Heard on All Things Considered
June 2, 2010 - ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
At the end of the school year, teenage girls often head to the tanning salon, hoping to look fit and glowing in their prom dresses. But evidence is mounting that too much indoor tanning increases the risk of skin cancer.
As NPR's Patti Neighmond reports, the Food and Drug Administration is taking steps to make sure that teens take the risk seriously.
PATTI NEIGHMOND: It was right before the prom eight years ago. Seventeen-year-old Brittany Cicala was really excited. She was going with the boy she would eventually marry and her dress - well, it was beautiful: delicately beaded lace and spaghetti straps, an elegant A-line in white.
Ms. BRITTANY CICALA: Everyone around me was telling me, man, you would look so much better with a tan and your teeth would look whiter, your acne would go away.
NEIGHMOND: So pale-skinned Brittany did what lots of her friends did; she did what a lot of teens in the U.S. do. She went to a tanning salon. In fact, she went to the salon five, six, often seven days a week, and lay in the tanning bed for 20 to 25 minutes each time.
Ms. CICALA: I called myself a tanorexic, because I would look into the mirror and never see myself as dark as other people would see me - much as an anorexic would never see themselves as thin as other people would see them. So I kept going.
NEIGHMOND: Tanorexic? Yes. That's what a study from psychologist Catherine Mosher, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, recently confirmed. Mosher analyzed data from more than 420 college students, and had them answer questions typically used to screen for alcohol and substance abuse but modified to ask about tanning habits.
Dr. CATHERINE MOSHER (Behavioral Scientist, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center): Do you try to cut down on the time you spend in tanning beds or booths but find yourself still tanning? Do you feel - ever feel guilty that you're using tanning beds or booths too much?
NEIGHMOND: Mosher found the majority of kids answered yes to one or more of these questions, which target addictive behavior. After three years of routine indoor tanning, Brittany Cicala ended up with a serious health problem.
Ms. CICALA: My mom noticed a mole on my back - about the size of a nickel -the summer of 2004. She kept bugging me about it: Brittany, that doesn't look right. You really should go get that checked out.
NEIGHMOND: But Brittany stalled and kept tanning. Then the mole started to bleed. Her doctor took one look at the mole, and scheduled a biopsy for the next morning. Brittany had melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer. Two weeks later, she had surgery to remove the mole, which left a seven-inch scar. Since then, Brittany's had 34 surgeries to remove suspicious moles.
Vocabulary: Match the word with the definition
Prom Take seriously Beaded Spaghetti traps Acne Anorexic Analyzed Behavioral Bugging Biopsy |
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Discussion:
Think about these questions:
1. What are some common beauty treatments or things that people do to look good?
2. Are any of them dangerous?
3. What kind of things will you go through just to look good every day?
4. Do you think that culture shapes people's ideas of what is beautiful?
5. Is appearance a good way to judge character?
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