In a recent column by Dr. Leslie Baumann, Baumann addresses the risks of tanning addiction. According to Baumann, tanning addiction is not 'just in your head'.

Baumann cites a study where doctors used substance-abuse screening techniques to examine frequent beachgoers and found that over 50 percent of the beachgoers in the study showed signs of dependence. Researchers theorize that UV exposure stimulates endorphin-like production and therefore, a sense of heightened well-being. From an evolutionary perspective, this trait would be adaptive as it would encourage adequate levels of vitamin D.

Baumann adds that since we can access adequate vitamin D through supplements now, these are the best bets for those at high-risk for skin cancer. If you're going the sun route, it only takes 20 minutes a day to generate the needed vitamin D levels.

Though spending time in the sun is generally considered a bad thing as far as skin cancer goes, it can help prevent breast cancer. A study shows that women who stay inside more often are at a high risk for breast cancer than those who spend time outside. What's more, breast cancer is less prevalent closer to the equator, where sunlight is more common. The key ingredient is the valuable Vitamin D that exposure to the sun provides, though I would be interested to know if it makes a difference whether people get natural vitamin D from the sunlight or if similar health benefits could be derived simply from staying inside and taking vitamin D supplements. I tend to think that people who get outside are generally healthier overall than those who are housebound.

This isn't the green light to spend your days cooking your skin under the hot sun in the hopes of achieving that golden brown glow, though. While sunlight in important, it's also important to take precautions in the sunlight, like covering up and wearing sunscreen.

Though I'm smart enough to know that tanning isn't safe, I still crave that golden brown glow. My regular skin tone is blindingly white and I don't like it one bit -- I look better when I've got a bit of brown on my face. I use bronzer but am wary of the streaky orange-tinge from tanning lotions. What to do, what to do?

Our brand-new sister site, DIY Life, has step-by-step instructions for getting a perfect sunless tan. In a nutshell, here are the steps:

1. Exfoliate
2. Moisturize
3. Apply sunscreen if there is at all any chance you will go in the sun today (most people forget!)
4. Apply the tanner
5. Dry -- use a hair-dryer if you're in a hurry
6. Apply shimmer or bronzer to even everything out

And for self-tanner mishaps, rubbing alcohol on cotton will help clean up your skin.

Zita Farelly died of skin cancer, at the too-young age of 29 -- only a few years older than me. A mother of two, Zita didn't damage her skin through excess sun exposure. No, she preferred artificial sun, and got that orangey, leathery sun glow by tanning twice a day from the age of 14 to 21. Twice a day! I would say using a sunbed twice a week is too much, let alone 14 times a week.

To her credit, Zita stopped tanning once she learned of the negative effects on her skin. But it was too late -- soon after she quit the tanning, she found a mole on her leg -- melanoma.

As Zita's family struggles to carry on, they've come out with a powerful message: Tanning beds are so dangerous. I hope all the tanners out there begin to listen.

Last Tuesday night, I watched Greta Van Susteren of Fox News' On The Record as she interviewed Brittany Lietz, Miss Maryland 2006. Greta asked Brittany what her Miss Maryland job entails. Brittany told Greta her full-time job is to represent her platform -- skin cancer.

Brittany didn't choose just any topic for her platform. She chose one that is entirely personal.

Skin cancer has left more than 20 scars on Brittany's body. One, on her back, marks the site where a stage two melanoma was removed when she was just 19 years old. It presented as a mole, a little smaller than a nickel, she says. In all likelihood, the cancer was caused by two years of tanning bed use. Brittany says she probably tanned every day for two years. Her pursuit of bronzed skin began when she was 17 and wanted a tan for her prom. It ended after doctors told her she had cancer.

For many young people, the risk of wrinkling is a bigger tanning deterrent than the risk of skin cancer. How's that for some misplaced worry?

Now if the wrinkle-worry gets these youngsters to stop tanning, then I'm happy. Still, it amazes me that warnings about skin cancer still are not taken seriously.

"We don't know for sure, but there's some suggestive evidence that young people are more influenced by thinking about themselves getting old faster, than thinking about themselves getting a skin cancer," says one doctor.

We're still basking in the hot sun, bronzing our bodies in tanning beds, and playing outdoors without slathering on the sunscreen. What will it take, I wonder, for our society to catch on, to take real steps toward preventing skin cancer?

It seems education isn't enough. Most of us know by now all it takes is one bad sunburn to increase our risk of skin cancer, yet we continue to collect burn after burn after burn. Perhaps like all habit-forming behaviors -- think smoking -- it takes something tragic in our lives to inspire change. When someone we know gets lung cancer after a lifetime of smoking or someone we know develops melanoma after years of sunbathing, maybe we get the hint. Maybe

Now, I know you don't personally know this young woman -- she calls herself Miss Melanoma -- but I suggest you read her story. And I recommend you take what happened to her -- she lost part of her foot to melanoma and is currently battling a spread of the disease -- and allow it to really sink in, allow it to motivate you to take cover from the sun, before something like this happens to you. Because it can.

