Let’s Talk Women’s Health: Indoor Tanning

INDOOR TANNING REMAINS APPEALING — AND DEADLY —FOR TOO MANY WOMEN

Yep, we’re supposed to know better. We’re supposed to be concerned with more important things than getting a fabulous tan. But plenty of us are regularly subjecting our skin to dangerous ultraviolet (UV) rays through indoor tanning. And doctors are seeing the results, as the rates of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, continue to rise.

Despite the fact that indoor tanners are most often young women, recent research shows that one in 10 people (of both genders) over age 50 visit tanning salons, says New York City dermatologist George Hollenberg, M.D. "The new data shows that there are plenty of parents and grandparents using tanning salons," he says.

Many people believe (incorrectly) that an indoor tan is safer than the old-fashioned variety. "Unfortunately," says Hollenberg, "millions of Americans just aren't getting the message, or they're choosing to ignore it."

The bottom line is that indoor tanning is as bad or worse for you than lying in the sun, and it's been definitively tied to skin cancer and premature aging, Hollenberg notes. The radiation produced during indoor tanning is similar to that produced by the sun, and in some cases, it’s even stronger. It's also been proven to damage the DNA in skin cells. "There's no such thing as a safe suntan," he says.

CARBS? PROTEIN? FAT? WHEN IT COMES TO DROPPING POUNDS, IT’S ALL ABOUT THE CALORIES

You’ve heard about them all. Many popular diets emphasize either focusing on or eliminating carbs, protein or fat as the best way to lose weight. But there have been few studies lasting more than a year that evaluate the effect on weight loss of diets with different compositions of those nutrients.

Finally, we have some answers. In a randomized clinical trial led by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, researchers compared overweight participants assigned to four different diets over a two-year period. The results showed that reducing calories resulted in weight loss regardless of which of the three nutrients was emphasized.

"This is important information for physicians, dieticians and adults, who should focus weight-loss approaches on reducing calorie intake," says Frank Sacks, professor of cardiovascular-disease prevention at Harvard and lead author of the study.

In addition to following heart-healthy diets, participants were asked to do 90 minutes of moderate exercise each week. They recorded their daily food and drink intake in a food diary and in a Web-based program that provided information on how closely they were meeting their dieting goals. Individual and group counseling was offered.

The good news: Participants lost an average of 13 pounds at six months and maintained a 9-pound loss at two years. Weight loss primarily took place in the first six months; after 12 months, all groups began to slowly regain weight, a finding consistent with other diet studies. (Sound familiar?) However, the extent of weight regain was much less, about 20 percent, than the average regain in previous studies. Waistlines were reduced by an average of two inches at the end of the two-year period.

"These results show that, as long as people follow a heart-healthy, reduced-calorie diet, there is more than one nutritional approach to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight," the authors note.