This section reveals some of the common and intriguing myths in the world of medicine and discusses some of the exciting recent medical discoveries and how they affect your world.


5. USING A TANNING BOOTH BEFORE YOU GO TO HAWAII PREVENTS YOU FROM GETTING A SUNBURN"

Many individuals spend part of their holiday money on going to a tanning salon in an effort to prevent getting 'burned' when they arrive down south but this is mythful thinking...there is no safe way to tan-period. Tanning beds produce on average 5x the Ultraviolet A radiation that the sun emits at high noon in the summer. Extensive research has found that 59% of 'fake and bakers' develop some form of skin related injury and that 1st exposure to sunbeds before the age of 35 increases the risk of melanoma (the deadliest form of skin cancer) by 75%.

Eventhough the World Health Organization has recommended that individuals under the age of 18 be banned from tanning salons, it is estimated that in North America more than 25% of teenagers have used sunbeds at least 3 times. Besides the evidence of increased skin cancers with the use of artificial tanning, there is no protective benefit against getting a sunburn when you're boogie-boarding in Maui...bummer.