Tanning Injections?

[Melanotan]

it is proven to reduce skin cancer by 50% as the best defence against skin cancer is a natural tan. i used a course before my holiday and i am fair skinned and i went really dark and diddnt burn at all and only used a factor 8 and kept the holiday tan for 3 months. The drug is now in phase 3 of research and is legal to take for research purpose only and at the users own risk.

First and foremost, neither peptide (Melanotan one or Melanotan II) has been demonstrated to prevent skin cancer or reduce skin cancer rates. Only Melanotan one has been demonstrated in human trials to reduce by 50% sun (UV) damage to the skin (damage reduction primarily stemming from the melanin that folks are able to generate with it). It is quite likely that such photoprotective damage reduction prevents cancer, but there is ZERO SCIENTIFIC PROOF of that.
While it has been shown that those who develop a natural tan slowly over weeks (ie: through working outside and getting natural sun exposure) tend to have low skin cancer rates this is also true of those who avoid UV exposure all together. Also, neither peptide has been approved by any drug regulatory agency anywhere for usage in humans outside of human trials.

Unfortunately there is some confusion about melanotan one and melanotan II. Melanotan one is the version of the peptide that has been trialed in humans (both men & women) and studied extensively for tanning (pull up the Wikipedia article about it). Melanotan one is the version that is being developed in Australia by Clinuvel as a photoprotective agent (under the name "afamelanotide"). Melanotan II has been studied for safety as well and scientifically demonstrated to cause melanogenesis (melanin generation) in skin but it has primarily been studied as an anti-sexual dysfunction drug (because it increases desire/libido in women and men and overcomes erectile dysfunction in men). Melanotan II has only had a few human trials done with it and only in men.

While it is likely the case that in terms of tanning everything that has been demonstrated in melanotan one is true in melanotan II, nothing has been proven (ie: melanotan II hasn't been scientifically demonstrated to reduce sun (UV) damage). While this is true there are a number of other effects of Melanotan II besides tanning that just haven't been studied to the extent that melanotan one has been studied (in terms of tanning). It is likely the case that both peptides are equally safe to use but ONLY melanotan one has been scientifically studied and trialed in humans to a significant degree and of the two it is the only version that will likely ever be approved for usage in humans outside of human trials.

Folks should do their due diligence in fully learning about the peptides before ever considering using either one. The peptides work systemically (across all of the body) and once a tan develops in the skin while using one of the them it can take some time before it fades back to the shade of one's skin prior to using it (in one study melanotan one users were reported to go back to normal levels after 11 weeks). Folks who are prone to get moles should be aware that taking either peptide is liable to make your moles darken and make moles that were essentially not-visible, visible. There have been people who have successfully had their moles removed by dermatologists and gone on to use the peptides successfully but there have also been people who were not aware of the possibility that their moles would darken who got discouraged about using a peptide after experiencing mole darkening while using one.
Optimally anyone considering getting a tan with melanotan one or melanotan II should have their skin examined by a dermatologist for any issues prior to taking either. Such an examination can likely be gotten for free or for a low charge under the guise of a, "skin cancer screening". These types of screenings can likely be covered through health care plans and/or national coverage. During such an examination people should inform themselves about tanning in general and how it can affect the skin.
Look around for FAQs about using the peptides and check other forums, inform yourself well and understand fully how the peptides work before ever using either one.

Thanks,

-Scott
Melanotan.org - afamelanotide Founder & Admin

 

[collin]

It is quite likely that such photoprotective damage reduction prevents cancer, but there is ZERO SCIENTIFIC PROOF of that.

While it has been shown that those who develop a natural tan slowly over weeks (ie: through working outside and getting natural sun exposure) tend to have low skin cancer rates this is also true of those who avoid UV exposure all together.
Melanotan.org Admin

Not wishing to go off topic to much I would never the less like to pick up on this point.

There was extensive research undertaken on a world wide basis a number of years ago concerning the issue of skin cancer rates relative to UV exposure.

The findings were conclusive that those exposed to UV over generations have less likelihood of skin cancer than those who dont have a regular exposure and then experience high dosage.(beach holiday etc)

The results indicate that equatorial inhabitants have a far less skin cancer rate than elsewhere in the world.

Indeed with the ozone layer scare some years back the Australians headed for cover and exposure to natural UV was basically nil.

Once the scare became something of a distant memory and individuals began to expose themselves to the sun again..the skin cancer rate rose again.
HTH

 

[weezie]

Sorry Collin but surely research shows increased skin cancers near the equator although not in darker skins! Can I see your evidence please?

And surely the Australians exposure to the sun could have caused the increase or a changing ozone layer?! There are too many factors involved to measure this! Those that have more exposure are more likely to have more melanin anyway so this does not surely relate to those with fairer skins who are more likely to try use a sun bed or use melanotan.

