Tanning beds cause cancer

The highly respected English medical journal Lancet Oncology published an analysis this week, documenting the cancer risk of tanning beds.  The authors evaluated 20 existing studies and concluded that the risk of skin cancer increases by 75 percent among young people who visit tanning beds before the age of 30.    The scientists concluded that all types of ultraviolet radiation contribute to cellular mutations and render radiation carcinogenic.  The Associated Press noted that as tanning bed use has increased in the U.K., melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, is now the leading cancer diagnosed among women in their 20s.  Previous studies have suggested that younger people who regularly use tanning beds increase their risk of melanoma to eight times the average among the population in general.