logo
GMB dermatologist issues skin cancer warning over popular trend

GMB dermatologist issues skin cancer warning over popular trend

Daily Mirror06-06-2025
The dermatologist warned that such a regimen 'will cause damage to the skin over time' - here's what you should know
Dr Emma Wedgeworth urged Brits to be cautious of one beauty trend amidst a key Good Morning Britain (GMB) segment today. The dermatologist warned that such a regimen 'will cause damage to the skin over time', leading to a potentially heightened risk of skin cancer.
"I think there is a link between any form of excessive sun exposure and skin cancer," she told presenter Rob Rinder, who asked about the possible link between tanning beds and cancer. She then continued: "And that's something that we see all the time.

"Not everybody is going to get skin cancer, but there will be some people who are more predisposed...So if you've got a family history, if you've got light skin, you are much more likely to get it."

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is recognised as the leading cause of melanoma skin cancer. This radiation is not only emitted by the sun but is also frequently used in tanning beds.
In addition to possessing lighter skin and having a family history, the NHS states that several other personal factors may increase your risk of skin cancer, particularly when combined with the use of sunbeds.
This can include the following:
Having red or blonde hair
Having blue or green eyes
Having a large number of freckles or moles
Have been frequently sunburned in the past
You had skin cancer before
With this in mind, Dr Wedgeworth warned against any use of sunbeds at all and urged Brits to care for their skin while spending time in the sun. "I would just say don't do [tanning beds]," she said.

"We do know that it will cause damage to the skin over time. We don't want everyone to stay inside constantly, go out in the summer when we ever get some form of sun.
"Go and enjoy yourself, but just be careful because your skin has to last you a long time, and we really don't want to cause it damage." Despite her advice, the Sunbed Association also told GMB viewers to be aware that modern professional tanning salons follow strict safety controls and practices are tightly regulated.
Therefore, if you still want to use a tanning bed despite these risks, it is best to examine the specific salon's procedures first and inquire about its control systems.

Potential symptoms of melanoma skin cancer
According to the NHS, you should look out for the following:
New moles or changes in existing moles - especially in areas often exposed to the sun
Moles with uneven borders or shapes
Moles with a mix of colours
Larger moles - more than 6mm wide
Swollen, bleeding or crusty moles
Itchy moles
Advice from the health service adds: "Melanomas can appear anywhere on your body, but they're more common in areas that are often exposed to the sun. Some rarer types can affect the eyes, soles of the feet, palms of the hands or genitals.
"Check your skin for any unusual changes. Use a mirror or ask a partner or friend to check any areas you cannot see."
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Newscast  Reform or Die? The NHS 10 Year Plan
Newscast  Reform or Die? The NHS 10 Year Plan

BBC News

time29 minutes ago

  • BBC News

Newscast Reform or Die? The NHS 10 Year Plan

Can the government's new ten year plan save the NHS? Today the government published it's plan to reform the NHS. The government says it will focus on three main changes, shifting from treatment to preventative care, switching to digital health services, and moving to more community care. Adam speaks to minister of state for care Stephen Kinnock about the plans, and Chris joins to unpack the government's announcement. Plus, as part of the Newscast Summer Tour, Adam and Chris will be in Sheffield tomorrow at Crossed Wires podcast festival. The festival's creative director and Radio One breakfast show host Greg James stops by to give Adam a preview on what's in store. You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast'. It works on most smart speakers. You can join our Newscast online community here: Get in touch with Newscast by emailing newscast@ or send us a whatsapp on +44 0330 123 9480. New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. It was presented by Adam Fleming. It was made by Jack Maclaren with Anna Harris and Shiler Mahmoudi. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

Everything you missed from Keir Starmer's big NHS plan - from phone app to jabs
Everything you missed from Keir Starmer's big NHS plan - from phone app to jabs

