A patient with very light skin wants to know more about treatment for skin tanning with melanotropin analogues:
I am very interested in treatments with melanotropin and melanotan substances. How are they actually administered?
Melanotropin analogues are either absorbed by nasal mucosa (snuffed) or injected into subcutaneous tissue. The hormone melanotropin stimulates the body’s own production of the dark skin pigment melanin, which tans skin visibly.
This therapy especially helps people with light skin type to get tanned more quickly as well as to prevent dangerous sunburns – because of the tan the skin gets more sun-resistant and therefore it provides a natural protection against harmful UV light.
Doctors who propagate therapies with melanotropin analogues additionally refer to protection against skin aging and argue that even the risk for skin cancer can be decreased to a certain degree. To date a therapy with melanotropin is only permitted for specific indications. This means that we have to wait and see if a tanning therapy with the agent melanotropin is soon generally permitted – to the chagrin of sun lotion industry.
DDr. Heinrich, MD