Tanning Beds Essay

Using tanning beds before the age of 30 increases the risk of getting the deadliest skin cancer (Melanoma) by 59 percent (Hughe, D. 2012).Yet still, there is the question of, “ Should teens be allowed to use tanning beds?”. Tanning has proven to contribute to developing skin cancer, so tanning dramatically increases the chance of developing cancer. Also, the color skin turns from indoor tanning can be quite unnatural and it can be very obvious that the person had gone indoor tanning based on the color of their skin. To add, the conditions of the tanning beds are not as sanitary as people may think. The beds can have all the germs of the people who tanned there before because the beds are not being cleaned regularly.

Today, I’m talking about smoking and the health risks that come with it. Tobacco smoke causes many illnesses and is very deadly; The World Health Organization estimates that each year tobacco causes roughly six million deaths. And six hundred thousand of those deaths occur in people who don’t even smoke, because of secondhand smoke. It 's also the cause of one in five deaths in the United States every year. There are two hundred and fifty known harmful chemicals in cigarette smoke, and sixty-nine can cause cancer.

The incidence of skin cancers is rapidly increasing. There are different types of skin cancers which include Actinic keratoses, Basal cell carcinoma, Squamous cell carcinoma, Melanoma cancer, and Merkel cell carcinoma. Actinic keratoses (AK): These are dry, scaly patches or spots that are precancerous growths. They occur in people who usually have fair skin color. Most Actinic keratoses patients develop their first cancer after 40 years of age because Actinic keratosis tends to develop after years of sun exposure.

Statistically, about fifteen percent of the patients diagnosed with melanoma live for about three to five years. The reason why melanoma is drastically dangerous, is that melanoma develops into malignant cancerous tumors. An example of how melanoma occurs is when people expose themselves to too much ultraviolet radiation. The ultraviolet radiation is going to affect the melanocytes that we have in the epidermis. Once the melanocytes are affected, they are going to start proliferation simultaneously due to damage in the genetic code of a person, which causes cancerous malignant tumors.

Every year, the indoor-tanning industry makes approximately 5 billion dollars (Wingert). Tanning attracts all different kinds of people for numerous reasons. People want that crisp glow and dark skin that is not always offered during every season. There are individuals who believe tanning is beneficial; however, others believe that tanning is not healthy because of research. It is proven through research that tanning can lead in negative outcomes because of the strength of the rays, decreased vitamin D, and the increased risk for Skin Cancer.

Cigarette, cigar and pipe smoking are the main forms of tobacco use in many parts of the world. Alcohol increases the risk of mouth cancer, and if tobacco and alcohol are taken together the risk is greater. According to the American Cancer Society, men face twice the risk of developing oral cancer as women, and men who are over age 50 face the greatest risk. It’s estimated that over 40,000 people in the U.S. received a diagnosis of oral cancer in 2014. It is important to note that over 25% of all oral cancers occur in people who do not smoke

Arsenic, chromium and nickel, which cigarettes have in them, are what increase mostly increase the cancer. Cigarettes contain thousands of chemicals and at least 70 of the substances that cigarettes contain, cause cancer. For example, nicotine, hydrogen cyanide, formaldehyde, arsenic, ammonia etc. and if you keep inhaling cigarette smoke, then your normal cells that line your lungs, are really damaged. If you have a cough that doesn’t go away or it gets worse, or if you have a strong chest pain, that’s when you should know that you’re risk of getting cancer is at 90%.

Based on research I have found the illness that comes close in my opinion to what this patient is suffering from is lung cancer. With the loss in weight within the past 5 years and the domed finger nails that has been statistically shown to appear as a symptom of lung cancer in 3 out of every 10 patients. Along with the 54 years of cigarette smoking and damage that may have been suffered during his war imprisonment in Vietnam, there are many red flags for this illness. Tobacco use is the major cause of lung cancer primarily with cigarette smoke as cancer cells may have acquired genetic lesions. Lung cancer being the leading cause in all cancer deaths with 28% in men and 26% in women with the peak age being between ages 55 and

Cancer has been recently claiming more lives than it did in the past. I have had friends and close relatives die from various types of cancer in their prime ages. People have been blaming the out break of cancer on the food we eat and the chemicals that are added to them, whiles others claim the air and water we drink is heavily toxic. Cancer begins in the cells that are found in the body and then grow out of control by spreading all over the other parts of the body. Any type of cells in the body can be cancerous and has the ability to spread to the rest of the body.

The health topic that was most interesting to me is the issues related to tobacco. As an advocate the first fact I would state about tobacco is how it has caused and is causing millions of people to die as a result of the illnesses they developed through smoking. Next, I would state that smoking also the people who are around the smokers through secondhand smoke, and how it causes the people who involuntarily inhale the smoke, which contains more than 7,000 chemicals, to develop illnesses such as lung cancer, respiratory infections, and asthma to say the least. An organization I would consult for advocacy help to eliminate the use of tobacco is the World Health Organization (WHO). This organization works with The Bloomberg Initiative, which works towards reducing the use of tobacco by promoting freedom from smoking in low and middle-income countries by implementing tobacco control policies proven to make a difference.