Our understanding of the long-term health effects of tattoos is still limited - Photo: CNN
Researchers emphasize the need for further study on the cancer risks associated with tattoos, especially given the growing popularity of body tattoos.
The potential link between tattoos and lymphoma
It's fair to say that our understanding of the long-term health effects of tattoos is currently limited. There is very little research in this area. Therefore, a research team at Lund University decided to examine the potential link between tattoos and lymphoma.
Researchers identified individuals diagnosed with lymphoma through population registries. These individuals were then matched with a control group of the same sex and age, but without lymphoma.
Christel Nielsen, a researcher at Lund University and lead author of the study, said that participants answered a questionnaire about lifestyle factors to determine whether or not they had tattoos.
The entire study included 11,905 participants. Of these, 2,938 were diagnosed with lymphoma between the ages of 20 and 60. Of these, 1,398 responded to the questionnaire, while the control group consisted of 4,193 participants.
In the lymphoma group, 21% had tattoos (289 people), while in the control group without a lymphoma diagnosis, 18% had tattoos (735 people).
This complex picture requires further research.
"After accounting for other related factors, such as smoking and age, we found a 21% higher risk of developing lymphoma in people with tattoos. It is important to remember that lymphoma is a rare disease and our results apply at the group level."
"The results need to be verified and further investigated in other studies. Studies of this type are still ongoing," said Christel Nielsen.
One hypothesis put forward by Christel Nielsen's research team was that the size of the tattoo would affect the risk of lymphoma. They thought that people with full-body tattoos might have a higher risk of developing the cancer compared to someone with only a small butterfly tattoo on their shoulder. Surprisingly, the surface area of the tattoo turned out to be irrelevant.
"We still don't know why. We can only speculate that a tattoo, regardless of size, causes mild inflammation in the body, which could then lead to cancer. Therefore, the picture is more complex than we initially thought," Christel said.
Most people get their first tattoo when they are young, which means they are exposed to tattoo ink for much of their lives. Even so, new research only outlines the long-term health effects of tattoos.
"We knew that when tattoo ink is injected into the skin, the body understands it's something foreign that shouldn't be there, and the immune system is activated. A large portion of the ink is transported out of the skin to the lymph nodes, where it is retained," said Christel Nielsen.
The research team will now investigate whether there is a link between tattoos and other types of cancer. They also want to further study other inflammatory diseases to see if there is any connection with tattoos.
"People may want to continue expressing their individuality through tattoos. Therefore, it is very important that we can ensure that tattooing is safe."
"For each individual, it's good to know that tattoos can affect health, and that they should contact a healthcare provider if they experience symptoms that they believe may be related to their tattoo," Christel Nielsen concluded.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/canh-bao-hinh-xam-co-the-lam-tang-nguy-co-mac-ung-thu-20240530133017068.htm
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