What Should You Know about the Connection between Hair Straighteners and Uterine Cancer?

There are many types of cancer that exist in the world. These types of cancer have a variety of causes but they are all significant health issues that require extensive treatment. One type of cancer you might not have heard much about is uterine cancer.

Obviously, this type of cancer only affects women, but it is worth discussing since a considerable portion of the population is women. New evidence has come to light that shows a possible connection between hair straighteners and uterine cancer. There is plenty of information to cover on this topic. Here is what you should know about the potential link between the use of hair straighteners and women developing uterine cancer.

What Does The Research Show on this Topic?

As always, it is important to cover what the research has shown on this topic. When it comes to the link between uterine cancer and hair straighteners, the National Institutes of Health conducted a recent study on this topic. This study was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute and it uncovered that people who use hair relaxers or hair straightening chemicals have an increased risk of developing uterine cancer. People that use chemical hair relaxers frequently are more than twice as likely to develop uterine cancer compared to those people who refrain from using hair relaxers.

The study discovered a total of 378 uterine cancer diagnoses in the 33,497 people who participated in the study. Some women in the study reported that they never used hair straightening products. Out of these women, only 1.64% of them developed uterine cancer by the time they turned 70 years old. By contrast, out of the women who reported using chemical hair relaxers and hair straighteners on a regular basis, 4.05% of them developed uterine cancer by the time they turned 70 years old. This is a significant difference between the two groups and further research on this topic is likely.

Who Filed the First Hair Relaxer Lawsuit Due to The Possible Connection between Uterine Cancer and Hair Straighteners?

There have been more than a few hair relaxer lawsuits filed over the past month in light of these findings. However, the first lawsuit filed due to the connection between hair straighteners and uterine cancer is a crucial moment in the development of this situation. As a result, you should know about it. Jennifer Mitchell filed the first hair straightener lawsuit in the United States Federal Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

In her lawsuit, Mitchell alleges that exposure to phthalates as well as to other chemicals that disrupt endocrine found in hair relaxers she used eventually caused her to develop endometrial center when she was 28 years old. Due to her developing endometrial cancer, Mitchell went through a full hysterectomy prior to her 30th birthday. Because of this, her lawsuit places the blame for her uterine cancer on the hair relaxers she used. As previously mentioned, this lawsuit is significant because it was the first one filed due to the possible connection between uterine cancer and hair straighteners. Many other lawsuits soon followed after this first one.