the times | Wednesday December 2 2020 2GM 17
News
Young women who repeatedly get sun-
burnt or use tanning beds may be
increasing their risk of developing
endometriosis, research suggests.
The study of more than 116,
women also found that those who had
regularly used sunscreen as teenagers
or young adults — indicating that they
spent a lot of time in the sun — had a
higher risk of developing the often
painful gynaecological disorder.
One in ten women in Britain has
endometriosis, a long-term condition
where tissue similar to that in the lining
of the womb starts to grow in other
places, such as the ovaries.
Building on research that found
genetic similarities between endomet-
riosis and melanoma, a serious skin
cancer, scientists at the Harvard school
of public health in Boston, Massachu-
setts, are the first to investigate the im-
pact of sun exposure. However, the
study also found that women who lived
in areas with plentiful year-round sun-
shine had a much lower risk of develop-
ing the disease. In contrast, those who
used sunbeds three or more times a year
from adolescence to 35 increased their
risk of endometriosis by 30 per cent.
The researchers used sunscreen
application as an indicator of the time
spent in the sun. Compared with those
who never used sun protection, women
who used it frequently had a 10 per cent
increased risk of endometriosis.
Meanwhile, women who lived in the
sunniest parts of the US at birth, at age
15 and at 30, had a 19 per cent, 21 per
cent and 10 per cent reduced risk of
endometriosis respectively compared
with women living in areas with the
least annual sunshine.
As the study is observational, no clear
mechanisms can be identified between
sun exposure, tanning and risk of endo-
metriosis, but exposure to ultraviolet
light is associated with DNA damage,
cell damage, inflammation and weak-KENNEDY NEWS AND MEDIAEndometriosis linked to
regular use of sunbeds
ened immune response, which are all
linked to the risk of endometriosis.
Leslie Farland, an assistant professor
at the University of Arizona College of
Public Health (USA), who led the re-
search, said: “Several studies have
found a greater risk of endometriosis in
women who are sensitive to sunlight,
don’t tan easily and have red hair, light
eyes, freckling or a high number of
moles. These associations may reflect a
common genetic background between
endometriosis and melanoma, or an
underlying association between sun
exposure and risk of endometriosis.”
Despite being the second most com-
mon gynaecological problem for
women in Britain, endometriosis is
poorly understood and often misdiag-
nosed. It can be excruciatingly painful.
The study involved 116,429 women
who joined the US Nurses’ Health
Study II in 1989 when aged between 25
and 42. They were surveyed every two
years until June 2015 about their tan-
ning habits, reaction to sun exposure
and whether they had endometriosis.
Caroline Overton, a consultant gy-
naecologist and spokeswoman for the
the Royal College of Obstetricians &
Gynaecologists, said: “What we don’t
know is whether there is a direct link
between sunbeds and endometriosis, or
whether this is an association with
another factor, for example immune or
genetic differences.”Katie Gibbons
Here’s doggy! Red, a French bulldog,
chewed through a door to reach her
companion, Stevie, in Merthyr TydfilPoor recognition
About 1.5 million women in the UK
suffer from endometriosis, where
tissue similar to the lining of the
womb grows elsewhere in the body.
It can be extremely painful as this
tissue can bleed every month when
a woman menstruates, with no way
for the blood to leave the body.
It is the second most common
gynaecological condition in the UK
after fibroids but on average it takes
seven and a half years to get a
diagnosis. It costs the UK economy
£8.2 billion a year in treatment, loss
of work and healthcare costs and
there is no definite cure.