Tanning Parlors Take Heat

People who seek a glamorous tan through sun lamps may double their risk of developing common types of skin cancer, according to a new study that found the risk was highest for those who start at a young age.

The study, appearing in the latest issue of Journal of the U.S. National Cancer Institute, concluded that people who use tanning devices were 1.5 to 2.5 times more likely to have common kinds of skin cancer than were people who did not use the devices.

The study confirmed what doctors have long suspected—that sun lamp use increases the risk of basal cell and squamous cell skin cancers, said Margaret R. Karagas, first author of the study.

Either going to tanning parlor, or getting an infrequent sunburn can seriously damage the skin, said Dr. James Spencer, vice chairman of the department of dermatology at Mount Hospital, but the small, day-to-day exposure is worse for the skin in the long run.

Joseph A. Levy, vice president of the International Smart Tan Network, however, said occasional sunburn “is a risk factor in all forms of skin cancer and intermittent sunburn is what the tanning industry is trying to stop.”

In the study, Karagas and her colleagues interviewed 603 basal cell skin cancer patients and 293 with squamous cell skin cancer. They talked to 540 control subjects, who did not have either type of skin cancer.

About one million Americans are diagnosed annually with skin cancer. Among those skin cancer patients, about 80 percent are with basal cell skin cancer, 16 percent, with squamous cell skin cancer and 4 percent, with melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancers. Back to the interviewed patients, 190 reported that they had used tanning devices at some time. in the control groups, only 75 had used such devices. Karagas said a statistical analysis shows that those who used tanning equipment were 2.5 times more likely to get squamous cell skin cancer than those who had not used the devices. For basal cell cancer, the risk was 1.5 times greater.

The risk was highest for those who first used the tanning devices before the age of 20, said Karagas. For this group, the squamous cell cancer risk was 3.6 times greater than that of the controls while the basal cell cancer risk was 1.3 times greater.

练习：

1.The passage confirms that using tanning equipment is harmful to one’s health.

  A. Right    B. Wrong    C. Not mentioned

2.The highest rate of skin cancers is found in teenagers who use sun lamps frequently.

  A. Right    B. Wrong    C. Not mentioned

3.Melanoma is a more serious cancer than lung cancer.

  A. Right    B. Wrong    C. Not mentioned

4.Karagas’s reported here research results basing on interviews with a group of skin cancer patients and a control group of people with no skin cancers.

  A. Right    B. Wrong    C. Not mentioned

5.Doctor James Spencer’s argument implies that in the long run, getting an infrequent sunburn is worse than the small, day-to-day exposure.

  A. Right    B. Wrong    C. Not mentioned

6.The passage mentions three forms of skin cancers, of which squamous cell skin cancer is the most dangerous.

  A. Right    B. Wrong    C. Not mentioned

7.It is implied in Mr. Levy’s argument (Paragraph 5) that frequent exposure to sun lamps is safe.

  A. Right    B. Wrong    C. Not mentioned