(this is a non-agressive posting :hug::lol

Plus a quote "Black peoples skin produce more melanin, even in the absence of sunlight, and their type of melanin, eumelanin, is more effective at blocking solar rays. However, white skin produces melanin only in the presence of sunlight and after the UV rays have penetrated the lower portion of the epidermis and have caused skin damage."

Natural melanin already found naturally in the skin is a sun block however. A sun tan only offers a very small amount of protection but the sun damage causes more problems!

Does Melanotan produce Eumelanin or Pheomelanin? Or is this not important? I'm confused but know eumelanin is what is skin-protecting in darker skins.



Just re-read this and it sound like I'm waffling please excuse my chain of thought!

Just realised how much I begrudge the sun putting its hat on but at least he is slightly protected!

 

[collin]

Sorry Collin but surely research shows increased skin cancers near the equator although not in darker skins! Can I see your evidence please?

And surely the Australians exposure to the sun could have caused the increase or a changing ozone layer?! There are too many factors involved to measure this! Those that have more exposure are more likely to have more melanin anyway so this does not surely relate to those with fairer skins who are more likely to try use a sun bed or use melanotan.

(this is a non-agressive posting :hug::lol

Plus a quote "Black peoples skin produce more melanin, even in the absence of sunlight, and their type of melanin, eumelanin, is more effective at blocking solar rays. However, white skin produces melanin only in the presence of sunlight and after the UV rays have penetrated the lower portion of the epidermis and have caused skin damage."

Natural melanin already found naturally in the skin is a sun block however. A sun tan only offers a very small amount of protection but the sun damage causes more problems!

Does Melanotan produce Eumelanin or Pheomelanin? Or is this not important? I'm confused but know eumelanin is what is skin-protecting in darker skins.



Just re-read this and it sound like I'm waffling please excuse my chain of thought!

Just realised how much I begrudge the sun putting its hat on but at least he is slightly protected!

No problemo...will troll through my old reference literature and see if I can find the study taken and post for you :hug:

 

[Melanotan]

Melanotan one has at least twice been clinically shown to increase the body's production of eumelanin. The first study reported however that two individuals had a concurrent increase in pheomelanin expression (>50% increase), one with no UV exposure and the other only after UV exposure. The study also noted that based upon those two individuals' results that an avenue of possible research in terms of redheads' ability to possibly produce more eumelanin in favor of pheomelanin beckoned.
The second study looked at melanotan one's effect in individuals with variant MC1R genotypes (ie: redheads with certain variant alleles) and reported, "MELANOTAN one increased the melanin density to a greater extent in individuals carrying the variant alleles Val60Leu, Asp84Glu, Val92Met, Arg142His, Arg151Cys, and Arg160Trp than in individuals with no variant alleles."

Anecdotally there have been a number of ginger haired folks in the melanotan.org forum who've shared photos of themselves before and after using melanotan II that have shown a quite noticeable browning of their hair.

-Scott
Melanotan.org Admin

 

[weezie]

Thanks Collin and Melanotan. Think I'll have a peek at the photos!

Just looked and am even more put off I read the side affects (skin thickening without collagen and elastin increase, wrinkles, increase in moles, puffy eyes to name a few) some are claiming to suffer plus the need for sun beds/exposure to tan. It may only be useful (in my opinion) for those who are sun bed addicts to wean them off excessive use as they will have skin damage anyway.

 

[tonyv]

Hi I have personally done no research on this subject but had heard that the injections had been banned in Australia and the USa due to adverse side effects some of which have been said to include blindness, we do have a client of our salon who had bought some injections from ebay after 5 of them the results to her facial skin was appalling, blotchy patchy we had to advise her to stop and used a course of micro derma braision to bring her skin back to some sort of normality

i would not know where to do the research to see if it has been banned in the usa and aus, but certainly would recomend that prior to even considering it, not that we ever would as there are just to many issues without the rumours that i have heard

 

[Melanotan]

i would not know where to do the research to see if it has been banned in the usa and aus, but certainly would recomend that prior to even considering it, not that we ever would as there are just to many issues without the rumours that i have heard

Sorry but from what you are describing (in particular anything about "ban" and/or "blindness") you appear to be confusing the melanotan peptides with something else and muddling this discussion. Please do the due diligence on this and either cite something or understand the terminology because at this rate you're only going to unhelpfully confuse the topic here. Neither melanotan one or melanotan II are illegal to use. Companies in the U.S. (and I imagine Australia as well) can legally sell either peptide so long as they do not make claims about what they do and so long as they are sold for non-human research. There are a number of companies that are actively selling the peptides in the U.S. As well there are no reports of either peptide causing blindness. Kindly inform yourself fully and when possible provide citations for what you are talking about.

