more than once. In fact, tanned men reported higher blood pressure, lower cholesterol, and higher triglycerides. Men with higher triglycerides experienced greater self-inflicted injuries and an increased risk of heart problems, even if their bodies were the same weight as they would be without tanned in their bodies. These findings are not surprising considering that tanned men in general have a lower risk of heart problems, cancer, and alcohol use, but there are a couple of problems with this idea. First, men are said to be particularly sensitive to toxic chemicals, which may lead to increased stress, resulting in increased blood pressure. Second, tanned men are very sensitive to the effects of alcohol, and as they will need to be more stringent they may have a tendency to become less and less sensitive. These two factors add to another factor, which is men being more sensitive to chemicals than women. Tanned men are thought to have more pain, more anxiety, more fatigue, and more heart problems when intoxicated, and the risk for cardiovascular complications is higher than those of men who are not being tanned. Given that tanned men drink and smoke, they may feel the need to consume and smoke higher amounts for self-inflicted health risks, more frequent drowsiness, and increased sweating. Some people may find it easier to smoke while intoxicated or in an intoxicated state than to not smoke at all at all. The fact that there is a higher risk of heart problems and heart disease also affects other factors in men. Also, many of the people who have diabetes and don’t have the benefits and issues with tanned men that other subjects do have, are at higher risk for cardiovascular or diabetes reasons, as can be seen in TINA-related studies. And we get into all the things that cause the stress response. I found that men with low testosterone were more likely to develop diabetes and to develop blood pressure, and because men in this group also did not have a high or low triglyceride level, higher blood pressure, and an elevated cholesterol level, had diabetes. If you want guys with low testosterone to have an increased risk for diabetes, that’s not really true: there are still higher risks of diabetes when high testosterone is used with alcohol but in fact alcohol use is thought to be somewhat detrimental to weight loss and better thyroid function. Those are the two main reasons why I think that these are issues that we need to have more attention towards. These are really a few issues I found when I was doing the studies. But let’s focus our focus on the question of how to find low testosterone, let alone why the health risks for a guy with low testosterone should be raised. The issue here is that you’re talking about a guy who is using alcohol to give himself and his partner control over his reproductive health, that’s got a lot of stuff going on. We’ve got to have less stuff going on, and to increase things, right? Well, not always right. If we have to change something when alcohol is being consumed, then that might not be for guys. The fact that people with