This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Time is right to address sun exposure, risky sexual behavior with adolescents
Cohen B. Skin issues in teens. Presented at: 69th Annual American Academy of Dermatology Meeting. Feb. 4-8, 2011. New Orleans.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
With prom season fast approaching, it may be a good time to talk with your teenage patients about their plans leading up to, during and after the big day.
At the 69th Annual American Academy of Dermatology Meeting in New Orleans this week, one dermatologist urged clinicians to negotiate with their patients about tanning bed use, and also provide counseling on behaviors that may put them at risk for sexually transmitted diseases.
Bernard A. Cohen, MD, who is director of pediatric dermatology at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, reviewed several areas relating to adolescent dermatology for the conference attendees.
“Sun and sex are both issues that pediatricians can address, particularly at this time of year,” Cohen said in an interview.
He cited data from 2003 that demonstrated about 24% of 13- to 19-year olds had reported visiting a tanning bed once in their lives. He said that use increases with age in teens, and cited data that showed about 7% of 14-year-old girls, 16% of 15-year-old girls and 35% of 17-year-old girls had visited a tanning bed, with the majority of visitors being female.
Cohen advised clinicians to talk to teenage patients that may visit tanning beds or sunbathe frequently that they should be aware of how to do a mole check (he urges a home mole check for 5 minutes on the first of the month), and urged clinicians to discuss sport sunscreen use with patients. A common misnomer among youth is that using a spray-on tan is protective, so it is important for clinicians to advise patients otherwise.
Mole checks are particularly important in youth who use tanning beds, Cohen said, as seven studies have showed exposure to sunbeds before age 35 was linked with an increased risk of melanoma later on in life.
Although many states have laws that govern tanning bed use, Cohen said increasing rates of “high intensity” sunbeds and the fact that exposure times between visits are not controlled can create loopholes in the laws, so he said it is important for clinicians to stay aware.
Another area where Cohen encouraged clinicians to take an active role is in counseling on sexual behaviors. He said this is particularly true in patients who present with genital lesions, because these patients are at risk for a range of STDs including Chlamydia, gonorrhea, herpes and human papillomavirus.
Discussing the human papillomavirus, Cohen said the two available vaccines, the quadrivalent vaccine from Merck (Gardasil), and the bivalent vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline (Cervarix), are both highly effective. Cohen urged the use of these vaccines because they protect against HPV and prevent anogenital dysplasias, cervical, vaginal, penile, and orophrayngeal malignancies.
Disclosure: Dr. Cohen did not respond to requests for financial disclosures.
 |
Follow the PediatricSuperSite.com on Twitter. |