Daily Mirror

time40 minutes ago

  • Daily Mirror

Everything you missed from Keir Starmer's big NHS plan - from phone app to jabs

Ahead of the 77th anniversary of the creation of the health service on Saturday, PM Keir Starmer promised not only to fix the NHS's problems to 'seize opportunities' Keir Starmer declared the NHS at a 'turning point in its history' as he launched a landmark 10-year plan to reform the health service. Ahead of the 77th anniversary of the creation of the health service on Saturday, the PM promised not only to fix the NHS's problems to 'seize opportunities". He set out major plans to shift care from hospitals to the community and use technology to transform the health service. ‌ Among the reforms, an enhanced NHS app will be made available to patients for them to be able to book appointments, order prescriptions or access their data. ‌ Access to weight-loss jabs will also be widened to reduce obesity, with suggestions people could soon get them via shopping centres. The levy on fizzy drinks will also be reformed, while mandatory health food sales reporting for all large companies in the food sector will be introduced. The blueprint for the NHS's future comes after Labour declared the health service 'broken' when it was elected last year. Mr Starmer said the "future already looks better for the NHS" under Labour, as he praised 'record investment right across the system' under this Government. READ MORE: Keir Starmer's plan to 'rewire' NHS explained – why you won't have to go to hospital Speaking to NHS workers and reporters at a health centre in east London, he said: 'For 77 years, 77 years this weekend, the NHS has been the embodiment, if you like, of British pride, of hope, that basic sense of fairness and decency. '77 years of everyone paying in, working hard, doing the right thing, secure in the knowledge that if they or their family needs it, the NHS will be there for them. In 10 years' time, when this plan has run its course, I want people to say that this was the moment, this was the government to secure those values for the future.' Mr Starmer assured people the Government was already 'starting on the change' to improve the health service, with Brits to feel the change during the ten-year period, not only at the end. ‌ Challenged on staff shortages in the NHS, the PM said NHS staff and the communities they serve had been 'widely' consulted on the plan. 'This plan we're launching today was not something the government wrote up and sort of imposed top down… That's why I know that it is achievable, deliverable,' he said. Health Secretary Wes Streeting told NHS staff gathered at the event that Labour rejected the "pessimism" which says the "NHS is a burden, too expensive, inferior to the market". ‌ Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: "Our 10-year plan will get the NHS back on its feet and make it fit for the future, led by our fantastic NHS staff, and a huge thank you to every single one of you." Health experts praised the plan and agreed 'radical change' was needed, but some raised concerns about the 'financial situation' affecting the ability to implement the plan. Gemma Peters, chief executive at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: 'This vision to bring care closer to home is what both the public and the NHS need. Without radical change, the NHS cannot meet this growing demand." ‌ Prof Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: 'As a College we're enthusiastic about the focus on technology outlined in today's vision, but it can't be escaped that current NHS IT infrastructure is in urgent need of improvement." But Thea Stein, chief executive of leading health thinktank the Nuffield Trust, said the plan 'assumes' increasing tech use and focusing on prevention will save money, but she warned this might not come to fruition. 'Care closer to home doesn't mean care on the cheap and technology has a long history of costing health services more, not less,' she said. "What's more, where previous plans have been backed by significant extra funds, the hope and prayer here is that the NHS can achieve this extraordinary transformation without much new money. " Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of the King's Fund, added: "There are more than 150 pages of a vision of how things could be different in the NHS by 2035, but nowhere near enough detail about how it will be implemented."

Analysis: Will Labour's 10 year plan for the NHS succeed?
Analysis: Will Labour's 10 year plan for the NHS succeed?

The Independent

time40 minutes ago

  • The Independent

Analysis: Will Labour's 10 year plan for the NHS succeed?

