Saturday, 10 September 2016

Effects of Sex on the Heart of the Aged

Having sex frequently - and enjoying it - puts older men at higher risk for heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems.

For older women, however, good sex may actually lower the risk of hypertension.
That's according to the first large-scale study of how sex affects heart health in later life.


The federally funded research, led by a Michigan State University scholar, is slated to be published online Sept. 6 in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.
"These findings challenge the widely held assumption that sex brings uniform health benefits to everyone," said Hui Liu, MSU associate professor of sociology.
Liu and colleagues analyzed survey data from 2,204 people in the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project. Participants were aged 57-85 when the first wave of data was collected in 2005-06; another round of data was collected five years later.

Cardiovascular risk was measured as hypertension, rapid heart rate, elevated C-reactive protein and general cardiovascular events: heart attack, heart failure and stroke.
Older men who had sex once a week or more were much more likely to experience cardiovascular events five years later than men who were sexually inactive, the study found. This risk was not found among older women.
"Strikingly, we find that having sex once a week or more puts older men at a risk for experiencing cardiovascular events that is almost two times greater than older men who are sexually inactive," said Liu.

"Moreover, older men who found sex with their partner extremely pleasurable or satisfying had higher risk of cardiovascular events than men who did not feel so."
She said the findings suggest the strain and demands from a sexual relationship may be more relevant for men as they get older, become increasingly frail and suffer more sexual problems.
"Because older men have more difficulties reaching orgasm for medical or emotional reasons than do their younger counterparts, they may exert themselves to a greater degree of exhaustion and create more stress on their cardiovascular system in order to achieve climax."
Testosterone levels and the use of medication to improve sexual function may also play a role. "Although scientific evidence is still rare," Liu said, "it is likely that such sexual medication or supplements have negative effects on older men's cardiovascular health."
Ultimately, while moderate amounts of sex may promote health among older men, having sex too frequently or too enjoyably may be a risk factor for cardiovascular problems, Liu said.

"Physicians should talk to older male patients about potential risks of high levels of sexual activity and perhaps screen those who frequently have sex for cardiovascular issues."
For women, it was a different story. Female participants who found sex to be extremely pleasurable or satisfying had lower risk of hypertension five years later than female participants who did not feel so.
"For women, we have good news: Good sexual quality may protect older women from cardiovascular risk in later life," Liu said.
Previous studies suggest that strong, deep and close relationship is an important source of social and emotional support, which may reduce stress and promote psychological well-being and, in turn, cardiovascular health.

"This may be more relevant to women than to men," Liu said, "because men in all relationships, regardless of quality, are more likely to receive support from their partner than are women. However, only women in good quality relationships may acquire such benefits from their partner."
Moreover, the female sexual hormone released during orgasm may also promote women's health, she said.



Article source: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20160907/Study-reveals-how-sex-affects-heart-health-in-later-life.aspx

Getting Back In Shape

Let us talk a little about how we can get back into shape. How many people have done this? How many people have let themselves go so long without exercise that they don't know how to start? I have had to overcome this problem before and I would have liked a guide like I am going to provide for you.

How to start getting in shape after no exercise for a long time isn't easy. If it was easy everyone would be doing it. It's going to take dedication, hard work, giving up some of your favorite foods or drinks.

NOT ALL AT ONCE THOUGH.

Don't be an over eager beaver as I like to call them. An over eager beaver in the gym is someone that decides they are going to get in shape and they go gung ho over it. They say they are going to wake up at 6 a.m. run 5 miles then go to the gym after work, workout for 2 hours. Then there going to only eat healthy foods and drink nothing but water. You get my point. If you tried to do that all at once you are setting yourself up for failure.

Start with little goals.

Examples of 2 small goals you can set for yourself to help you start getting into shape!

Walk for 10 minutes a day for a few days then up it to 15 minutes. Keep raising your goal and eventually you'll be running five miles, and thinking How the HELL am I running five miles a day I remember when I couldn't / didn't want to walk five minutes a day.

Replace one snack with a healthy snack that is full of protein and good nutrients. Replace one snack a week for as long as it takes to replace them all your snacks with healthy ones and eventually you'll be snacking on nothing but foods that are good for you.

Examples of exercises to start with when you haven't been exercising in a long time.

Start by doing 2 sets of 10 to 15 reps.

This isn't an exercise but it is very important and I feel I should mention this again set small attainable goals.

Don't set unrealistic goals.

Start by doing push-ups in your living room or at a gym. This is an example of using your own bodyweight to help get in shape.

