(Newser)
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Tanning may be addictive, and sunscreen use may actually increase the risk of melanoma, according to a Slate round-up of new research about the effects of sun on skin. In a study aimed at testing the long-held theory that UV rays stimulate endorphins, researchers gave a group of sunbathers a drug blocking endorphin receptors The frequent tanners among them indeed presented symptoms of withdrawal.
Another study found that while good sunscreen use does decrease incidence of many skin cancers, it actually increases risk of the most fatal kind, melanoma. That may be because not getting sunburned encourages bathers to spend more time soaking up damaging UVB rays.
