Tanning May Be Addictive

The support groups are not yet in place, but it’s not impossible that we’ll soon be hearing confessions along the lines of "My name is Geezer and I am a tanning addict." The New York Times reports on a study published in this month’s Journal of the Academy of Dermatology that suggests that frequent tanners, deprived of ultraviolet light, can experience symptoms similar to opioid withdrawal. The researchers, the piece reports, compared 8 people who used tanning salons 8 to 15 times a month with 8 who visited no more than 12 times a year. At each of four visits, they took increasingly larger doses
of either a placebo or Naltrexone, which blocks opioid receptors and
induces withdrawal symptoms in those addicted to opioids. Each was
randomly assigned to tan for 10 minutes under either an ultraviolet
light or an identical-looking nonultraviolet light. According to the Times, frequent
tanners who took a placebo showed greater preference for the
ultraviolet light than nonfrequent tanners. No adverse effects
were reported among the infrequent tanners at any dose of Naltrexone,
but at a 15-milligram dose, four of the eight frequent tanners began to
experience nausea or jitteriness, bot symptoms of opiate withdrawal. The Times reports that researchers believe that ultaviolet radiation may produce endorphins, which have properties like opioids. Read more in the New York Times.