For the first time, tattoos have been linked to a deadly form of blood cancer.
Researchers from Lund University in Sweden found that tattooed individuals had a 21 percent higher risk of lymphoma, compared to people without tattoos.
Lymphoma is a form of cancer that affects white blood cells, which are crucial for fighting infections.
It is believed to be linked to cancer-causing chemicals in tattoo ink. When injected into the skin, it is interpreted as something foreign and activates the immune system, causing a low-grade inflammation in the body that can cause cancer.
About 46 percent of 30- to 49-year-old Americans have this at least one tattoowhile on average 22 percent of all ages have more than one.
American rapper and singer-songwriter Machine Gun Kelly, 34, has more than 90 designs tattooed on his body. He recently got a dramatic inking treatment that covered almost every inch of skin on his upper body, aside from his face
Post Malone, 28, (pictured) has more than 70 tattoos, including at least 14 on his face, according to Business Insider
About 15 percent of Americans who don’t have a tattoo said they are somewhat likely or extremely likely to get one, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center found it.
The researchers identified people with lymphoma between the ages of 20 and 60 from population registers and then matched them to a control group of the same sex and age, but without a diagnosis of lymphoma.
The participants were then given a questionnaire about lifestyle factors to see whether they were tattooed or not.
About 1,400 people with lymphoma answered the questionnaire, as did 4,193 people in the control group.
In the lymphoma group, 21 percent (289 people) were tattooed, while in the control group 18 percent (735 people) were tattooed.
“After taking into account other relevant factors such as smoking and age, we found that the risk of developing lymphoma was 21 percent higher among those who were tattooed,” says Christel Nielsen, the researcher at Lund University who led research.
The researchers had theorized that the size of the tattoo could influence the risk of lymphoma, and thought that a full-body tattoo could be linked to a higher risk of cancer.
However, the results showed that the amount of body surface area tattooed did not matter.
The researchers wrote in the journal eClinical Medicine that they not sure why this was the case.
Rapper Cardi B showed off her extensive and bright thigh tattoos as she posed in a white bra top
‘One can only speculate that a tattoo, regardless of size, causes mild inflammation in the body, which in turn can cause cancer. So the picture is more complex than we initially thought,” says Nielsen.
The researchers then want to investigate whether there is a link between tattoos and other types of cancer.
There are different types of lymphomas, but the two main ones are: non-Hodgkin’s and Hodgkin’s.
Hodgkin lymphoma is a form of cancer that starts in the white blood cells. It is named after Thomas Hodgkin, an English physician who first identified the disease in 1832.
About 2,000 people are affected each year in Britain, and 8,500 each year in the US.
The five-year survival rate for the disease is 89 percent.
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma affects about 8,600 people each year in the US, and 14,000 new people each year in Britain.
In non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the cancer has a survival rate of about 83 percent if it is confined to a single region.
Lymphoma occurs when white blood cells in your lymphatic system mutate into fast-growing cancer cells that do not die.
The mutated cells often collect on the lymph nodes – glands that filter waste products from the neck, groin, abdomen and armpits – and form cancerous masses.
As with most cancers, the majority of genetic mutations occur naturally, without an identifiable cause.
But research has suggested that having viruses like HIV, a weak immune system, or an autoimmune disease may increase your risk.