Thanks,

-Scott
Melanotan.org Admin

 

[Melanotan]

skin thickening without collagen and elastin increase

weezie,

Now studies have shown that usage of the peptides can cause thickening of the outer layer of skin (epidermis) by as much as 3 times nominal (original) thickness but where are you getting this information with regards to collagen and elastin? Is that personal conjecture? Aside from the additional melanin this epidermal thickening is part of the reason the researches think that melanotan one is effective as a photoprotective (the logic is that a thicker epidermis + melanin = thicker layer for more effective UVA + UVB blocking).

-Scott
Melanotan.org - afamelanotide Founder & Admin

 

[icclestace]

Well i used to have the odd sunbed and ued to burn slightly but since using Melanotan 2 and only having a 4 min sunbed session every few weeks i now dont burn at all and on my holiday in greece in 40oc heat again no burning, surley this is a positive thing. i know approx 20 plus people on melanotan and to be honest some of them looked a little freckly/patchy in the first few days but when the course was complete this subsided and they all look good. the scary thing is that young girls could order this off the internet with no clue on how to inject it and may abuse it i.e taking more that the required dosage with the thinking they would go darker faster. I was fine with the injecting as i have a nursing backround but know a few thin people who have injected into muscle and caused a bruise. have also found that men seem to tan in only 7days even fair skinned men, my boyf uses it and he is a enviable colour and its true that it increases libido in men and causes the odd spontenious erection but these effects do subside

 

[collin]

weezie,

Now studies have shown that usage of the peptides can cause thickening of the outer layer of skin (epidermis) by as much as 3 times nominal (original) thickness but where are you getting this information with regards to collagen and elastin? Is that personal conjecture? Aside from the additional melanin this epidermal thickening is part of the reason the researches think that melanotan one is effective as a photoprotective (the logic is that a thicker epidermis + melanin = thicker layer for more effective UVA + UVB blocking).

-Scott

Scott,
this thread is beginning to read like war and peace..it just goes on and on...your input is most valuable :hug:however in order to cut to the chase here if we can ,(which I know for one will greatly assist my tiny mind) I would like to ask specific questions.

Can you confirm,without referral "to this and that"

1)if these devices are certified for use here in the UK and elsewhere within the European union.

2) and if so what (if any) qualification /certification is needed by those that administer it.

3) what countries(if any) are there use currently banned


Thanks for your understanding:hug:

 

[Melanotan]

Can you confirm,without referral "to this and that"

The key to being able to speak with any authority on this type of a subject is going to hinge on being able to make authoritative citations. Anything else is personal conjecture which if not marked as such just leads to unfounded innuendo and speculation, this is why it's important to refer, "to this and that". It goes without saying that anyone who's a professional in their field should be conscious of the need for citations. There's currently a lot of interest in the subject of "tanning injections", the more folks can be informed authoritatively (with citations) the better they're going to be able to understand the development of this phenomenon.

1)if these devices are certified for use here in the UK and elsewhere within the European union.

2) and if so what (if any) qualification /certification is needed by those that administer it.

3) what countries(if any) are there use currently banned


Thanks for your understanding:hug:

collin,

With the exception of question 3 (which without an exhaustive search no one would be able to answer), if you've not gathered the answers to these questions by what's already been posted then I'm not going to be able to help you. I'm sorry.

-Scott
Melanotan.org - afamelanotide Founder & Admin

 

[weezie]

Melanotan surely you can answer Collins questions as he wouldn't have asked them if he could easily ascertain them from your posts!:lol:

I read that skin becomes thickened to the point where injecting becomes difficult and skin looks rough and dehydrated and an increase in wrinkles on many of the "diarys" on the website you pointed us to. This indicates a thickening without collagen and elastin production.

I noticed as a moderator on the website you pointed us and obviously have a vested interest in selling the product or something!

 

[collin]

The key to being able to speak with any authority on this type of a subject is going to hinge on being able to make authoritative citations. Anything else is personal conjecture which if not marked as such just leads to unfounded innuendo and speculation, this is why it's important to refer, "to this and that". It goes without saying that anyone who's a professional in their field should be conscious of the need for citations. There's currently a lot of interest in the subject of "tanning injections", the more folks can be informed authoritatively (with citations) the better they're going to be able to understand the development of this phenomenon.



collin,

With the exception of question 3 (which without an exhaustive search no one would be able to answer), if you've not gathered the answers to these questions by what's already been posted then I'm not going to be able to help you. I'm sorry.

-Scott
Melanotan.org Admin

Scott,
as I said..without having to troll through war and peace from cover to cover....could you just answer the questions with a "yes" "no" or "maybe"
that would help me,as well as many others, and hopefully bring this whole issue to some kind of final position...as we currently stand of course...future prospects aside of course :hug:

 

[Melanotan]

Melanotan surely you can answer Collins questions as he wouldn't have asked them if he could easily ascertain them from your posts!:lol:

weezie,

In his last post collin's referring to the peptides as "devices", that should indicate to anyone with some intelligence whether or not he's been paying attention or not.

