National Institutes of Health, 11-year follow-up and analysis of over 30,000 people
Women who frequently used straight hair perm medications were more than twice as likely to develop uterine cancer than women who did not.
Findings from a study conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which included 33,497 women between the ages of 35 and 74, followed for about 11 years. These women participated in the “Risk Factors for Breast Cancer and Other Health Conditions” study conducted by the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH). During the follow-up period, 378 participants were diagnosed with cervical cancer.
The study found that women who frequently used hair straightening medications (hair straightening chemicals) had an approximately 2.5 times higher risk of uterine cancer than women who did not. Corresponding author of the study, NIH Alexandra White, Ph.D., said: “It is estimated that 1.64% of women who did not use straight hair perm medication would develop uterine cancer at age. 70-year-olds, while up to 4.05% of women who frequent use of straight hair perm drugs would develop cancer of the uterus. “It turned out to be a risk,” she said. perms was defined as being used 4 or more times in the past year. “This is the first epidemiological study to investigate the association between hair straightener drugs and cervical cancer risk,” added White.
The researchers found no association with uterine cancer in other hair products they said were used by women, including hair dyes, bleaches, highlighters or perms. Cervical cancer accounts for about 3% of all new cancer cases, but 65,950 new cases were diagnosed in 2022. Additionally, about 60 percent of participants who reported using hair straightening drugs last year were black women. Black women use hair straighteners or relaxers more often and tend to start using them earlier than other races and ethnicities.
“Several chemicals found in hair straightener drugs (parabens, bisphenol A, metals and formaldehyde) can increase the risk of cervical cancer,” said the researchers. Exposure to chemicals from the use of hair products, especially hair straighteners, can be much more dangerous than other personal care products by increasing absorption through the scalp, which can be exacerbated by burns and injuries from plate. Previously, the NIH research team found that permanent hair dyes and straighteners can increase the risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
The results of this study (Use of Straighteners and Other Hair Products and Incident Uterine Cancer) were published in the ≪Journal of the National Cancer Institute≫ and presented by the American medical and health media ‘MedicalXpress’.
