The Article
Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer. With the ability to spread rapidly, it the leading cause of death from skin disease. Living in sunny climates or at high altitudes, long-term exposure to high levels of strong sunlight, and the use of tanning devices are all attributed to the cause of melanoma.
In recent studies of women developing melanoma, or skin cancer, results have shown that the number of young white women diagnosed with melanoma has more than doubled in the past three decades.
A further analysis provides even more shocking results. The classification of women in which this increase has been seen is in women who are wealthier and more educated. Why? Experts believe it is because they are spending more leisurely time outdoors and more time tanning.
"Melanoma rates increased significantly during the study periods only among higher-income women, the researchers found. Women from the highest-income areas were nearly six times as likely to be given a diagnosis of malignant melanoma than those in the poorest areas."
Despite the ability of more educated and higher income women to access healthcare and treatment for cancer, invasive cancers are diseases that are not fully preventable by medicine.
Christina Clarke, researcher, summarized the findings: "We think this has to do with cultural preferences in higher-income groups for tanning, having the time to tan and the means to pay for tanning beds, and sun exposure on vacations in the middle of winter."
So this yet again brings up the question, should tanning devices be banned by the government in an effort to decrease the number of skin cancer cases? If the eradication of tanning devices or the taxation on tanning devices was placed into effect, would this be considered an infringement upon human rights, even though it could possibly save thousands of lives?
The economic aspect to this problem is very unique. Since wealthier people are more likely to develop melanoma, donating money to this cause really will not solve any of the problems. I don't think that banning tanning products or devices is the right solution, either. These behaviors are very closely tied to our cultural images of beauty. I think large educational programs are the best way to attempt to help people understand these dangers. However, as the article demonstrates, these programs are not working. As a person in the field of public health, how do you deal with someone who understands the risks of their behavior and follow through anyway? How much more can you do to help these people?
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that tanning products or services should be banned because, like many things in our country, too much is a bad thing. As long as it is done in moderation, the risk of developing melanoma will greatly decrease. Just like eating ice cream all the time, eventually uncontrolled, unhealthy habits catch up to you. Most people that use these services know the risks of tanning, but they choose to do it anyway. I believe this is an interesting to consider because the risks are well know and publicized, but it is still very popular in America. Is our culture that strong that we are willing to put beauty above health?
ReplyDeleteFirst of all I think this article was extremely interesting because it showed an exception to the rule that high-income equals high health status. We talked in class about how high-income is usually associated with better health, but this article shows that there are always exceptions to that rule. In fact this article is an example of the exact opposite. Wealth and the ability to pay for luxuries like tanning, have caused an increase in the risk for developing health issues. I think this shows how sometimes development is not always in the direction of the betterment of health. new technology and inventions, made for the right purposes, can improve health in many ways. However, new technology, made for pleasure or self-beautification can sometimes harm our health. I just found this interesting. Its almost like we're too smart for our own good. Anyways, I do not think that banning tanning services would be an effective way of decreasing the occurrence of skin cancers. In order to formulate an effective plan, the target population must be considered and their rights must not be forgotten. I think in this case it would be difficult to ban tanning because we have this constant societal pressure to be beautiful. So much so that people choose beauty over health. Therefore, I cannot say I know the proper solution to this problem, but I do know that banning tanning would just cause more problems with people claiming that their rights are in violation.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I do not think that completely banning tanning booths should be used to stop the increase in melanoma in America, I think degrees of it may help to discourage it. I by no means want to infringe on people's rights, but I think that something such as an age requirement has the potential to help discourage people, especially young teens, from forming the habit of going to a tanning salon. I think that it sends the simple message to people that the use should be discouraged and it is bad for you. Or possibly, another option would be to put warning posts on all tanning beds, reminding people that it is bad for them.
ReplyDeleteAlthough those options are quick bandaids to the problem, in an ideal world I would rather see the culture of America shift to understand the hazards of tanning and simply choose not to do it. Yet even in the normal sun people are having hard times remembering to put on sun screen.
It is a difficult issue to address, but hopefully one day our culture will stop dying for a tan.