Sun Tan Parlors and Skin Cancer

Suntan parlors are still poorly regulated, poorly understood, and full of misrepresentations to promote their industry. K, a patient at the offices of MetropolitanMD for several years, went to a suntan salon several weeks ago. She likes to go to suntan parlors because she thinks she looks healthier with a bronzed skin color. On that day she felt some burning of her right ear, right neck, and right shoulder after the treatment. She called an employee to examine the lamps to which she had been exposed and they found one of the lamps was cracked. The next morning she had blisters over her right ear, right neck, and right shoulder and intense redness and pain. With medical care the burn subsided over the next week. The suntan salon gave her coupons for free treatments in the future. I wonder how successful they would be if they advertised that patrons could come to their booths to get cancer and if they get cancer they could get coupons for free treatments to get more cancer!
The suntan industry has long been guilty of misrepresentations and outright lies. The National Institute of Health has noted that after UVA suntan treatments changes in the white blood cell count of helper to suppressor cells reflects the same defective reversals as that found in HIV patients. This got something like a page 12 notation in the Chicago Tribune and little attention after that. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States and the 7th leading cancer killer. The incidence increases every year.
This year, with the help of what appears to be several misguided medical groups, the suntan industry is promoting tans to treat vitamin D deficiency - a disease which is not normally known to exist in the industrialized world! These groups cite associations with diseases that have yet to be proven, such a colon cancer. Think about it. How many people with colon cancer have worn red sweaters. Might we infer that red sweaters cause or at least predispose one to colon cancer? Shall we conclude that an arbitrary level of vitamin D which is not found normally in humans is preferable to skin cancer? Shall we conclude that 1/2 truths are better than no truths so we should change our habits to accommodate the marketing objectives of a private industry?
And while we are at it, may we remember that the love affair with sun tans is less than 100 years old compared to the millenia of human existence where the advantages of Darwinian selection determined skin color? I suggest we all do ourselves a favor: enjoy the sun for its healthy benefits (chiefly mental) and wear hats, shirts and shorts this summer. As for suntan parlors: let's throw them in with General Motors.
Edward B. Lack MD www.metroplitanmds.com

MetropolitanMD Donates to PanCan for every Botox and Filler Patient in April

U S Supreme Court Justice Ruth Ginsburg, Dr. Randy Pausch, Patrick Swayze, Michael Landon, Fred Gwyne, Jack Benny, Rex Harrison, Donna Reed, Richard Crenna, Luciano Pavarotti, Joan Crawford. They all had pancreatic cancer and most of them died of the disease. I also had pancreatic cancer. Three of us are still alive.
Do you know anyone who has or had pancreatic cancer? My guess is that you do.
Almost 38,000 new cases of pancreatic cancer were diagnosed in the United States in 2008 and almost 37,000 died of the disease this past year. Pancreatic cancer is the
4th leading cancer killer in the United States and is woefully underfunded by the National Cancer Institute.
PanCan, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, is the leading advocacy group for pancreatic cancer in the U.S. as it supports research, patient care, and patient advocacy. PanCan Illinois will hold its annual walk, Illinois Purple Stride on May 2 in Lincoln Park.
MetropolitanMD will donate 25.00 for every patient who purchases botox or a filler during the month of April. We would love for you to join us. We are also hosting a fund-raising page at
http://www.pancan.org/Volunteer/local.html under the name Edward Lack and I will very much appreciate any donations sent to PanCan for the walk. I do not exaggerate when I ask you to make a contribution for your children. The very existence of some of them depends on it.