It seems a groundswell of medical doctors agree with the emerging scientific consensus that moderate, non-burning sun exposure — whether outdoors under the sun or indoors in a professional salon — is a natural part of a healthy lifestyle.

That’s one way to read the results of a January SmartTan.com poll, which revealed that 66 percent of indoor tanning facilities have tanning clients who are medical doctors.

The poll, which isn’t scientific, does match results from previous Smart Tan surveys which have revealed that:

• 70 percent of tanning facilities have clients referred to them by dermatologists to informally treat skin conditions such as acne, psoriasis or eczema.
• 70 percent of tanning facilities have medical doctors in their client bases.

“This latest poll just adds credibility to what we’ve known for a long time: While the lobbying groups for dermatologists, who are tied in closely with the $35 billion anti-sun cosmeceutical industry, still rant and rave about any UV exposure, rank-and-file doctors are smart enough to know that moderate UV light is a good thing as long as you don’t sunburn,” Smart Tan Vice President Joseph Levy said. “It’s just sad that the spirit of academic intimidation fostered by Big Dermatology is preventing more people from speaking out. The truth about UV is so obvious now.”

Recent research on vitamin D has shown conclusively that the majority of Americans and up to 97 percent of Canadians are vitamin D deficient, that vitamin D is critical to the body’s ability to prevent more than 20 forms of cancer, heart disease and other autoimmune disorders, and that the only natural and reliable way to attain higher vitamin D levels is through regular sun exposure.For more information, visit Smart Tan’s consumer web site, www.TanningTruth.com.