TANNING THEIR HIDES DESPITE CANCER RISK.

Byline: June Naylor Rodriguez Fort Worth Star-Telegram 

Tanning season is here: Time for Texans to buy their "healthy," sun-kissed glow that makes everyone look so much prettier, even happier.

Peak months at the 1,620 state-licensed salons are February through May, when Texans stampede the salons to lie on hot, radiant beds for a jump-start on tanning. Spring break is roughly two weeks away, and proms come right after that; a nice dose of color is ideal for showing off new swimsuits and backless, strappy gowns.

Who cares if supermodels like Claudia Schiffer and Vendela give lily-white legs a good name? With bodies like those, who would notice if they were tanned or not?

And Texas tanners don't seem to care that doctors say tanning isn't one bit healthful. Recent research from the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) continues to reveal devastating numbers linking skin cancer to indoor and outdoor tanning, and its studies reinforce very ugly stories about how quickly UV rays render skin old and tough.

No matter; as one local salon owner points out, being attractive now is most important in this vain society.

"Whatever you can do to look better, you do it," says Gary Thomas of Arlington, who owns 18 Tan USA salons in the Fort Worth-Dallas area. An Oregon native, Thomas says he's amazed not just at Texans' high interest in tanning salons but in cosmetic surgery and body shaping, too.

Gail Brawley, who owns Campus Tans Plus in Fort Worth with her daughter, agrees.

"People look better with a little bit of color," Brawley says. "We have more women, but you'd be surprised how many professional men in their 30s, 40s and 50s are coming in for a tan."

Some members, she says, tan daily - "like taking a bath every day." Others maintain their tans with visits twice or three times a week.

One of Brawley's members, who bought a lifetime membership and visits the salon almost every day, says she has heard all the warnings but doesn't worry about skin cancer.

"In the summer I lay out on a raft in a pool and come to the salon; I love having a tan," says Pam Fillingim, 28, a convenience store manager in Fort Worth. "I don't worry about the skin cancer scares."

Another Campus Tans member says she visits the salon only once or twice in winter, and steps up her tanning in warm-weather months.

"I can tan easily," says Ingrid, 38, a Fort Worth nurse who asked that her last name not be used. "I use a lot of moisturizers to keep my skin in good condition."

Asked if she's concerned about tanning's links to cancer and premature aging, Ingrid sounds certain. "No, that doesn't bother me."

That's a popular - if foolish - attitude, says Dr. Alan Menter, chief of dermatology and director of the Psoriasis Center at Dallas Baylor Medical Center. He sees plenty of indoor tanners who are intent on looking pretty and think cancer couldn't happen to "them."

"It's so pervasive," Menter laments. "Two-thirds of the young female population wants to tan before an important occasion."

He cites Casey Coker, a Mesquite woman who frequented tanning salons during her high school years and was treated for malignant melanoma one year ago, at age 19.

"Whenever something like prom was coming up, I'd go tan four times a week, 20 to 30 minutes each time," says Coker, whose fair skin is more susceptible to strong rays.

"My first year of college, my roommate noticed something on my back. I never would have seen it," said Coker, now 20 and a college student in East Texas.

The roommate had been previously treated for melanoma and recognized the spot, which was just smaller than a dime.

Menter, who treated Coker, studied her growth and considered her tanning salon experience to declare her cancer resulted from indoor tanning. She undergoes regular exams for other spots that look like moles; so far, no other cancer has been found.

"Tanning salons are a very real problem, and tanning is a major health hazard," says Menter, who notes that 35,000 new melanoma cases in the United States, resulting from tanning, are expected this year.

Perhaps that number is less shocking when you consider that, according to American Academy of Dermatology research, about a million people nationwide visit salons daily.

Gary Thomas, whose 18 salons average about 2,000 members each, disputes those numbers and prefers to champion another position. A supporter of heliotherapy, Thomas says that natural sunlight and tanning bed light are comparable and that lots of people need sun or UV light for its vitamin D supply.

Baylor's Menter says that's "total hogwash." He cites recent AAD studies equating 30 minutes of indoor tanning with an entire day at the beach, and he argues that milk has always been a suitable source of vitamin D.

Menter, who has used UV rays daily to treat thousands of psoriasis patients over the past 30 years, points out that doctors and nurses undergo extensive training to work with UV light.

Menter adds, "To treat a healthy person with ultraviolet light is completely indefensible."

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Photo Despite medical reports that tanning promotes serious health hazards, throngs still flock to the beach with little or no skin protection.