Tanningbedgate is a no go-

[Mother Of Four]

(EDIT TO ADD- After reading RedBears link to the article on S.A.D. and tanning beds, and how they DO NOT help with the disorder. Her choice is a very silly one, and if charged to the taxpayers for the rewiring a selfish one at that.)


I was born and raised in Alaska, the famous "Light rooms" and the habit of putting grow lights in lamps in our living room was a VERY normal and typical thing after I became an adult.

Seasonal Affective Disorder is a real and prevalent issue in Alaska.

Here's a link from the Mayo Clinic so that you don't have to take my word for it.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/seasonal-affective-disorder/DS00195/DSECTION=causes

Causes
The specific cause of seasonal affective disorder remains unknown. It's likely, as with many mental health conditions, that genetics, age and perhaps most importantly, your body's natural chemical makeup all play a role in developing seasonal affective disorder.

Specifically, the culprits may include:

Your circadian rhythm. Some researchers suspect that the reduced level of sunlight in fall and winter may disrupt the circadian rhythm in certain people. The circadian rhythm is a physiological process that helps regulate your body's internal clock — letting you know when to sleep or wake. Disruption of this natural body clock may cause depression.

Melatonin. Some researchers theorize that seasonal affective disorder may be tied to melatonin, a sleep-related hormone that, in turn, has been linked to depression. The body's production of melatonin usually increases during the long nights of winter.

Serotonin. Still other research suggests that a lack of serotonin, a natural brain chemical (neurotransmitter) that affects mood, may play a role. Reduced sunlight can cause a drop in serotonin, perhaps leading to depression.


If she is like the majority of people who are afflicted by S.A.D. by location alone (That is a BIG if) the same thing will happen to her that happened to me when I moved to NC with my family. The majority of it went away within the first few months, and the following summer. By that fall I had no issues with it whatsoever.

Trust me, the tanning bed really isn't that big of a deal.

There are more important things we can focus on:

Her cutting funds for the Special Olympics in Half

The real "gate" of the ethics investigation she's under

Her inability to function without being hand fed talking points

Her charging rape victims for forensic medical kits/exams

Her wanting to ban abortion in all forms, including rape/incest

Her being caught time and time again lying about earmarks.

The list goes on.

(PS- I'm not concerned about people talking about it, I just don't want Alaska to get a bad name for having people afflicted with S.A.D. It's part of living there, and people shouldn't be stigmatized for it.)

[sandnsea]

1. Why should the government pay for it?

I don't care why she has a tanning bed. Taxpayers shouldn't pay for it. The End.

[Mother Of Four]

2. Oh I agree with that fully-

I'm talking more about the people who are up in arms about her having one at all. Yes, she should pay for it herself.

[kid a]

3. i think she paid for it herself - thats the story out there.

[sandnsea]

17. Oh. Then it's just another distraction

Every second we spend talking about them is a second we are not talking about our candidate and the change this country needs. Going after corruption is one thing, but this stuff is just piddly.

[kid a]

20. i agree - begala was great on hardball today. Attack palin only in regards as an indictment of McSam...

BAD JUDGMENT AND INCOMPETENCE

[faithfulcitizen]

4. Again, I think she bought it as a present for John. A thank you gift, if you will.

:popcorn:

[ContinentalOp]

5. Did the previous Governor have one? Do you really need a $35k tanning bed...

rather than a few hundred dollar sun lamp? What percentage of Alaskans own a $35,000 tanning bed? What percentage of Americans own a $35,000 tanning bed? Spin it any way you like but it just ain't normal.

[TheKentuckian]

6. IT'S LAME

No one will care and its a trivial issue in a troubled world.

Why get off of the economy and foreign policy to talk about a tanning bed?

I'm all for opportunistic hits on Palin but this one is far to weak to bring into the conversation and is a pure distraction because NO ONE WILL CARE.

[FLyellowdog]

7. Governor's Home rewired to meet standards...tax dollars.

[Mother Of Four]

10. Can you give me a link to that?

I'd not read about her having to rewire the home.