Next to sit ups again this can be done in your living room or in a gym.

Finish it up with some bodyweight squats. This is a great way to building your lower body and hit your core at the same time.

Where do I start once I get to the gym?

When you walk into the gym for the first time it could be a little overwhelming at first. You don't know where to begin in order to start getting in shape. An easy way to get started is to start with compound movements or total body workouts.

Start with straight barbell squats. This is the same thing you were doing before only now you are using a little weight. This will help build your lower body and your core.

Flat bench press. This is going to help build your pectoral muscles and your triceps and shoulders.

You can also do everything you were doing above just at the gym now. Eventually, you will work your way up into doing more and more.

Now at least you have a starting point. Now all you have to do is decide to start and start now. Have someone that will hold you accountable or you need to be extremely disciplined. Set little goals and once you reach them set another goal eventually you're going to be 55 lbs lighter like me and wonder how it happened. It took me 5 months but I gained a lot of muscle too so I actually have lost a lot more than 55 lbs.

I feel great and so can you.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9512008

Wednesday, 7 September 2016

Zika Virus and Safe Sex Practice

If you or your sexual partner are traveling to an area where Zika is circulating, you should abstain or carefully use safe sex measures for a full six months after you return, the World Health Organization announced today, even if Zika is not present in your home community.

The new recommendations apply to both men and women, and should be followed even if neither of the partners have shown symptoms of Zika and regardless of whether they are trying to conceive or not.

Common symptoms of a Zika infection include rash, fever, headache, muscle and joint pain, and on occasion red eyes that appear similar to conjunctivitis.
This is a huge change to the WHO's prior guidance in June, which only applied to men who were not showing symptoms, and suggested abstaining or practicing safe sex for a mere eight weeks after travel to an area where Zika is currently circulating.

The WHO said the change in counsel comes because of additional studies that have documented the presence of Zika virus in semen for much longer than previously known.
Until June 7, "the maximum documented time was 62 days" said the WHO, but Zika virus particles have "now been found in semen for 188 days."

Since the studies only found viral particles, not the infectious virus itself, the WHO believes its "calculation for six months is conservative" and does not intend to extend the guidance past six months at this time.

The WHO said it also took into consideration new studies that have documented the transmission of Zika between sexual partners who had no symptoms of the disease. At least 80% of people infected with Zika do not show symptoms, and may never know they have the disease and could be contagious

Another concern, according to the WHO, centered around a case report that showed the virus might hide in a woman's genital tract. In June, researchers announced that Zika RNA had been found in a woman's vaginal fluids and cervical mucous after the virus had left her bloodstream.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is still counseling couples to abstain or practice safe sex for eight weeks after returning from an area of active Zika transmission. Women with Zika-like symptoms should do so for a full eight weeks after symptoms started, but men should wait for a full six months after symptoms appear.

What about Pregnancy?
However, according to CDC spokesperson Tom Skinner, the agency "is currently reviewing all the available evidence and is in the process of updating its interim guidance related to pregnancy planning and the timing of pregnancy after possible exposure to Zika virus and prevention of sexual transmission of Zika virus."

The CDC defines safe sex as the use of either male or female condoms, and says it applies to oral, anal and vaginal sex acts, including the use of sex toys.
According to the WHO, safe sexual practices include "correct and consistent use of male or female condoms, non-penetrative sex, reducing the number of sexual partners, and postponing sexual debut."





Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/06/health/zika-sexual-guidance-who-changes/index.html?iid=ob_lockedrail_bottomlist

CAN THIS BE THE END OF MALARIA IN THE WORLD?

Sri Lanka was certified malaria-free on Monday, making it the second country to reach this status in the World Health Organization's (WHO) region of South-east Asia.

The first was the smaller island nation of the neighboring Maldives in 2015, aided by its much smaller population of nearly 400,000, compared to more than 20 million in Sri Lanka.
Globally, 33 countries have been certified as malaria-free, with Armenia, Turkmenistan and Morocco the most recent to join the list before the Maldives in 2015. But more than 95 countries and territories had ongoing malaria transmission in 2015 -- now down to 94.

Sri Lanka's status of ridding itself of the disease was against the odds according to some experts, due to the country having had high burdens of the disease, its status as a low to middle-income country, regular movement of people between the island and India, and more than 20 years of civil conflict that only recently came to an end.
But they managed to do it -- and set a precedent for malaria control in other parts of the tropics.
"It was a hard fight, [but] this is an example to the rest of the world," said Dr. Pedro Alonso, Director of the WHO Global Malaria Programme. Sri Lanka "has sustained this for the last three years in a convincing way."
The country's ministry of health used multiple strategies to end a disease that otherwise continued to infect 214 million people globally in 2015, and kill more than 400,000. But the journey to end malaria in Sri Lanka has been a long one.

