Studies suggest that those who've had more than five sunburns in childhood are around 80 per cent more likely to suffer melanoma.
asserted
who → suggest → melanoma
The risks of sunbeds have been pulled into sharp focus this week following the death of 30-year-old Chelsea Tantum, a self-confessed sun-worshipper who admitted competing with her friends for the darkest tan.
asserted
who → pull → tan
Tantum, who died from melanoma skin cancer, used sunbeds since the age of 15.
asserted
who → die → 15
But to what extent can you erase your risk by changing your ways in adulthood?
asserted
you → erase → adulthood
Reassuringly, experts have told the Daily Mail that those who've used sunbeds in their early life will not inevitably develop melanoma, which kills around 2,600 Britons every year.
asserted
which → tell → Britons
In fact, they say there may even be a point where damage to the skin is repaired naturally.
uncertain
damage → say → skin
Chelsea Tantum, 30, tragically died from advanced melanoma after more than a decade of sunbed use
'
asserted
Tantum → die → use
It's a little bit like smoking and the risks of developing lung cancer,' says Dr Christopher Rowland Payne, a consultant dermatologist at The London Clinic.
asserted
Payne → develop → Clinic
If you only smoke one or two cigarettes, the increase in your risk of lung cancer is very small - but it does exist.
asserted
it → smoke → cancer
If you smoke more, you have a higher risk.
'
asserted
you → smoke → risk
The sooner you stop, every day that passes after that your risks reduce.
asserted
risks → stop → that
The reason that continued sunbed use - or regular exposure to UV radiation from the sun - raises this risk, is because the skin is subjected to repeated damage.
asserted
skin → continue → damage
However, the good news, according to Dr Rowland Payne, is that the skin has a remarkable capacity to repair itself once excessive UV exposure is reduced.
uncertain
exposure → accord → itself
Provided there is no further burning, the expert said the risk of melanoma may fall significantly after 'three or four years'.
uncertain
risk → provide → years
This could even apply, he says, to people who used sunbeds regularly for decades, or were once keen sunbathers.
uncertain
who → apply → decades
'It would never quite go back to the zero risk of someone who has never sunbathed or used a sunbed, but it would get pretty close,' he added.
asserted
he → go → sunbed
He stressed, though, that this does not mean previous damage disappears entirely.
asserted
damage → stress → ?
Other forms of skin damage, including some of the more common non-melanoma skin cancers, can take longer to develop and may remain linked to UV exposure many years afterwards.
uncertain
forms → include → exposure
Those at greatest risk of such complications, he said, are people who repeatedly expose themselves to UV radiation, particularly those who repeatedly tan and burn.
asserted
who → say → radiation
This means that the longer a person goes without using a sunbed or getting sunburnt, the lower their melanoma risk may become.
uncertain
risk → mean → sunbed
'The risks improve as every day goes by if they stop,' he says.
asserted
he → improve → ?
Dr Rowland Payne adds that it's 'always a good idea' to avoid sunbeds, as well as protecting from sunburn.
asserted
it → add → sunburn
'Exposure to UV light, whether it is from the sun or a sunbed, can cause sunburn or sun tan,' he continues.
asserted
he → cause → sunburn
Research suggests that having five or more sunburns in your life doubles your risk of melanoma.
uncertain
having → suggest → melanoma
Meanwhile, a single blistering sunburn in childhood or adolescence may more than double it.
uncertain
sunburn → blister → it
There are various studies that show the dangers of developing the disease in later life may come from UV exposure at a young age.
uncertain
dangers → be → age
However it is widely accepted that using sunbeds is far riskier than lying in the midday sun.
asserted
using → accept → sun
The ultraviolet (UV) rays emitted by the beds are around 12 times stronger than normal average sunlight, and a third more potent than the hottest day of a British summer.
asserted
rays → emit → summer
These penetrate the skin and damage the DNA in skin cells, worsening with repeated use.
asserted
These → penetrate → use
Over time, the destruction can cause the cells to mutate and develop into cancer.
asserted
cells → cause → cancer
Dr Rowland Payne says sunbeds are particularly harmful because they can expose the skin to more intense UV radiation than natural sunlight.
asserted
they → say → sunlight
'Sunbeds are a much more concentrated form of radiation, which makes the dangers greater,' he continues.
asserted
he → make → radiation
Shockingly, research suggests that almost two in five adults aren't aware of the risks sunbeds pose.
uncertain
sunbeds → suggest → risks
Ms Tantum, who was described by her family as 'strong, beautiful, funny, determined and completely unforgettable', began using sunbeds aged 15.
asserted
who → describe → sunbeds
She continued for more than a decade before being given a devastating diagnosis at 28: stage 3C melanoma, which progressed to stage 4 – the most advanced stage – before she turned 30.
asserted
she → continue → 30
A major analysis published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) in 2012 found that first using a sunbed before the age of 35 increased the risk of melanoma by 87 per cent.
asserted
using → publish → cent
Meanwhile, a large Norwegian study of 141,000 women found that those who started using sunbeds before the age of 30 had a melanoma risk around a third higher than women who had never used them.
asserted
who → find → them
They were also diagnosed 2.2 years earlier on average.
asserted
They → diagnose → ?
The BMJ review also found that anyone who had ever used a sunbed was 20 per cent more likely to develop melanoma than someone who had never used one.
asserted
who → find → one
And charity Melanoma UK says the risk rises by up to 20 per cent for each decade of use.
asserted
risk → say → use
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
