Obesity may hasten the course of Alzheimer's disease, new research suggests.
A recent investigation found a strong association between tanning and a markedly higher risk of developing melanoma.
In a study published in Science Advances, researchers linked indoor tanning to DNA damage related to melanoma across nearly the entire surface of the skin.
Melanoma is the most dangerous form of skin cancer, responsible for about 11,000 deaths every year in the United States. Although indoor tanning has long been tied to cancer risk, this study provides additional evidence of its broad harm.
The team also noted that tanning beds cause extensive DNA mutations in melanocytes, even in skin areas that typically receive little sunlight.
To conduct the study, scientists reviewed medical records from roughly 3,000 individuals who used tanning beds and a similar group who did not.
About 5.1% of tanning bed users were diagnosed with melanoma, compared with 2.1% of non-users. After adjusting for various risk factors, indoor tanning was associated with a 2.85-fold increase in melanoma risk.
Employing advanced single-cell DNA sequencing, researchers analyzed 182 melanocytes from both tanning bed users and controls.
The findings showed that skin cells in indoor tanners harbored nearly twice as many mutations, with a higher occurrence of genetic changes linked to melanoma.
Crucially, these mutations appeared even in regions of the skin not ordinarily exposed to the sun, indicating that tanning devices can inflict more severe DNA damage than natural sunlight in some cases.
These results challenge industry claims that tanning beds are no more dangerous than sun exposure and underscore the broader, systemic harm of indoor tanning.
