This article is from page 10 of the 2006-02-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
A LEADING Clare psychiatrist has identified a new addiction afflicting western society, and putting lives at risk.
“Tanoraemia” is an addiction to tanning, according to Dr Moosajee Bhamjee.
“Tanoraemia people wish to look tanned all the time, winter and summer and for every special occasion. These people are called Tanorexics,” he said.
Tanoraemia can occur at any age, and does not discriminate between genders or class.
The outspoken psychiatrist and former TD warned that addiction to tanning can be detrimental to a person’s health as well as affecting their finances.
“They are so addicted to looking tanned that they will not heed advices about the dangers,” he said.
“People are going from one sun bed centre to another and are not listening to the advice of the sun bed owner.”
Dr Bhamjee told The Clare People that a worryingly high number of people were changing tanning centres without informing the owners that they might already have been on a sun bed that day or week.
“Some people are even buying their own sun beds and installing them in their own homes,” he added.
It is not just sun beds that are causing concern for the Clare psychiatrist. Spray tans and self-tanning products are also feeding into the tanning frenzy, he maintains.
“The consequences of the “false tan” are that people may develop an allergy to the liquid. It may harm one’s eyes, it can come off on clothes,” explained Dr Bhamjee.
“Prevention is very difficult and needs community support and for people to heed the advice of their friends and doctors,” he added.
Those addicted are also finding it difficult to take precautions to prevent the development of skin cancer, he said.
According to research by the Irish Cancer Society, as many as seven per cent of people use sun beds in Ireland.
The research also shows three per cent of users use sun beds once per week, five per cent use them twice per month and eight per cent about once a month.
The majority of users are in the 1534 year old age group.
Six per cent of users admit to have used sun beds for the first time before aged 15 years and 27 per cent, when they were between 15 and 19 years of age.