“There are people that are so vain that they go under a tanning light, even though they look worse in the long run,” Dr. Bryon Adinoff, professor in drug and alcohol abuse research at the University of Texas, said.

Within the next year, 28 million Americans, 10 percent of the population, will visit a tanning facility, according to the American Tanning Institute. A number of students from MHS are among this 10 percent.

“I go at least three times a week,” Alyssa Lomantini, junior, said. “I like myself better tan and I feel better in general once I go. It’s addictive.”

Tanning can have addictive qualities, Dr. Natalie Semchyshyn a Saint Louis University dermatologist, said.

“Tanning is just like cigarettes and heroine,” Dr. Semchyshyn said. “They are bad for you, and everyone knows they are, but you just can’t stop.”

Dr. Adinoff conducted a study in which he analyzed the reasons behind tanning and how the negative effects are pushed aside so tanners can seem almost addicted to the desire to accomplish the golden brown skin tone.

In the 2008 study, Dr. Adinoff used neuroimaging to see into the brain of tanners while bathing. During the sessions, tanners striatum lit up.

“This is a part of the brain that is associated with award and is activated by UV light,” Dr. Adinoff said. “This shows it’s not addictive, but rewarding, which makes it problematic; however, it may explain a way towards a cure for over users.”

His study also hits on the idea of our ancestral need to be in the sunlight and get our fill of the warmth.

“We are hard wired to enjoy the sensation of being outdoors in the sun,” Dr. Adinoff said. “Everyone has been outdoors and felt the warm sun on their skin.”

Some tanners try to justify their reason for tanning as a need for vitamin D.

“Tanning and the sun are two different types of UV rays,” Dr. Semchyshyn said. “UVB is associated with pure sunlight and makes vitamin D, but tanning beds use UVA rays, which give you a deep damaging tan. Not as much burn but an even deeper level of damage.”

In fact, the darker tan one gets the less vitamin D is soaked into your skin, Dr. Semchyshyn said.

Not only do tanners get less vitamin D and addictive symptoms, but they also have serious risks for cancer and skin diseases.

“Tanning is a major health threat overall,” Dr. Adinoff said. “Melanoma kills tens of thousands every year and tanning in general can have very serious health problems.”

Dermatologists are seeing a spike in skin cancer and disease related to indoor and outdoor tanning, Dr. Semchyshyn said.

“Young twenty-something females will come in with skin cancer, which is rare so young and have a history of severe tanning bed use,” Dr. Semchyshyn said. “Depending on the person, cancer can deter some tanners, but a little spot on the back that we remove and take care of can easily be blown off and then the patient goes right back to tanning.”

There are many alternatives to tanning that can be just as effective in producing the desired skin color.

“If you don’t like to look pale, you can use spray on, mystic tan and gradual tans such as jorgens,” Dr. Semchyshyn said. “As long as you exfoliate well before your spray on everything can be even and last for about a week.”

Overall the cons outweigh the pros in tanning, Dr. Adinoff said. The risks just aren’t worth the reward.