I read that skin becomes thickened to the point where injecting becomes difficult and skin looks rough and dehydrated and an increase in wrinkles on many of the "diarys" on the website you pointed us to. This indicates a thickening without collagen and elastin production.

It cannot be denied that there have been some reports of increased difficulty in injecting (likely stemming from the epidermal thickening) and a case or two reported about wrinkles appearing. What's not been established is if the peptides actually created wrinkles or through better contrast of the newly tanned skin merely made previous wrinkles more visible. That said these reports are definitely in the minority relative to the over 200 usage logs that are found on the site. Thanks for clarifying your view as personal conjecture regarding elastin and collagen. The human trials on the melanotan peptides haven't mentioned either.

I noticed as a moderator on the website you pointed us and obviously have a vested interest in selling the product or something!

I do not sell the peptides nor do I profit from those that do. There is a "buying & selling" section of our forum that was setup to limit sales talk from popping up in the logs and experimentation areas (this was frequently happening before the existence of this section). I originally became interested in the melanotan peptides back in 1999 when CNN did a report about the "Viagra like" effects of Melanotan II. As a result I started a site about it and have endeavored to make the site the most informative about how melanotan one and II work. In 2004 I opened a forum to allow people to discuss the peptides and subsequently people started to experiment with them and share their results. The overwhelming majority of what is known anecdotally about how the peptides work comes from the Melanotan.org forums. As a result of all of this I happen to be one of most informed people about the peptides. What this means is that when I see discussions about the peptides that are full of misinformation and I can be in a position (access wise) to rectify errors and misconceptions I am inclined to do so because I am in a position to do so (knowledge wise). The melanotan peptides are the first in a new class of drugs based upon melanocortin receptor activation. This new class of drugs holds great promise to benefit mankind and I happen to believe in them and would rather the facts about them become known instead of misinformation.

-Scott
Melanotan.org Admin

 

[weezie]

Are these trials independent trials or those done by the melanotan manufacturers?

 

[Melanotan]

Are these trials independent trials or those done by the melanotan manufacturers?

All of the original animal studies and human efficacy, dosing, pharmacokinetics and tanning/sexual dysfunction studies were done by the researchers at the University of Arizona who first synthesized the melanotan peptides. The studies that have been done in Australia have had some limited conflicts of interest. A 2003 study headed by Dr. Ross Barnetson stated in it that he was a consultant for the then named Epitan (now since renamed to Clinuvel). To my knowledge Clinuvel/Epitan has funded the Australian studies so one could argue for a conflict of interest there. Despite this the argument for a "conflict of interest" is not very strong though due to the simple fact that in order for Clinuvel/Epitan to be able to ever gain approval to bring melanotan one ("afamelanotide") to the Australian market they had to abide by the TGA's (the Australian equivalent of the FDA) requirement for them to completely redo the clinical trials that had previously been performed in the U.S. (meaning that they had to completely start from scratch).

-Scott
Melanotan.org Admin

 

[collin]

weezie,

In his last post collin's referring to the peptides as "devices", that should indicate to anyone with some intelligence whether or not he's been paying attention or not.
-Scott
Melanotan.org Admin

not wishing to troll through every chapter of war and peace..... ok so here we go again.....are these certified for sale within the Uk or European market at the moment ..or not??.

If so they can be sold and everyone who wishes to use them and can do so withouh concern...and im sure there will be many that will wish to do so.

if not...well erm..thats a whole different ball game:hug:

 

[Melanotan]

not wishing to troll through every chapter of war and peace..... ok so here we go again.....are these certified for sale within the Uk or European market at the moment ..or not??.

If so they can be sold and everyone who wishes to use them and can do so withouh concern...and im sure there will be many that will wish to do so.

if not...well erm..thats a whole different ball game:hug:

collin, I'm sorry but your questions seem a little dense. Review your own posts in this thread and see that not only have you asked these questions already but they've already been answered.

It is lazy to not invest a small amount of time and at minimum review your own posts (and corresponding responses) here in this thread. Short of doing that you're just wasting other people's time.

-Scott
Melanotan.org Admin

 

[collin]

collin, I'm sorry but your questions seem a little dense. Review your own posts in this thread and see that not only have you asked these questions already but they've already been answered.

It is lazy to not invest a small amount of time and at minimum review your own posts (and corresponding responses) here in this thread. Short of doing that you're just wasting time other people's time.

-Scott
Melanotan.org Admin

Scott,
of all the people who frequent this site I am the most "dense" of them all...and the slowest on the uptake to boot...so just for my benifit.:wink2:..as im sure everyone is miles ahead of me on this....please please please ..answer the question...yes/no/maybe..is just fine :hug: