Medical Discovery News
Science permeates everyday life. Yet the understanding of advances in biomedical science is limited at best. Few people make the connection that biomedical science is medicine and that biomedical scientists are working today for the medicine of tomorrow. Our weekly five-hundred-word newspaper column (http://www.illuminascicom.com/) and two-minute radio show provide insights into a broad range of biomedical science topics. Medical Discovery News is dedicated to explaining discoveries in biomedical research and their promise for the future of medicine. Each release is designed to stimulate listeners to think, question and appreciate how science affects their health as well as that of the rest of the world. We also delve into significant biomedical discoveries and portray how science (or the lack of it) has impacted health throughout history.
Medical Discovery News
Reasons to Let Your Hair Go Natural
938 Reasons to Let Your Hair Go Natural
Welcome to Medical Discovery News. I’m Dr Norbert Herzog.
And I’m Dr. David Niesel
As research has sought to answer why Black women suffer more maternal health complications, one link has now become clear: the regular use of hair straighteners used by ninety percent of Black women, over generations, often starting at young ages.
A study in two thousand twelve linked their use to uterine fibroids, which eighty percent of Black women develop by age fifty. The fibroids cause painful periods and infertility and are a leading cause of hysterectomies.
Another study, called the Sisters Study, involved fifty thousand women ages thirty-five to seventy-four with sisters who developed breast cancer.
After analyzing the data, they found women who used hair relaxers every five to eight weeks had over thirty percent higher rates of breast cancer.
Studies also show if Black women used hair relaxers before age twelve for more than a decade, they were more likely to develop larger and more aggressive breast tumors.
Using the products at least four times a year is linked to ovarian cancer and uterine cancer which went up by eighty percent for frequent users.
A follow up study of forty-five thousand women linked more than twice a year use for more than five years to a fifty percent chance of higher risk of uterine cancer.
And yet, most of the toxic ingredients were not listed on the packaging of nearly twenty products used by Black women. It is time for the FDA to step in with more regulation of these products.
We are Drs. David Niesel and Norbert Herzog, at UTMB and Quinnipiac University, where biomedical discoveries shape the future of medicine. For much more and our disclaimer go to medicaldiscoverynews.com or subscribe to our podcast. Sign up for expanded print episodes at www.illuminascicom.com