As Sir Keir Starmer unveiled his government's 10-year plan for the NHS to a room of journalists and health staff, the prime minister set out a hopeful vision for the future of the service. The NHS is going to be one of Labour 's biggest gambles and, as the second largest area of government spend, one of its most expensive bets. The prime minister, hot off a tumultuous 24 hours over his government's welfare bill, appeared confident this new plan to save the NHS would work and achieve the improvement last seen by his Labour predecessors in the 2000s. But experts were clear that there is little new in it - in terms of ideas - and warned it lacks much of the necessary detail to make any real judgement over its success. The respected Institute of Economic Affairs accurately described the plan as 'mostly a reaffirmation of long-running policy goals…things that their predecessors and their predecessors' predecessors would also have said.' Sarah Woolnough, chief executive for think tanks the King's Fund, told The Independent: 'I think the plan lacks some of the detail around the house, and for people to believe in it, I think there's a huge consensus. This is the right direction of urgently need more details on how and why it will be different this time?' Jacob Lant, chief executive for charity National Voices, pointed out that it isn't necessarily a bad thing that the plan rehashes past policies - if they are good ones. He pointed out that the focus on the patient's voice is a step change to what has come before: 'Some new proposals on deciding hospitals' funding levels based on patients' experience, good and bad, are rooted in the right idea.' But he too pointed out the plan does not spell out what outcomes will be measured. What will and won't work? The neighbourhood health centres proposed in the plan – there will be around 200 across the country – will require a number of components to work, including the investment and staffing to flow to them. The problem is that when winter or a crisis hits, the NHS has always struggled to divert these resources. Much of what the 10-year plan banks on in its bid to save the NHS is rooted in the use of technology, most prominently AI and an all-singing, all-dancing NHS app. Several promises on the NHS App include that by 2028, it will be a 'full front door to the entire NHS' and act as a 'doctor in my pocket' for patients. The app should also give people access to a single patient record, choose a preferred provider to have their treatment, manage medicines and manage appointments for children. The expanded use of AI features prominently, including 'Ambient AI' which can record patients and health professional appointments and put notes directly into care records. This is sold as a way to unburden clinicians. On tech, Ms Woolnagh said: 'They are clearly really going for it on tech and I do welcome that because the NHS app is getting better, but a pretty slow pace and it has to be the way one of the major ways that we drive for form you just think about how the NHS compared to every other sort of service we use in our life It's quite frankly embarrassing that is still paper but whether it stacks up I think the jury is out.' One issue in the expansion of health tech is health leaders being 'bombarded' by medical tech companies trying to sell them new devices – how do we know which are quality tools and which aren't? The single patient record is an issue that successful government policies have grappled with, one barrier being that those who hold the data have been reluctant to let it go. However, if the government were successfully able to fulfil this, it would be very important to patients and could drastically improve their experience. What is it missing? The plan has some very big omissions, the key ones being workforce numbers, costing, and, as usual, social care. The document appears to be thin on ambitions around mental health services – the two main points are mental health A&Es and the further rollout of mental health teams in schools. The main nod to the workforce, outside of 1,400 GPs, is an admission that there will be fewer staff than projected in the long term, as the workforce plan published in 2023 under the former government. The King's Fund chief pointed out the omission of the number of staff needed to deliver the plan was, in one sense, welcome honesty from the government over the lack of money to pay for the workforce. However, she warned, 'Too often the workforce follows the main plan, but who is going to deliver this plan?' she said. Without workforce details, the plan requires the government's 'bets to come off', such as those around technology freeing up staff time. Experts speaking with The Independent also said it is short on detail about prevention ambitions, which touch on tabacco, junk food and a 'moonshot' on weight-loss. Ms Woolnagh said: 'I think that the measures they have talked about are welcome and I think, for example, it's easy to dismiss because tobacco and vapes don't feel terribly new. It's easy not to give it the kind of due it should have, but it's a big step.'It's a big deal, so they are welcome. I think taken together, this doesn't represent the radical mission that we were promised, and if you think the headline ambition in the government's manifesto was half the gap in healthy life expectancy between the wealthiest and most deprived.' Overall, much of the verdict on this plan rests on the additional detail needed, and so the jury is out on whether this will be Labour's shining achievement and finally deliver reform for the

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store