Getting a deeper, longer-lasting tan while avoiding some of the risks of skin cancer may soon be as easy as popping a pill.
Scientists have developed a new drug that boosts the body’s ability to tan by speeding the rate at which the skin darkens when exposed to sunlight.
In tests, people who used the drug required 50 percent less time in the sun to achieve a good tan than those in a control group not given the drug.
And the tans of those who received the treatment also lasted at least three weeks longer than people who tanned without it.
The drug – called Melanotan-1 and developed at the University of Arizona – is now given by injection, although a pill form is being worked on.
It’s a synthetic version of the hormone that stimulates the release of melanin in the cells, the pigment that produces a tan.
Still in the experimental stage, Melanotan-1 could one day put a dent in the sales of bronzers – as well as the business at tanning salons.
In three trials, 28 volunteers were exposed to different amounts of natural sunlight or light from a sunlamp.
In the initial study, tanning was tested by exposing the neck to a sunlamp; in the second, light was applied to the buttocks and, in the third, the back was exposed.
Volunteers given the drug tanned faster than those who were not, in all but one case.
The longest period of exposure was to natural sunlight for five days a week over four weeks.
In the first test, the volunteers, in addition to tanning 50 percent faster, also had 47 percent fewer sunburn cells in the areas they tanned.
Faster tanning and less sunburn means a reduced risk of skin cancer, which affects about 1.3 million Americans each year.
The drug’s side effects were minor, the researchers said, with a few reports of nausea or flushing of the face.
News of the new drug was reported in the July issue of the Archives of Dermatology.