I remember a time when I visited tanning salons and was assured by those working the front desks that tanning beds were safer than the sun. Many years later, I know this is entirely untrue.

Think about this:

The New Zealand Cancer Society experts say sunbeds should never be used as a tanning method because the risk of skin cancer is too great.

Tanning bed UV radiation is five times stronger than UV from the sun, says one doctor who also suggests people wrongly assume sunbeds are safer than the sun. Instead, they place individuals at significant risk for harm. In fact, the risk of developing melanoma, the deadliest from of skin cancer, increases by 75 percent for those who use a tanning bed before the age of 35.

The Cancer Society, wishing to ban the use of sunbeds for anyone under age 18, has commissioned further research into the use of this deadly practice.

She's cute and spunky and full of life. She's Miss Melanoma, and her mission is simple: to raise awareness about skin cancer. Her slogan -- Attitude is everything. You're living with melanoma, not dying from it -- sums up this survivor girl, also known as Lori Lee, whose main goal is to get a Surgeon General's warning in every tanning bed salon window.

Think about this:

Miss Melanoma has a website. It's a spot for readers to learn, explore, RANT, even curse at cancer. "We won't censor your thoughts," she writes. "And we promise someone here will get exactly what you're saying."

The site features news, articles, artwork, shopping, and Miss Melanoma's personal blog, which is simply captivating. And quite shocking too.

Miss Melanoma, who learned in 2005 that a mole on her right foot was the absolute worst form of skin cancer, has endured the amputation of part of this same foot and aggressive treatment for a disease that began spreading up her leg and into her lymph nodes. And now, right now, Lori Lee is awaiting news from her surgeon about whether or not a likely cancerous lymph node deep in her pelvis can be surgically removed.

"Is it weird what a relief it is to be fighting cancer again?" she blogs. "It's something only a cancer survivor can understand, I think. You just don't know until you've been there. It's the new abnormal, people. Sitting around waiting for it to return when every doc you see tells you it's most likely coming back will drive you up the walls. Knowing that it's here and it's really just one lymph node and that we can treat it, that's a relief. I know. I can't explain it."

I urge you to think some more about Miss Melanoma, visit her website, her blog, and even send her your warm wishes as she continues living -- not dying -- from cancer.

Oh no. I think I 'm headed for melanoma. At the very least, I seem to have a very high risk for developing the disease, thanks to my once-stubborn pursuit of a silly tan.

Think about this:

A review of seven different studies concludes that using a tanning bed under the age of 35 -- I'm so guilty -- can increase the risk of melanoma by 75 percent. Even those who have ever used indoor tanning were 15 percent more likely to develop the disease.

We're talking the deadliest form of skin cancer here. So deadly some experts are recommending strong measures to restrict the use of tanning beds by young people. Adults should be discouraged from tanning, some say, but access should be limited for those under the age of 18.

New Jersey already has regulations in place -- those under 14 are banned from tanning salons and anyone between 14 and 18 must have parental consent.

If I could turn back time, I would listen to my grandma. She told me the sun -- and tanning beds too -- were no good. But I was young. And I didn't care.

Now I'm older. And I care. But it may be too late. It seems this could be one lesson I learn the hard way.

Not all melanomas are alike, and the characteristics of a fast-growing melanoma skin cancer begin in skin tumors that are thicker, symmetrical, elevated, have regular borders or have symptoms, according to the conclusions of a survey study completed by Peter MacCallum Cancer Center researchers. They also note that the faster-growing melanoma is more likely to affect men 70 years or older and individuals with fewer moles and freckles.

"In summary, this study provides descriptive data on the spectrum of melanoma rates of growth and insights into subgroups of patients with melanoma that are associated with rapid growth," stated the researchers. "We propose that this information on melanoma rate of growth be incorporated into education programs for patients and health professionals."

The advantage of identifying the more aggressive melanoma will allow for more aggressive treatment. Details of the study will be published in the December issue of Archives of Dermatology. Of the different skin cancers, melanoma is the most serious and most often appears as a change in size, shape, or color of a mole. To learn more about melanoma, visit the National Cancer Institute's melanoma section and The Cancer Blog's melanoma and skin cancer category of posts.

Strip, Search and Save spokesperson and former surfer girl Kathy Lette shared a story of how her melanoma came to be named Bruce in the Village Voice It's Time to get Naked feature as part of an effort to raise skin cancer awareness.

