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Evidence based information Posted by: GCD 06 Oct 2012 11:08am

As a health professional and multiple melanoma survivor, I recommend the following website for accurate information from the NZ Dermatological Society: www.dermnetnz.org

Sunlight, Melanoma protection. Posted by: Kees 17 Sep 2012 2:25pm

This is an article by a specialist in treating Melanoma who acknowledges that sensible sun exposure and vitamin D offer protection from developing Melanoma.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1390243/Sun-CAN-protect-skin-cancer.html#ixzz1NtMcvUQZ

Pfft! Posted by: HSV-Dee 18 Jan 2011 5:03pm

I am a redhead with freckles etc and I successfully obtained a beautiful brown tan using sunbeds over an extended period of time. It's not exposure to the UV rays that's the issue, it's the length of exposure that doesn't the damage. Managed carefully and responsibly it's not dangerous. Anyway spray tans are disgusting, unreliable and look fake. I'll have one using my own pigmentation any day.

Gradual Tan Moisturisers Posted by: hokohoko2 20 Jun 2010 11:52am

There are many moisturisers available that build up a gradual tan.

It's a good idea for Consumer to test the range of gradual tan moisturisers.

I hope you do so before the summer season returns!
Cheers.

Ban them! Posted by: Craig Shearer 27 Aug 2009 1:24pm

Sunbeds should be banned except for strict medical use. These types of operations prey on people's vanity at the risk of skin cancer later in life.

Reply 1: Posted by: 0-5 28 May 2011 9:29pm

I disagree!

I use a sunbed for short sessions with weeks in between, during the winter, to improve my skin health but without tanning - nothing to do with vanity. I wouldn't want to get a doctor's prescription for that. Even without the cost of the doctor visit, the price of the sunbeds would go up.

Warnings are sufficient in my opinion. People still have the choice to smoke even!

Also UVB and Vitamin D are protective against skin cancer. One theory suggests one factor increasing skin cancer is our increased time spent indoors, where cancer-causing UVA rays can travel whilst excluding the protective UVB.

Reply 2: Posted by: Kees 06 Dec 2011 8:38am

I agree 0-5. Michael F Hollick PhD, MD, in his book "The UV Advantage" indicates that there is a place for sensible sunbed use in situations where it is not possible to get sensible exposure to sunlight for production of vitamin D. He also indicates that there is evidence that there is something else about sunlight (apart from vitamin D production) that has health and immune system advantages and their research into this is on going.
NZ is also way behind the times as far as vitamin D supplementation goes by only allowing supplements into the country where the daily dose does not exceed 1000 iu when the daily dose needed for maintenance has been shown to be 4000 iu to 5000 iu per day and 10,000 iu per day for 2 to 3 weeks to increase low vitamin D levels.

Reply 3: Posted by: 0-5 03 Oct 2012 8:10pm

I've had several doctors refuse to allow me to get my Vitamin D measured even when I offer to pay, and state that I've been living in Dunedin for years. One said dismissively: "I can tell by looking at your face that you are not deficient!"

Finally this year a doctor agreed to order a test, at my own expense (to get it "free" I'd have to see a specialist), and it came back very very low, resulting in a prescription.

I wonder how many issues with weak immunity relate to low Vit D levels in NZ, where more than half of the country allows zero Vitamin D production from the sun on skin for several months of the year.