Find out the most shocking causes of skin cancer

May 2, 2015 12:50 PM

Now, did you know that even our unintentional tanning has its own side effects?

So most of us may not have reasons to purposely tan but the harsh weather recently hasn't given us much of a choice in the matter.

So for those that actually go out of their way to tan, be it by lying on the beach or actually trying and indoor tanning machine, you need to listen up.

The main reasons for tanning most times are pretty simple.

Many young women love the way a tan looks, and the way the sun feels.

"In my research, people say it makes you look healthy, thinner, and outdoorsy," says Joel Hillhouse, an associate dean of research at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, who specializes in skin cancer and tanning.

When someone regularly tans, they're hooked on that warm, happy, energized feeling. UV exposure releases endorphins, which is possibly why people with seasonal affective disorder or low serotonin levels are more likely to be frequent indoor tanners.

A recent study even found a genetic link to tanning addiction.

"When someone is tanning, you see changes in the brain in the same area associated with other addictive behaviors," says Brenda Cartmel, a senior research scientist at Yale School of Medicine and the author of the study.

"After all, one hallmark of addiction is that you continue with the same behavior even though you know it's harmful."

Combine that endorphin rush with all the things we regularly associate with sunny weathers, white bikinis, rooftop pools, BBQs, and you know what you are in for.

"Our relationship with the sun is inherently ambivalent," says Ellen Marmur, an associate clinical professor of dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. "The sun gives us energy, and it has amazing healing properties. It's not all bad, but it's hard to know the balance."

Skin-cancer rates have been on the rise for 30 years, despite decades of lectures about sunscreen. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in this country.

Nearly 5 million Americans are treated for the disease each year, and the incidence rate is up 300 percent from 1994.

Indoor tanning alone is linked to 419,000 cases of skin cancer a year in the U.S. Though melanoma represents only a small percentage of diagnoses, it can spread fast and be lethal, and it's the most common form of cancer among young adults aged 25 to 29.

Between 40 and 50 percent of all Americans who reach age 65 will develop a basal-cell or squamous-cell carcinoma.

It's a misconception that these are never deadly; they're sometimes fatal and can be disfiguring.

"The rise in skin-cancer rates boils down to UV exposure," says Dawn Holman, a behavioral scientist in the division of cancer prevention and control at the CDC and a lead writer of the Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent Skin Cancer. "If we can decrease that, we can decrease the number of skin cancers."

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