A self-confessed slathered in baby oil bake in the sun tanner, Lette told the reporter, "I would say my boyfriend used to get me to cut his name out of paper and sticky-tape it to my stomach so that I would get a tan tattoo in his name. The joke was, if I ever get cancer I'll have a melanoma called Bruce.''

It was a not-so-funny joke when Lette had skin cancer surgically removed from her neck earlier this year. It was then that she remembered, in a bit of irony, the suntan tattoo joke she had told years ago.

As a skin cancer survivor, Lette has joined the Cancer Council's Strip, Search and Save campaign. The premise of the campaign is that couples sans clothing and visually check each other's body for unusual changes. With a nudge and a wink, Lette said, "Not only is it important that they do it, but it could be fun," suggesting that this exam might add spice to the couple's sex lives.

Who said cancer awareness and prevention cannot be fun? Lette certainly is not taking the stodgy position that the attitude and approach need be dreary.

In addition to the Strip, Search and Save campaign, Puberty Blues author Lette's latest novel is called How To Kill Your Husband – and other handy household hints. Of course, as she says, if you are still fond of your spouse (and I would say most of us are quite fond of our spouse) have him join you in scanning each other's skin. "The peeling is mutual," states Lette. To learn more about skin cancer and how to prevent and detect melanoma, visit Lette's Strip, Search and Save section at the Cancer Council of Australia.

If you live in the northern hemisphere, we are fully into the fall season. In the southern hemisphere, they are enjoying spring, and looking forward to the upcoming summer. To maximize daylight hours, we turn our clocks ahead one hour each spring, and turn the clocks back one hour each fall. However, this has become a bit of a debate in Australia, as Queensland Premier Peter Beattie is digging in his heels, locking his knees, and crossing his arms against his chest in refusing to follow fellow countrymen in Western Australia when it comes to considering the policy of instituting daylight saving time.

Beattie is well-intentioned but ill-informed in his concern that the extra hour of light might increase the already high risk of skin cancer in Queensland. Adding an extra hour at the end of the day -- or the beginning of the day -- depending on how you want to view it, will not increase skin cancer risks resulting from excessive exposure to sunlight. The hours of the day when the sun is most damaging, and most dangerous in increasing skin cancer risks, is the middle of the day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

According to The Skin Foundation, to reduce skin cancer risks, we need to protect ourselves year-round by staying out of the sun during peak hours of 10a.m. to 4p.m., by wearing a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a sun protection factor SPF 15 or higher, wearing a broad-brimmed hat and UV-blocking sunglasses, avoiding the use of tanning parlors and artificial tanning devices, keeping newborns out of the sun, teaching children good sun-protective practices, examining skin from head-to-toe once a month, having a professional examination annually, and avoiding sunburn.

For more information about skin cancer myths and fact, read Skin cancer myths debunked by dermatologists.

Knowing the skin damage that results from prolonged sun exposure needed to achieve the golden tan, many fair-skinned people are staying out of the sun and turning to spray on or sunless lotion tans. These fake tans are skin dyes that do not change or darken skin pigmentation the way the sun might, but do give a temporary look of a glowing tan complexion. Advances have been made to these products so that the olden days of orange palms and streaky uneven lotion marks from sunless lotions are a mere memory, but still, it's not a real tan.

What if you could achieve a real tan, a tan where the skin pigmentation actually changes and darkens the same as it would if you spent hours in the sun, without spending hours in the sun exposing yourself to the premature aging, wrinkling and increased skin cancer risk damages of ultraviolet (UV) radiation?

In addition, what if this product, in actually darkening the pigmentation of your skin, provided protection from UV sun damage?

Although still in the experimental stages, scientists are working on just such a lotion, using a plant extract called forskolin, that prompts the pigmentation of the skin to darken. While the efforts are said to be focused on the treatment of individuals with medical pigmentation disorders -- if forskolin proves safe -- could a commercial product using the same compounds that safely promote a darkening of skin pigmentation -- a real tan -- and skin cancer prevention -- be far behind?

Sunscreen, designed to protect the user from sun skin damage might actually cause sun skin damage if applied incorrectly and infrequently. University of California Riverside chemists examined the effects of sunscreen lotion on the skin and found that after a period of time, the lotion or cream is absorbed into deeper layers of the skin. If more sunscreen is not applied to block ultraviolet radiation (UV), the sunscreen that has been absorbed into the deeper layers of skin creates additional oxidative damage as UV rays are able to penetrate through to the deeper layers where the sunscreen has been absorbed. When sunscreen is applied often, this does not happen.

There is only one practical solution at this time and that is to apply sunscreen lotion or cream often, about every two hours or after sweating or swimming. Researchers suggest another potential solution would be for sunscreen makers to mix sunscreen with antioxidants because antioxidants have been shown to reduce UV-induced damage to the skin. UC has published an in-depth explanation with photos of effects to the skin following the sunscreen experiments here.