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Sarah
Palin, vitamin D and tanning beds, part 2.
To determine whether Sarah Palin was
justified in installing a tanning bed in the Alaska
Governor’s mansion, we need to decide whether or not the
fear regarding sunlight as a cause of melanoma is justified.
Tanning beds, you see, emit the same type
of ultraviolet light (UV) as summer sun.
First of all, let’s take a look at the
history of UV exposure since 1900.
That year, approximately 75% of the
population of the US worked outdoors; today, only 10% work
outdoors.[1]
Yet, with this profoundly decreased
exposure to sunlight, melanoma has increased
dramatically in every age group since that time; for
example, the lifetime risk of melanoma in 1930 was one in
1,500, whereas the risk today is one in 60.
Is there something wrong with this
scenario?
If sunlight exposure causes melanoma,
shouldn't melanoma incidence decrease with decreasing
sunlight exposure?
Other troubling facts for the
dermatologists who march in lock-step with official policy:
seventy-eight percent of all melanomas occur on areas of the
body that are seldom exposed to sunlight,[2] and people who
work indoors develop 50% more melanomas than those who work
outdoors.[3]
Furthermore, among black people, nearly
all melanomas occur on the soles of the feet and on the
lower legs.[4]
Melanomas in women occur primarily on the
upper leg and in men occur primarily on the back.[5]
These cancers also occur inside the
mouth,[6] on sex organs[7] and in the armpits[8]—all areas
of little or no sunlight exposure.
So here is my question for you to
consider:
Do you believe that sunlight causes
melanoma?
In other words, is the “sunlight creates
melanoma” theory reasonable? Stay tuned for part three.
[1] Genuis, S. Keeping your sunny side up:
How sunlight affects health and well-being. Can Fam
Physician. 2006 April 10; 52(4): 422–423
[2] Christophers, A. Melanoma is not caused by sunlight.
Mutation Research/Fundamental and Molecular Mechanisms of
Mutagenesis 1998;422:113-17.
[3] Garland F. et al. Occupational sunlight exposure and
melanoma in the USA Navy. Arch Environ Health 1990;
45:261-67.
[4] Crombie, I. et al. Racial differences in melanoma
incidence. Br J Cancer 1979;40:185-93.
[5] Hakansson, N. et al. Occupational sunlight exposure and
cancer incidence among Swedish construction workers.
Epidemiology 2001;12:552-57.
[6] Burgess, A. et al. Parotidectomy: preoperative
investigations and outcomes in a single surgeon practice.
ANZ J Surg. 2008 Sep;78(9):791-3.
[7] Ribé, A Melanocytic lesions of the genital area with
attention given to atypical genital nevi J Cutan Pathol.
2008 Nov;35 Suppl 2:24-7.
[8] Rhodes, A. Melanoma’s Public Message. Guest editorial,
Skin and Allergy News 2003;34 |
