Cosmopolitan USA – June 2017

106

BODY

“My sun worshipping

caught up with me.

i’ve been vigilant about skin care since I

started med school at 25. But before that,

I sinned in pretty much every sun-related

way. In my teens, I used baby oil and

had tanning contests with friends—we all

wanted that golden glow. I was also an

outdoor athlete and wilderness survival

guide who didn’t wear SPF.

I was still shocked to learn, in 2007, that

I had a basal cell carcinoma, a cancerous

lesion on the surface of my skin. I’d noticed

a small pink bump on the tip of my nose—at

first, I assumed it was a pimple—and asked

one of my residents to biopsy it.

The good news is that the vast majority

of basal cell cancers can be cured with sur-

gical removal. Mine was no different,

even when it happened again with a spot

under my eye two years later.

But I still wasn’t in the clear. That same

year, I found what looked like a dirt spot on

my knee that wouldn’t smudge off. It was

a pre-melanoma—much more serious than

my previous two scares. Luckily, I caught

it early, before it could spread, and now all

that’s left is a tiny scar.

When my patients say, “I already did so

much damage in my teens—why stop tan-

ning now?” I tell them that there’s still time

to protect themselves. The immune system

is always working to find and destroy UV-

damaged cells. Each time you expose your-

self anew, you weaken your body’s ability to

keep those cells from mutating into cancer.

—ELLEN MARMUR, MD

dermatologist and founder of Marmur Medical,

in New York City

The science is clear: Tanning beds

cause cancer. The World Health

Organization classifies them as a

carcinogen, alongside cigarettes and

asbestos. Baking yourself even once

increases your lifetime risk of

melanoma by 20 percent, according

to a meta-analysis in the journal

BMJ. Plus, it may soon be against

the law: At press time, 15 states,

the District of Columbia, and several

cities and counties have made it

illegal for anyone under 18 to use a

tanning bed. The FDA has also

proposed sweeping federal

restrictions. If you’re desperate for

sun-kissed skin, stick with self-

tanners. You’ll look younger and

live longer. Need more incentive

than that? You could save money by

avoiding biopsies and cancer

treatment. “Every time you don’t use

a tanning bed,” says Dr. Marmur,

“think of it as paying yourself $500.”

STAY

OUT OF

BEDS

HEADS UP: A

BIG HAT AT THE

BEACH CAN BE

LIFESAVING.