Live Sober: Find the alcoholism stages

Archive for the ‘News’ Category

By Tom Randall

April 19 (Bloomberg) — About one-third of college students who tried indoor tanning facilities were addicted to the artificial rays, and the addicts drank more alcohol and smoked more marijuana than other students, researchers found.

The compulsive tanners met psychological criteria for addiction gauged by two different measurers, according to the study published today by the medical journal, Archives of Dermatology. About 42 percent of tanning addicts reported using more than one drug in the previous month, twice the rate of casual tanners.

Indoor tanning can cause skin cancer, premature skin aging and eye damage, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The health overhaul signed by President Barack Obama last month will charge customers a 10 percent tax effective in July. Curbing the habits of sun-starved undergraduates may prove more difficult than previously thought, researchers wrote in today’s study.

“Results suggest that treating an underlying mood disorder may be a necessary step in reducing cancer risk among those who frequently tan indoors,” wrote the researchers from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and the State University of New York, Albany. “Individuals who use drugs may be more likely to develop dependence on indoor tanning because of a similar addictive process.”

The study evaluated 421 college students in 2006. The students answered surveys designed to evaluate drug addiction. The surveys were modified to measure tanning addiction.

Questions included: “Do you ever feel guilty that you are using tanning beds or booths too much?” and “Do you try other non-tanning-related activities but find you really still like spending time in tanning beds or booths best of all?”

–Editors: Andrew Pollack, Donna Alvarado

To contact the reporter on this story: Tom Randall in New York at trandall6@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net.

Brittany Murphy is dead and drugs involvement is a big question. Brittany husband Simon Monjack said that he did not want an autopsy done.

Both possible drug abuse and her eating disorder maybe linked to the 32 year old’s unusual cardiac arrest. I just hope this news of drugs being involved is not true.

When I hear such sad news of another person dying because of drugs or alcohol abuse it makes me reflect on how lucky I am and how God has saved my own life many times. I am glad to be sober and living a happy life now. My heart goes out to her family and friends.

Rest In Peace Brittany!