"Sri Lanka famously nearly eradicated malaria before," said Dr. Jo Lines, a malaria control expert from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
The country came close to eliminating malaria in 1963, when numbers reach just 17 cases that year, compared to 2.8 million cases in 1946, according to Alonso.
But it didn't last.
"It is a prime example of what happens if you don't finish the job," said Alonso. "They nearly got there, relaxed and [malaria] came back in an awful way."
A resurgence of the disease in 1967 was then followed by more than four decades of infections reaching up to 500,000 in number each year. Then in the 1990s, the country developed a new, somewhat unorthodox strategy, according to some experts -- it prioritized hunting down the parasite as well as killing the mosquito.

Malaria is caused by the Plasmodium falciparum parasite, carried by anopheles' mosquitoes as they feed on humans and pick up the parasite inside their blood. The goal set out was therefore to treat people as soon as possible to kill the parasites lurking in their bloodstream and leave nothing behind for mosquitoes to suck up -- preventing further transmission.
This was helped by setting up mobile malaria clinics that diagnosed and treated people much earlier than waiting for people to visit their doctor with symptoms, accompanied by regular surveillance, community engagement and education programs to make sure people knew the symptoms and when to get tested and treated.

Alonso added that there was an aggressive effort to find infected humans by Sri Lanka's department of health, but he also stressed the importance of the government prioritizing the problem and funding it, as well as continuing mosquito control efforts. "Sri Lanka has done both," he said.
"In many places at the moment, we are over-reliant on insecticides ... you're not going to succeed if you put emphasis on just one part of the story," said Lines. "They looked for the last remaining parasites in all their hiding places."

Sri Lanka recorded less than 1,000 cases of malaria per year by 2006, and endemic cases within Sri Lanka -- not imported from another country -- have been zero since 2012.
No local cases have been recorded for more than three years, which is the timeframe needed for a country to be certified as free of the disease.
The challenge now is keeping the parasite away and maintaining this status.
Last year Nigeria was declared free of polio after years fighting the paralyzing disease in children, but three infections returned in the population this year, showing the ease with which an infection could re-enter.
"It's about making elimination stable," said Lines. "To make sure there isn't another monster explosion."
Alonso believes it will be sustained and that all the necessary measures are in place to prevent the re-introduction of the disease. "They're in a good position," he said.

Can the world be malaria-free?

The global malaria eradication program set out to make the world malaria-free when it launched in 1955. It succeeded in eliminating malaria from Europe, North America, the Caribbean and parts of Asia and South America, but high numbers continued in Africa, and other parts of South America and Asia, including Sri Lanka, causing the goal of ending malaria globally to be abandoned in 1969.

The 94 countries of the world that remain endemic for the disease can learn a few key strategies from Sri Lanka, say experts, namely the importance of owning the problem.
"True ownership is essential," said Alonso. "If countries own the problem, and the solution, and scale up interventions ... it would go very, very far."
Lines agrees that this commitment would mean countries then take all the measures needed, such as using bed nets, insecticides and treatment in combination with broader factors such as better housing, removing breeding sites for mosquitoes and improving diagnosis.
"We all know it, but doing it is the difference," said Lines. "Sri Lanka did it in a coordinated, well-planned and sustained way."


Article Source:
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/07/health/sri-lanka-declared-free-of-malaria/index.html

Tuesday, 6 September 2016

ARE YOU PREPARED FOR THE FLU?

Have you received your Flu shot yet? You haven’t? Well, you are one of millions of Americans who have been procrastinating and have not yet received the vaccine. However you should consider a Flu shot because Flu season is here.
The most recent FluView report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) shows increasing influenza activity in America. Further increases in activity are expected in the coming weeks. Influenza task can last into May and peaks in February. It is not too late to get your influenza vaccine this year. Influenza vaccines this season have already been updated to better match circulating viruses and most circulating viruses so far are still like the recommended vaccine viruses because of this season.
CDC recommends a yearly influenza vaccine for everyone older and 6 months. Vaccination can reduce flu illnesses, physicians’ visits, and missed work and school because of influenza, in addition to prevent influenza-related hospitalizations. It will take about two weeks after vaccination for protection to set in, making now the best time.
So, if you have been putting off the Flue shot, it’s time to get in the car and wrangle up a shot. Now getting the shot can be as simple as going to your local pharmacy. Most national and regional pharmacy chains now offer walk-in Flu shots. So it’s time to get off the Flu fence and head on over to the local drugstore for your vaccine.


