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Abigail Marsh Debrah Dagher English 1102-017 19 March 2014

Inquiry Project: Skin Cancer Everyone knows what cancer is in one way or another. It has touched a loved one, a friend, a friends family, maybe even yourself. Today it seems to affect more people than it once did so many years ago. Doctors are searching for cures and writing down research as much as they can, yet it feels so far away from a cure. Through my research on cancer, I chose skin cancer. A cancer that has run ramped through my family; stolen many loved ones from me, and most importantly, took my mom when a girl needs her mom the most. This cancer is Melanoma. This cancer is highly preventable as long one knows the precautions to take. The need for tanned skin has taken over the need for protecting a persons skin that is where tanning beds come in to play. Melanoma is not just a cancer that has been on the rise the past decade, but reall had its start back in the 1920s. (Finkel) In an article by Elizabeth Finkel called Sorting the Hype From the Facts In Melanoma was written in 1998. (Finkel) It discussed how over a 12 month span of time, there had been controversy of what exactly caused skin cancer yet all of the researchers came back to one thing in particular, the new trend of tan skin. (Finkel) They were on the right track, but with this research being older, they did not have a solid lead on whether it was

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exposure to the sun that always caused Melanoma, or something else. (Finkel) As quoted by Merrianna Berwick, from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer center, we are all reacting to the complexity of Melanoma. The problem is we simply dont know how to interpret the data.(Finkel) One of the best studies in this article showed how in 1970s a study was done by Bruce Armstrong in Australia. In his study, he looked at people who worked indoors and those who worked out doors and their risk for skin cancer. It stated that The high Melanoma incidents on areas exposed to the sun occasionally supports the idea that intermittent exposure might be riskier than regular exposer.(Finkel) This is a great thing to see when it comes to people who used to work on the farms back in my grandfathers day in age did not contract this disease because they were constantly in the sun. This generation and the one before, are working in big, air conditioned buildings and not spending as much time outdoors, therefore their skin may not be used to the constant sunlight. This should make us want to take care of our skin and know how to correctly do so. People do not know how to take care of their skin, because they are not well informed. In an article by Daniel Roberts from 2009 stated that In a survey done in a 1995 telephone survey, 42% of respondents had no knowledge of melanoma and the 18-24 age group had the least or poorest knowledge of melanoma. The finding for the 18-24 age group is especially troubling because this group with the lowest knowledge is particularly prone to dangerous environmental exposure, through frequent behavior such as sunbathing outdoors and tanning bed usage. (Roberts 616) It goes to show that ones excessive sun exposure starts at a young age causing serious damage that comes along later in life. It is said by Roberts, that there seems to be a 20 year difference from time of exposure to the skin and the first sign of skin cancer. (Roberts 617) I feel that I can vouch for this to be true on account of when my mother was first diagnosed.

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My mother, like most teenagers in the 80s spent a lot of time on their looks. She lived in the tanning bed during the winter and spent her summers on the Narragansett beach with my father. She did not tan well at all, she was a fair skinned, blonde hair, blue eyed, who also was half Italian and half Irish. Not the best combo to be sitting in the sun all day. She burned a lot, and when she burned, she peeled the tan right off. Once that was over she went right back to tanning. It all wreaked havoc on her skin, and after having me, she stopped tanning all together. From then on, she took care of her skin because my grandmother, as well as my uncle both had spots of Basal Cell Carcinoma, a less invasive form of skin cancer. All of the years of tanning finally caught up to her when she was 45 years old, when she was diagnosed with stage 2 melanoma. A year and a half later, she was moved to stage 4, where it had gone to her lungs, brain, and bones. She fought for 9 months; but lost her battle in August 22nd 2010. I was 16 years old. As stated by Dr. Roberts Despite the 20 year lag phase between exposure and clinical signs of melanoma, we believe the growing prevalence of melanoma, particularly the pre invasive malignant melanoma corresponds to a rise in tanning bed prevalence. (Roberts 617) The tanning bed industry has over 50,000 facilities and makes an estimated 5 billion dollars a year. (Indoor Tanning) This rising number of tanning beds coincidentally goes alont with the rising number of skin cancer cases in American, where 1 out of every 5 people will be diagnosed with skin cancer in their life time, and that there are over 3.5 million new cases every year. (Indoor Tanning) Every time a person burns or tans, they are changing their DNA and damaging their own DNA This rising issue is also making way for law changes with the usage of tanning beds. There are over 30 million people who tan every year, and of that 30 million, over 3 million are under the age of 18, being in the age group where the second leading cancer is melanoma. (Indoor Tanning) With starting at a young, they are even showing signs of an

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addiction to tanning and indoor tanning bed use. (Indoor Tanning) Tanning causes the release of endogenous opioids causing over 53% of indoor tanning users to show signs of UVR Associated Substance Related Disorder. (Indoor Tanning) People are literally becoming addicted to the tanning bed, thus making it harder to stop. This is where the government, begins to step in on the topic of dependency on tanning beds and the use by young adults. It was stated in the article Indoor Tanning Amongst Young Adults: Time to Stop Sleeping on the Banning of Sunbeds, that In January 2012, California became the first U.S. state to completely prohibit indoor tanning for minors. New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Chicago have recently passed similar legislations, although not federal laws have been passed. (Indoor Tanning) Along with a law in the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, put in a 10% excise tax on all indoor tanning. (Indoor Tanning) Before all of this has gone into action, the Tanning Accountability and Notification Act of 2007 took action as an updated version of the original 1979 act, where the warning labels on tanning beds now say Ultraviolet Radiation can cause skin cancer.(Indoor Tanning) Thanks to new research done on this topic of skin cancer, it has become easier for laws to be passed and for the word to get out on just how deadly it is. There is always a good way to look at this issue though when it comes to those how know the type of skin they have, and ultimately know how to protect themselves. It was shown in a study done in Maryland that those who knew they were more susceptible to skin cancer, where more likely to wear sunscreen and skin protective clothing when needed.( The Associations) In the study, it also showed that those who knew their risk, where more informed to their chances of cancer, and were better equipt when it came to the idea of taking care of their skin from the sun. (The Associations)

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The problem of being aware is not just a problem going on in America, but is also seen in a study conducted in Germany, where over a time period of a year had telephone surveys done one people in certain areas of the country. They looked at the level at which they were in the sun, beauty marks, skin types, eye color and family history on the matter of skin cancer. (Building Awareness) Those who were current tanning bed users were less aware of what they were doing and hurting their skin, rather than those who has never or has stopped using a tanning bed. (Building Awareness) This goes to show, melanoma is a rising diseases with little known education on how to prevent it. It was disheartening to see how people do not know the risks they are taking and what they are putting their bodies through, in the name of tan skin. This may be sad, but also triumphant for the states that are trying to ban tanning beds and the government making it known that tanning is not so harmless as everyone thinks. I didnt do the research on this to scare people but to inform. To maybe change a mind of a tanning bed user who doesnt see how it is hurting them, physically and mentally. I want to inform someone that they can be beautiful without the tan, to do it not just for yourself, but for your future husband, wife, or child. I dont want anyone to ever have to see what I saw, to live the rest of my life without their mom to see them graduate, get married, and have kids. So skip out on the tan skin this summer, yes it may look good for a few months, but Id rather give away those few months of tan for 10 years with my future grandkids.

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