Experts have cautioned consumers seeking a rapid tan not to use a substance that is widely used on social media because it may have dangerous adverse effects, such as melanoma.
Influencers have long promoted Melanotan-II, the “Barbie medication” that claims to help people grow “way tanner, much faster,” on sites like Tiktok, to the fury of UNSW medical experts.
The medication mimics a hormone called Melanocyte-stimulating hormone (-MSH) and alters how the body controls pigment cells.
According to UNSW Medicine Conjoint Associate Professor Deshan Sebaratnam, this deceives the body into tanning itself.
We have pigment cells in our skin, and hormones control how active those pigment cells are. Therefore, Melanotan-II increases the activity of our pigment cells by imitating the effects of those hormones, according to Professor Sebaratnam.
You get your tan because our pigment cells create more melanin, which is what this signifies.
However, according to Conjoint Senior Lecturer at UNSW Medicine & Health Dr. John Frew, having tanned skin also carries the risk of developing melanoma, the most deadly kind of skin cancer.
Melanotan-II is boosting the pigment cells in your body. According to Dr. Frew, if you do it often enough, you may trigger aberrant cell growth.
And this might hasten the development of melanoma, according to the statement.
According to Dr. Frew, Melanotan-II carries the risk of neurological side effects in addition to the possibility for skin cancer and other issues since the medication may bind to brain receptors and affect functions like hunger and sexual arousal.
A few odd neurological side effects of Melanotan-II have been documented. According to Dr. Frews, the nausea, vomiting, and face flushing are often more pronounced.
Additionally, yawning and priapism (prolonged erections) have been reported.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has not certified the goods for use in Australia owing to “safety considerations,” but that hasn’t prevented social media users from buying the items after seeing them on Tiktok and Instagram.
Advertising and distributing Melanotan-II to the general public are prohibited, and the TGA claims it is collaborating with social media and digital platforms to address user-reported instances of potentially illicit advertising.
TikTok claims it deletes videos marketing melanotan and nasal tanning sprays, while Meta claims it forbids the sale of unlawful goods.
However, visitors still find videos and product reviews on the site to be popular.
According to Dr. Frew, there are still unanswered problems about the obligations of social platforms as well as how to shield users of social media from the promotion of illicit and hazardous goods.
‘The TGA’s influence on what occurs on TikTok and Instagram is certainly pretty limited. That is a significant issue with no obvious answer.
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