Article Source: http://www.healthylifeinfo.com/2016/lifehealth/watch-out-for-the-flu/

DO YOU HAVE TROUBLE RELAXING?

Do you find yourself unable to relax? There are a number of great relaxation techniques available for you to try.
Relaxation techniques incorporate several practices including guided imagery, progressive relaxation, biofeedback, self hypnosis, and deep breathing exercises. The target is not dissimilar in all: to create the entire body’s natural relaxation response, defined by slower respiration, lower blood pressure, and also a sense of increased well being.
Stress management plans usually include relaxation concepts. Practices and meditation including meditation with movement, for example yoga and tai chi, also can encourage relaxation. It’s possible for you to discover info about those practices elsewhere.
Here are a few things you can do to relax:
  • Autogenic Training
  • Biofeedback-Assisted Relaxation
  • Deep Breathing or Respiration Exercises
  • Guided Vision
  • Progressive Relaxation
  • Self Hypnosis
What do we understand concerning the potency of relaxation techniques?
Mental treatments, which might include relaxation concepts, might help manage other forms of persistent pain along with chronic headaches in teens and kids.
Although there are a few reports of unpleasant encounters for example increased stress, relaxation techniques are usually considered safe for healthy individuals. Relaxation ideas should be discussed by individuals with serious physical or mental health difficulties using their health care providers.
There are a number of health conditions that can benefit from relaxation. Scientists have appraised these techniques to see whether or not they could play a role in handling various health circumstances, for instance, following:
  • Stress
  • Asthma
  • Childbirth
  • Melancholy
  • Epilepsy
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Head Ache
  • Heart Disease
  • Sleeplessness
  • Menopause Symptoms
  • Menstrual Cramps
  • Nausea
  • Nightmares
  • Pain
  • Pain in Youths and Kids
  • Rheumatoid Arthritis
  • Smoking Cessation
Relaxation techniques are often considered safe for healthy individuals. Nevertheless, sometimes, folks report disagreeable encounters for example fear of losing control, intrusive thoughts, or increased anxiety. Before doing progressive muscle relaxation, individuals with heart disease should speak with their doctor.



Article Source:
http://www.healthylifeinfo.com/2016/lifehealth/have-trouble-relaxing-heres-some-ideas/

New Facebook Tool to Help Prevent Suicide and Self-harm Now Available to All Users

A Facebook tool which let people flag posts from friends who may be at risk for self-harm or suicide, and previously available only for some English-language users has been updated and is now available worldwide to all users.
According to a report onTechCrunch, other users couldreport posts through a form, but the new tools make the process quicker and less complicated.
Announcing the new tool, Facebook said its suicide prevention resources will be available in all languages supported by the platform. The company’s global head of safety Antigone Davis and researcher Jennifer Guadagno wrote that the tools were “developed in collaboration with mental healthorganizations and with input from people who have personal experience with self-injury and suicide.”
“Now, with the help of these new tools, if someone posts something on Facebook that makes you concerned about their well-being, you can reach out to them directly — and you also can also report the post to us. We have teams working around the world, 24/7, who review reports that come in. They prioritize the most serious reports like self-injury.”
“And, as of today, the resources we send to the person who posted something concerning will include an expanded set of options. People can now choose to reach out to a friend, contact a helpline, or see tips.”
“If you or someone you know is in crisis, it is important to call local emergency services right away. You can also visit our Help Centre for information about how to support yourself or a friend: https://www.Facebook.com/help/594991777257121/.”
The tools were first made available to some users in the United States last year with the help of Forefront,Lifeline, and Save.org. Facebook said it will continue to partner with suicide prevention and mental health organizations in different countries wrote Techcrunch. The suicide prevention tools will help save a lot of lives or bring attention to this important issue which has become a public health concern as one person commits suicide every 40 secondsaccording to the World Health Organization (WHO).
With the new tool, users everywhere will soon be able to flag a friend’s post from a drop-down menu if they are worried about self-harm or suicide. Facebook gives them several options. For example, a list of resources, including numbers for suicide prevention organizations, can be shared anonymously, or a message of support can be sent (Facebook suggests wording). The post may also be reviewed by Facebook’s global community operations team, which may then “reach out to this person with information that might be helpful to them,” according to its Help Center. If someone is at immediate risk of hurting themselves, however, Facebook warns that police should be contacted.
You can view this video, created by Save.org and Lifeline titled “From Reporting to Supporting: Using Facebook to Support Someone in Suicidal Crisis” – https://Vimeo.com/160565004.
However, there are concerns regarding privacy which Facebook has to address as there have been cases where psychological researches have been conducted on users without their consent.