[SwampG8r]

8. does the government of alaska

rewire every home for these lights too?
this is a tanning bed
not grow lamps and what not that i bet were already placed by previous occupants
a tanning bed
it required vast amounts of rewireing i understand
all done at taxpayers behest
a tanning bed
a tanning bed
a tanning bed
dont you see what a silly thing a tanning bed is?
and where the hell are her reciepts if she paid for it
until i see the paid bills
stating she and she alone paid for it then
fuck her
shes an elitist snob with a TANNING BED in her home
she thinks the world is 7000 years old
she believes the flinstones is a documentary
and she has her own TANNING BED!

[BlueIdaho]

9. Did someone just say Palin suffers from depression? nt.

[ContinentalOp]

14. Haha, I was thinking about that too. Should real Christians get S.A.D.?

Shouldn't it be enough to be filled with the spirit of JESUS?

Come on people lay off of Sarah Palin's $35,000 tanning bed. She really needed it because she was sad.

[Mother Of Four]

19. I had S.A.D. for more than 10 years.

I'm NOT excusing her tanning bed, I think its over the top. We did just fine with lamps in the living room- However it's pretty dang cruel to make fun of it especially since in my OP I stated I had that issue.


I'm simply saying that this will end up being a dead end.


Now-
If someone could give me a link to where she had the house rewired thats a different story. If she wanted to go all out on the damn tanning bed and made Taxpayers pay for it, thats screwed up.

[BlueIdaho]

27. Respectfully, tell Thomas Eagleton that.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

11. Could SAD be one of the reasons there are more suicides in nordic climes?

If so, what are the symptoms and how bad can they get? Do physicians consider it a genuine mental disability in the worst cases? If someone like a future vice president develops an extreme case, should that not be of concern? I admit that I know nothing about this but I'm just wondering.

[Mother Of Four]

15. Heres the MAYO link to the first page of SAD

It's linked to alot of things- you may find it a good read.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/seasonal-affective-disorder/DS00195

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

23. Thanks a lot. Apparently, it can lead to suicidal thoughts

Here's some of the information from your link:

"...Most people experience some days when they feel down. But if you feel down for days at a time and you can't seem to get motivated to do activities you normally enjoy, see your doctor. This is particularly important if you notice that your sleep patterns and appetite have changed — and certainly if you feel hopeless, think about suicide, or find yourself turning to alcohol for comfort or relaxation.

Take seasonal affective disorder seriously. Like its cousin depression, seasonal affective disorder can have serious complications if left untreated. These complications may include:

* Suicidal thoughts or behavior
* Social withdrawal
* School or work problems
* Substance abuse

..."

According to this, it can develop into a serious mental health problem that can require a physician's intervention. If Sarah Palin has undergone severe bouts with disorder (or as her handlers call it, "depression") requiring consultation with a physician, I think the American people ought to know. VP candidate Eagleton was eliminated because he was treated for depression, if I recall. I wouldn't want Palin getting depressed and pressing a red button on her desk.

[ContinentalOp]

16. Yeah, seriously we should lay off of this.

It's not cool to attack someone's mental health issues. This should be between her and her therapist.

[Raineyb]

30. Tanning beds are not used for SAD

Tanning beds are for dumbasses who like to concentrate their exposure to cancer causing UV. This is a vanity issue not a mental health issue.

Regards

[Cosmic Charlie]

12. awwwww, Sarah's SAD

what a shame!

[quakerboy]

13. So... no undisclosed bunker locations for her?

[Redbear]

18. None of that relates to tanning beds.

Light rooms and grow lights are a good thing to avoid SAD, but tanning beds are not healthy.

Tanning beds do nothing to prevent or treat SAD.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2007/01/02/bc-sad.html?ref=rss

They do however increase your risk of skin cancer.

http://www.cancer.gov/newscenter/tip-sheet-tanning-booths

[Mother Of Four]

21. Thank you Red Bear-

I had thought it was to help, stupid me. My bad.


Then the whole thing's even worse, because it didn't help her at all.



I guess I'll shut up now :/

[beachmom]

22. Well, a tanning bed increases the risk of skin cancer, and is not the best to treat SAD

A special SAD light lamp is better, and it doesn't increase your risk for skin cancer. Thing is, the bizarre press release by the "Indoor Tanning Association" today proves they know their product is a risk, so they've hired a Republican to lobby on its behalf. Frankly, I am less interested in Palin, and more interested in the reaction to the tanning bed itself. I have had way too many DUers scoff at my notion that it causes skin cancer. Well, we need more scientific studies to find out more considering these statistics:

http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/SummerSizzle/story?id=5361650&page=1

Melanoma Up 50 Percent in Women Over Last 30 Years



Over the past 30 years more people have become aware of the dangers from the sun, and media — through various methods such as health articles in magazines and reports on cancer statistics — have motivated people to come in for checkups. While more women are more aware of melanoma, tanning bed usage is also up. One million people go to tanning salons a day, and 71 percent of tanning salon patrons are young women.

