CHARLES GRAHAM: Deadly dangers of sunbed addiction
Both require surgery and it is possible – but not provable – that lifestyle choices rather than sheer bad luck were responsible.
I’ve spilt plenty of ink over the years, proselytizing about the dangers of smoking (which did for my dad), and also the dangers of drugs and excessive alcohol.
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Hide AdBut in these family cases, none of the above is a suspected contributory factor. However, in one instance the finger does point towards an issue that has been topical in Wigan this week: sun beds.
This relative admits to having been a regular visitor to tanning salons in the past and it is this practice on which doctors are now blaming on the skin cancer which has now spread to lymph nodes.
Only on Saturday did we feature Anthea Smith (pictured) from Winstanley whose life was turned upside down by the diagnosis of a malignant melanoma growing in her left ear and for which – once again – a habit of lying under ultra-violet light was identified as the likeliest cause.
Anthea had to have her ear amputated and she now also suffers from tinnitus as well as partial deafness. She has no senses of taste or touch on her left-hand side and has mild facial palsy, so struggles to pronounce some words. Her balance is poor and she feels overwhelmed by sounds in a loud environment.
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Hide AdThe mum of two bravely describes these medical issues as a “small price to pay” for still being alive and is a now a committed advocate for the banning of sun beds.
Having never really had any urges to turn my skin a different colour, by natural or artificial means, the reasons a lot of people clearly want to do so is rather lost on me. We do need sunlight to generate vitamin D and I guess there is an attraction in a face having a honey glow rather than be pasty white, but the former in itself is not an indicator of good health.
With global warming, we Brits have also to be increasingly wary of overdosing on the solar rays – if the summer affords us any more after the dire weather we’ve had for the last week.
So make sure you have sun screen at the ready if you are determined to sit out under a blazing skies.
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Hide AdAs far as tanning salons are concerned, they are currently closed.
If Anthea had her way, they would stay closed.
Unless laws greatly curtail the cumulative usage of sun beds, I’m minded to agree with her.
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