Article Source:http://healthnewsng.com/new-facebook-tool-help-prevent-suicide-self-harm-now-available-users/

Breast-feeding may Reduce Asthma Symptoms for At-Risk in Infants!


A new study provides further evidence of the health benefits of breast-feeding, after finding infants with a genetic susceptibility for asthma development are less likely to experience symptoms of the condition if they are breast-fed.

[A woman breast-feeding her child]
Breast-feeding may reduce respiratory symptoms for children genetically susceptible to asthma development.
Asthma is estimated to affect around 8.6 percent of children and adolescents in the United States, making it one of the most common chronic childhood diseases.

Asthma symptoms are the same for children as for adults; these include wheezing, coughing, breathing problems, and chest tightness. However, because children have smaller airways, symptoms may be more severe.
As a result, asthma is the third leading cause of hospital stays and a leading cause of missed school days for children in the U.S.
While the precise causes of asthma remain unclear, studies have suggested the respiratory condition may arise as a result of environmental and genetic factors.
For example, researchers have associated gene variants in the region 17q21 - located on chromosome 17 - with increased risk of childhood asthma, and a study published earlier this year found children with such variants were more likely to experience asthma symptoms as a result of environmental triggers.
But according to the researchers of this latest study - including Dr. Olga Gorlanova of the University Children's Hospital Basel (UKBB) and the University of Basel, Switzerland - breast-feeding could protect against such symptoms in children with 17q21 gene variants.
The team's findings were recently presented at the European Respiratory Society's International Congress 2016 in the United Kingdom.

Breast-feeding reduced respiratory symptoms by 27 percent

For their study, the researchers included data from 368 infants who were part of the Basel-Bern Infant Lung Development birth cohort in Switzerland.
The researchers assessed the genetic profile of each infant, and they gathered data on occurrence and severity of respiratory symptoms, as well as breast-feeding status in the first year of life.
Among children who carried the 17q21 gene variants, the risk of respiratory symptom development was 27 percent lower on the weeks they were breast-fed. On the weeks these children were not breast-fed, respiratory symptoms were more likely to arise.
Dr. Gorlanova says this study is the first to show that breast-feeding can alter the effect of gene variants known to raise asthma risk, in order to reduce respiratory symptoms in early life.
"As research in this field progresses, we are understanding more and more about the gene-environment interaction for the development of asthma.
Our study sheds light on how this interaction can be modified by breast-feeding. This is the first time that we were able to show the effect of the 17q21 variants on respiratory symptoms during the first year of life, depending on breast-feeding status. Our results must be replicated in another cohort."
Dr. Olga Gorlanova


Article source:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/312703.php

Sunday, 4 September 2016

Is Tatoo Ink Safe?

Before you get that dolphin tattooed on your ankle or "Mom" on your biceps, be warned: The ink used in tattoos may be harmful -- even years later.
A new report has raised questions about the safety of tattoo inks used in Europe, most of which are imported from the United States. The inks have been found to contain hazardous chemicals, including carcinogens.
The report, from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, also identified heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, and nickel, preservatives, organic compounds, bacteria, and other potentially harmful substances in the inks.
It calls for a thorough review of tattoo inks in use throughout the European Union, and it highlights the need for strict regulation of the inks, which are also used for permanent makeup.
After the report was released, the organization asked the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) to look further into tattoo ink safety.
“Tattoo inks and permanent make up (PMU) may contain hazardous substances -- for example, substances that cause cancer, genetic mutations, toxic effects on reproduction, allergies or other adverse effects on health,” an ECHA statement reads.

