Hair-straightening chemical linked to increased uterine cancer risk - study
Hair-straightening products may significantly increase the risk of developing uterine cancer among those who use them frequently, a large study published on Monday suggests.
''We
estimated that 1.64% of women who never used hair straighteners would
go on to develop uterine cancer by the age of 70, but for frequent
users, that risk goes up to 4.05%," study leader Alexandra White of the
U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Safety (NIEHS) said in a
statement.
"However, it is important to put this information into context. Uterine cancer is a relatively rare type of cancer," she added.
Still,
uterine cancer is the most common gynecologic cancer in the United
States, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), with rates rising, particularly among Black women.
Researchers
tracked 33,947 racially diverse women, ages 35 to 74, for an average of
nearly 11 years. During that time, 378 women developed uterine cancer.
After
accounting for participants' other risk factors, the odds of developing
uterine cancer were more than two and a half times higher for women who
had used straightening products more than four times in the previous
year.
Less frequent straightener use in the past year also was
associated with an elevated uterine cancer risk, but the difference was
not statistically significant, meaning it might have been due to chance.
Earlier
studies have shown that hair straighteners contain so-called endocrine
disrupting chemicals. The products have previously been associated with
higher risks of breast and ovarian cancer.
"These findings are
the first epidemiologic evidence of association between use of
straightening products and uterine cancer," White and colleagues wrote
in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute. "More research is
warranted to ... identify specific chemicals driving this observed
association."
The link between straightener use and uterine cancer did not differ by race in the study.
But
"because Black women use hair straightening or relaxer products more
frequently and tend to initiate use at earlier ages than other races and
ethnicities, these findings may be even more relevant for them,"
Che-Jung Chang of NIEHS said in a statement.
from Yahoo news.(Reporting by Nancy Lapid; editing by Bill Berkrot)
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