Book-length work Review

In the book, The Healing Sun, by Richard Hobday, he discusses all of the different types of things that the sun is good for, such as medicine, and Vitamin D. Richard also talks of the diseases caused by the sun, or by the UV rays that are produced by the sun. One of which is skin cancer which is caused by both the sun and by UV rays that we are exposed to in tanning beds. To us tanning is widely accepted and so is that risk of encountering or being exposed to malignant melanoma. Melanoma targets younger age groups because of the way we tan, or sunbathe. Even though we accept the fact that skin cancer is caused by tanning, Hobday says, “Its causes are still poorly understood and the exact nature of its relationship with sunlight exposure has yet to be determined.”
This book has very factual information and relates to my topic more than I expected for it to. I personally did not enjoy the book because it was informative, however, it did help me with my project. Melanoma is a very wide spread disease and does target younger age groups, I have found this to be true throughout my other research to and was not surprised because of how our generation is so lenient of tanning and laying out in the sun without protection, or by going to tanning beds.
The only real problem I had with this book is that it was on more than just that of my topic. It had to do with the sun itself and with diseases that were caused and or cured by the sun. I really only needed the book to be about tanning beds which was never really mentioned in the book it just talked about how lenient we are or UV rays which relate or imply tanning. This in turn made it difficult to prove my question.



Hobday, Richard. The Healing Sun. 1st ed. Findhorn: Findhorn Press, 1999. Print.

Second Multimedia Review

In the video that was shown on the CBS Morning Show, Dr. Jennifer Ashton tells us that “Using tanning beds and booths before the age of 30 increases our risk by 75 percent.” She also reports that researchers have raised the use of tanning beds to the top of the cancer causing list saying that it can be as deadly as arsenic. Maryann Post was interviewed on the morning show, she tells us that she is a two time melanoma survivor and it was mainly because of her addiction to tanning. We are informed that Texas has passed a law saying that if you are not at least sixteen and a half you are not permitted to use a tanning bed. And once again we are told there is no such thing as a safe tan.
I personally think that this video is a little extreme with what it is saying. I am sure that there are facts out there that say it is definitely dangerous but statistics are not fully proven or shown in this video. And the fact that Maryann has had melanoma twice does not mean that everyone will get it. Sure your risk will increase but there is no guarantee. I think this could have been made just to scare young people away from the use of tanning beds and decrease skin cancer risks.

Fourth Critical Review

According to the article, we think tanning is simply, “Darkening of the skin’s tone as an effect of the exposure of ultraviolet radiation emitted by the sun or a sun bed. The skin produces a darker pigment when exposed to these elements therefore producing the slightly toasty or brown color of a tan. Most people believe in the popular misconception of a “healthy tan.” However, the article goes on to say that there is no such thing as a healthy tan, but that the darkening of the skin is yet a way for our body to protect ourselves from more damage by ultraviolet radiation. There are two types of tanning equipment tanning beds and tanning booths, both are considered harmful it is just that one is in a different position than the other. While only the bad side of tanning beds are talked about and broadcasted there are some good sides to tanning beds such as, tanning beds control exposure time and has a set ratio to UVA and UVB light that is given out while tanning, it also benefits your body and the production of Vitamin D. Tanning beds of course have the negative side that we hear about with skin cancer as well.
I was personally surprised when I read this article to find that it had something positive to say about tanning beds and tanning booths. Seeing this makes me wonder why we do not hear about the good side but yet we hear about the negative all the time. I honestly did not know anything about when you body turns darker it is actually protecting itself from father damage, but at the same time I wonder if it is protecting itself, why do we still end up with skin cancer?


"Tanning Beds and Your Health." Tanning Beds and Your Health. All Tanning Beds, 2008. Web. 12 Apr 2010. .

First Multimedia Review

In this video, it is reported that cosmetic and tanning salon companies believe that tanning in tanning beds causes skin cancer. It has been broadcasted that skin cancer is all a hype when it comes to tanning indoors, However, Emily, a young woman who was interviewed, says that it is not a hype because she is recovering from melanoma that was initially caused by going to the tanning bed at the age of nineteen for on average four times a week. David Leffell, a Yale medical student says that “The ad misrepresents the scientific facts that UVA lights from both the sun and the tanning beds cause skin cancer.”
I believe that this video is very contradicting in the way it presents the hype, no hype situation of tanning beds. It says at one point that tanning is healthy but then turns around and says by the way it causes cancer. This video is semi hard to follow because I am not sure that I fully understand both sides of the video because of the factual or non factual information given in the video.

3rd Critical Review

In this source, it talks about the risk of enabling skin cancer by using tanning beds, or tanning booths. The younger you begin using tanning beds increases your risk of causing skin cancer. It says that many seem to think that a “base” tan before going to the beach or to the pool will decrease the risk of having skin cancer, when in reality it increases your risk because you are exposed to twice as much UV rays than if you just went out to the pool and/or the beach. It says that, “UVA was classified as a probable human cancer-causing agent by the international Agency for Cancer Research.” This simply means that the UVA rays in tanning beds are the main reason cancer is caused by the use of tanning beds.
I believe that this article has a lot of truth in it considering the fact that it gives facts and does not just simply say that it causes cancer. It shows the main reason that cancer risk is increased but that it is not the only way, it also says that the sun is harmful as well and can cause just as much if not less damage to our skin. I personally always thought that getting a “base” tan would be better than just going straight to lay out but I see now that that is not the case.

"ACS: Tanning Beds May Increase Skin Cancer Risk." Tanning Beds May Increase Skin Cancer Risk. American Cancer Society, 16 May 2000. Web. 8 Apr 2010. .