The concerns accompany a rapid rise in the number of people getting tattoos. Nearly 1 in 3 U.S. adults have a tattoo, according to a Harris Poll. Four years ago, only 1 in 5 adults were inked. Two tattoo industry trade groups, the National Tattoo Association and the Alliance of Professional Tattooists, did not respond to requests for comment.
In this country, the FDA has also raised concerns about tattoo ink.
Last August, the FDA announced a voluntary recall of A Thousand Virgins inks, which were found to be contaminated with bacteria. The year before that, another company, White and Blue Lion, recalled its inks and other tattoo equipment because of contamination that could have caused sepsis, a potentially deadly complication of infections. Other recalls have happened in previous years, both here and in Europe.
Other concerns the FDA raises on its website include:
  • Allergic reactions
  • Itchiness and inflammation when exposed to summer sunlight
  • Granulomas, or small knots or bumps that form around areas where the body senses foreign material, such as the pigments in tattoo ink
  • The spread of tattoo ink to the body’s lymphatic system. It’s unknown whether this has health consequences.

But the FDA says it knows little about the tattoo inks in use today. Tattoo inks are considered cosmetics, and their color additives are subject to regulatory authority. But the agency says it hasn’t been using that authority “because of other public health priorities and a previous lack of evidence of safety concerns,” writes spokeswoman Lauren Sucher.
“The FDA cannot identify specific components of concern at this time,” Sucher writes. “The FDA is doing research to improve our knowledge of tattoo inks and the ingredients used in them.”
Sucher declined to say whether the FDA will be testing color additives in the future.
“There are no color additives approved for injection as decorative tattoos,” Sucher says. “When we become aware of a safety problem associated with a cosmetic, including a tattoo ink, we investigate and take action as appropriate.”
For some experts, that’s not good enough. “The bottom line is they’re not doing their job,” says Charles Zwerling, MD, chairman of the American Academy of Micropigmentation. “Tattoo ink has very, very minimal regulation. You don’t know if the bottle’s even sterile. In the European study, they found that 5% to 10% were infected with bacteria. That’s kind of scary.”

Zwerling, a North Carolina ophthalmologist who has studied and written about permanent makeup and tattoos for many years, says, “These newer pigments that are coming out have never been tested and, because they’re organic, have a much higher risk of complications ... organic pigments can cause horrific allergic reactions. We know this in medicine. This is nothing new.”
Arisa Ortiz, MD, director of laser and cosmetic dermatology and assistant clinical professor of dermatology at the University of California, San Diego, says that red inks are particularly problematic. They can cause both allergic and inflammatory reactions. “It can happen with any color, but red is the most common culprit for allergic reactions,” she says.
In one case, a patient of hers developed severe swelling and fatigue after getting a lip line tattoo, a cosmetic procedure. Her condition did not improve until the tattoo was removed with lasers.
“Inks can cause systemic reactions when patients are allergic to whatever is in the tattoo, but there’s no way to test if you are allergic to a tattoo dye because the allergic reactions can occur many years later,” she says.

For many people who do react to tattoo inks, the most common symptoms are itching, irritation, and swelling, says Katy Burris, MD, a dermatologist at Northwell Health in Manhasset, NY.
“Usually your immune system eventually learns to accept it, so I wouldn’t say it would be permanent, but it would probably take months to resolve,” Burris says.
No link between tattoo inks and cancer has been established, but concern exists because carcinogens may be among the ingredients. Ortiz says she has seen skin cancers develop shortly after tattooing: “There have been many types of coincidental skin cancers reported, such as melanoma, basal cell carcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma,” she says. “When it happens so quickly, just a couple weeks after, it makes you wonder.”
The authors of the European report consider it coincidental when skin tumors appear at tattoo sites, but they conclude that it’s a link that should be further studied.

What You Can Do

Should you avoid tattoos? Right now, too little is known to say for certain. Ortiz and Burris suggest that you make sure you really want a tattoo before you commit, and find a reputable place that keeps things clean and sterile.

Says Ortiz: “At this point, it’s hard to say if tattooing is safe. It’s buyer beware.”
They also point out that once you’ve got a tattoo, it’s with you for life, for better or worse.
“Don’t think that if you don’t like it, you can just laser it away,” Burris warns. “It’s quite expensive and quite painful to have a tattoo removed, and there are some colors that are just not that responsive to lasers.”
The FDA also provides these tips:
  • Consumers and tattoo artists should know where their materials come from and should be able to identify and contact the manufacturer in case side effects happen.
  • Be especially wary of products that don’t carry a brand or the name and place of business of the manufacturer or distributor.
  • If you get a tattoo, watch the area closely and talk to your doctor if you have any signs of a rash or think you might have a reaction or infection where you have a tattoo.
  • Consumers should select a tattoo artist who is licensed and practices sanitary methods.


Author: Matt McMillen
Article source: http://www.m.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/news/20160826/how-safe-tattoo-ink