New Study Says, "Relax and Straighten Your Hair Without a Cancer Care"

Regardless of whether it is true or not, people maypercent have answered follow-up questions every
feel uneasy about using strong chemicals like relaxerstwo years since, including questions about hair relaxer
on their hair due to unknown cancer risks.usage.
This week, a study in Cancer Epidemiology,Lynn Rosenberg, ScD, professor of epidemiology at
Biomarkers & Prevention gave consumers aBoston University School of Public Health, led the
reason to not to fear hair relaxers. Researchers fromstudy. Rosenberg explained that hair relaxer usage
Boston University and Howard University Cancerwas important,"Because hair relaxers are more widely
Center found that the type, frequency and durationused by younger African-American women than they
of hair relaxer usage did not increase breast cancerare used by older African-American women, a
risk.connection with increased risk of breast cancer in
In fact, an unexplained cancer concern inspired thisyounger women seemed possible."
relaxer study. For years medical studies haveThe study discovered that women who used
reported that breast cancer incidence is higher amongrelaxers seven or more times a year over a 20 year
African-American women age 40 or younger thanspan or longer had the same risk as women who
among Caucasian women of the same age. Yet, thisused the chemicals for less than a year.
increased risk is not fully explained by known riskEven though researchers pinned no link between hair
factors like race and family history.relaxers and breast cancer, Rosenberg cautions that,
To help explain the heightened cancer risk, the Black"...substances that are used by millions of women
Women's Health Study was launched across theover a span of many years should be monitored for
United States in 1995. More than 59,000 womensafety.
completed an initial questionnaire and more than 80