About one-third of college students who tried indoor tanning facilities were addicted to the artificial rays, and the addicts drank more alcohol and smoked more marijuana than other students, researchers found. The compulsive tanners met psychological criteria for addiction gauged by two different measurers, according to the new study, published in the Archives of Dermatology. About 42 percent of tanning addicts reported using more than one drug in the previous month, twice the rate of casual tanners. Indoor tanning can cause skin cancer, premature skin aging and eye damage, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The national health overhaul will charge tanning customers a 10 percent tax effective in July.

BLOOMBERG NEWS

Understanding autism Among the most baffling observations about autism is that some children appear to have symptoms early in life while others develop normally and then regress prior to age 3. Still others have mild developmental delays and then experience a plateau in development. Evidence suggests these are different types of autism, and new research supports that idea. Researchers at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore found that children with early symptoms might actually be at lower risk for poorer outcomes than children who develop normally and then experience a loss of skills. In data collected from 2,720 parents, researchers found children with regression had a distinct increase in the severity of symptoms, such as not attaining conversational speech. More than one-third of the parents surveyed said they had concerns about their child's general development before they noticed the more obvious signs of regression.

LOS ANGELES TIMES

Tips for young women Gynecologist Hope Ricciotti and health writer Monique Doyle Spencer have written "The Real Life Body Book" (Celestial Arts, $22) for women in their late teens, 20s and 30s to steer them away from what they call the "Favorite Four" sources of health (mis)information: best friends, Mom, magazines and the Internet. Ricciotti doesn't hold back her strong opinions on topics such as plastic surgery: "If you are a patient in my office with butt implants, breast implants and a facelift ... I'm going to wonder why you were that unhappy."

WASHINGTON POST