Melanoma is the number one cancer killer from women ages 25 to 29.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=5342981&page=1

Brittany Lietz, then 17, bought the dress but decided that she would look prettier in it if her naturally pale skin were a little darker.

Lietz, from Edgewater, Md., made an appointment at a local tanning salon for an eight-minute session. Over the next three years, her tanning habit grew into an addiction, a daily ritual that eventually resulted in melanoma, the deadliest skin cancer.

Lietz was not alone with her diagnosis. In a recent researcher letter in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, doctors reported that the incidence of melanoma increased 50 percent in a representative population aged 15-39 between 1980 and 2004, from 9.4 to 14 cases per 100,000 women.

And young women tend to have more sun-seeking behaviors than men, particularly indoor and outdoor tanning. The increase in melanomas can be a serious consequence.

"It's unlikely that a change in incidents of this magnitude within a relatively short span of years would be due to some kind of genetic factor," said Dr. Mark Purdue, a researcher in the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., and author of the letter. "It is more likely that it's some kind of environmental factor."

And the snake oil salesman have launched a misleading propaganda campaign:

http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=4534076

The country's tanning salons are taking on the medical establishment with a bold campaign to convince Americans that exposure to ultraviolet radiation is actually good for you.

"Go get a tan. Your body will thank you," the Indoor Tanning Association proclaims in a TV ad that will appear nationally.

The association launched its marketing drive today with a full page ad in The New York Times to counter medical research that blames ultraviolet rays from the sun and tanning salons for causing melanoma.

...

The ads say tanning actually is helpful because the body needs to get vitamin D from the sun.

But one doctor said people can get their daily vitamin D requirement from food and a few minutes of sun a week.

Yale Medical School's David Leffell said the ads are misleading.

"The ad misrepresents scientific fact," he said. "Ultraviolet radiation from the sun and from the artificial bulbs that are used in the tanning parlors can lead to skin cancer."

For one cancer survivor, the advertisements were disturbing.

"I don't think they're being honest at all," said Emily Konesky, who fought off advanced stage melanoma two years ago. She said her doctor attributed her illness to her tanning salon habit.

"It is not natural for a 19-year-old to be diagnosed with cancer that takes 30 to 40 years to develop," said Konesky, who used to go to indoor tanning salons as much as four times a week. "I wake up every single morning and think this could be the day that the cancer could come back."

Konesky believes she is living proof ultraviolet rays can do damage because she has the physical scars to prove it.

I am just laying out the facts here. Now if people want to act like tanning salons don't increase the risk for skin cancer, well I have a bridge to sell you in Alaska ....

[Mother Of Four]

25. Thank you for the links :)

Bookmarked them, I'm going to send them to some family.

[dansolo]

24. Tanning beds are not used for SAD

A tanning bed cannot be used for SAD. It is the wrong type of light, unless your interested in developing cataracts. This is a total bullshit story.

[Mother Of Four]

26. Did you NOT read the edit at the top of the post?

Maybe you might want to re-read it.

[dansolo]

28. Sorry, I didn't catch your edit

[Mother Of Four]

29. No worries-

I left AK in 2002, and the TB's were still considered an option. I have no problem admitting when I'm wrong. :hi: We could never afford it, so did the bulbs in the living room. Now I'm glad I did.

[salbi]

31. I'd buy a tanning bed if I could afford it.

To me it's a no go because honestly if I could afford it, I'd have my own. We have tanning salons all over my city and there have been times I have bought memberships to them. I try to only go early summer or before a vacation now to get a base tan because I do have fears of skin cancer, but I admit, I love to tan and I know I'm not alone by the numbers of people in the salons when I've been there.

[Vinca]

32. Aren't tanning beds suspected of causing skin cancer?

Top of the ticket already has it, bottom of the ticket trying to get it.

[rucky]

33. A hundred-dollar light box worked just fine for me.

just sayin'