Not way back, a friend texted me from a coffee shop. He said, “I can't believe it. I'm just here without a tattoo!” This may not seem surprising: A fast go searching virtually anywhere people congregate shows that tattoos are widely popular.
About one-third of adults within the United States have tattoos, in line with Pew Research Center surveyMore than half of them are women aged 18 to 49. These numbers have increased dramatically over the past 20 years: approx 21 percent of American adults in 2012 And 16 percent of adults in 2003 Reported having a minimum of one tattoo.
If you're considered one of them, some recent headlines might trouble you:
Studies show that tattoos may increase your risk of lymphoma. (Just my health)
Getting tattoos puts you at higher risk of cancer, study claims (NDTV)
Inky water: Tattoos increase lymphoma risk by greater than 20 percent, study says (Local12.com)
Shocking research shows that tattoos can increase the chance of lymphoma by as much as 20 percent (Fox News)
What study are they talking about? And how concerned do you have to be? Let's walk through it together. One thing is obvious: there's more to this story than the headlines.
Why are researchers studying the possible link between tattoos and lymphoma?
Lymphoma is a form of cancer that starts within the lymphatic system, a network of vessels and lymph nodes that run throughout the body. With roughly 90,000 newly diagnosed cases a yr, lymphoma is one of the common forms of cancer.
Its risk aspects include:
- Growing old
- Certain infections (corresponding to Epstein-Barr virus, HIV, and hepatitis C)
- Exposure to certain chemicals (corresponding to benzene, or possibly pesticides).
- Family history of lymphoma
- Radiation exposure (corresponding to after nuclear reactor accidents or radiation therapy)
- Having a weak immune system
- Certain immune disorders (corresponding to rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren's disease, or celiac disease).
The cause or risk factor for tau lymphoma just isn't known. But there are several reasons to wonder if there could be a connection:
- The ink injected under the skin for tattooing comprises many chemicals which might be classified as carcinogenic (cancer causing).
- Pigment from tattoo ink will be present in enlarged lymph nodes inside a number of weeks of getting the tattoo.
- Immune cells within the skin can react to the chemicals within the tattoo ink and travel to nearby lymph nodes, triggering an immune response throughout the body.
- Other triggers of lymphoma, corresponding to pesticides, have the same effect on immune cells within the lymph nodes.
Is there a connection between tattoos and lymphoma?
Any possible link between tattoos and lymphoma has not been well studied. I could only find two published studies that explored this possibility, and neither found evidence of a compelling link.
gave The first study 737 individuals with probably the most common form of lymphoma (called non-Hodgkin's lymphoma) were compared with otherwise similar individuals who didn't have lymphoma. The researchers found no significant difference within the frequency of tattoos between the 2 groups.
Oh The study was published in May 2024. — which prompted the scary headlines above — was big. It compared 1,398 people aged 20 to 60 who had lymphoma with 4,193 individuals who didn't have lymphoma but who were otherwise an identical. The study found that
- Lymphoma was 21 percent more common amongst individuals with tattoos.
- The risk of lymphoma is dependent upon how long after the tattoo:
- Within two years, the chance of lymphoma was 81 percent higher.
- Between three and 10 years, no increased risk of lymphoma was detected
- After 11 or more years of tattooing, the chance of lymphoma was 19 percent
There was no association between size or variety of tattoos and lymphoma risk.
What else should concerning the study?
Importantly, almost all the differences in lymphoma rates between individuals with and without tattoos weren't statistically significant. This signifies that the reported link between lymphoma and tattoos is questionable — and possibly coincidental. In fact, a few of the other findings argue against a connection, corresponding to the dearth of a link between size or variety of tattoos and lymphoma risk.
Also, if tattoos significantly increase an individual's risk of developing lymphoma, then we will expect the recognition of tattoos to extend in addition to the speed of lymphoma within the United States. Yet it's. Not the case.
Finally, this sort of study (called an association study) cannot prove that a possible trigger for the disease (on this case, the tattoo) actually causes the disease (Lymphoma). There could also be other aspects (called confounders) which might be more common in individuals with tattoos, and these aspects may increase the chance of lymphoma.
Do tattoos include other health risks?
Although the complication rate from reputable and properly certified tattooists is low, there are Health risks associated with tattoos:
The bottom line
Despite headlines suggesting a link between tattoos and lymphoma risk, there isn't any convincing evidence that that is true. We would want significantly more research to say greater than that. In the meantime, there are more essential health concerns to fret about. Much better ways For all of us to cut back the chance of cancer.