A scientific study discovers that one out of seven patients even after being diagnosed with skin cancer will go back to tanning.
A recent study that has been published in Jama Dermatology focused on 178 patients who have admitted that they enjoy tanning before they were diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma. Of the 178 patients, all were either white or non- Hispanic and were mostly women
.Four years later, the patients filled out an online survey and 26 of them have reported going back to tanning. The average number of times they went tanning that year was 10, but some have reported going as many as 20 times. Among the 26 that have returned to tanning, 58% of them showed signs of "tanning dependence".
Dr. Richard Langley, the president of the Canadian Dermatology Association, says he has seen many patients return to tanning even after they have discovered being diagnosed with skin cancer. They have either returned to sun bathing or tanning booths.
Langley says it is always surprising and ironic that the ones who are diagnosed and have been educated about skin cancer are always the ones that continue to expose themselves to a known carcinogen.
So why do they continue to take their chances with tanning?
"A patient with a cancer diagnosis from a known carcinogen who continues to expose themselves to that carcinogen is often in denial," Langley says. "That's a prominent sign of dependency." While others insist that skin cancer runs in their family and has nothing to do with tanning.
"Patients will often describe that it feels good when they get sun exposure or go to a tanning salon … They talk about needing to do it and craving it, and when they don't do it, a feeling of withdrawal," he says.