New Study: Perms Linked to Fibroids

Today, more and more women are moving towards high quality weave or natural hair becasue of this new study that came out in the American Journal Epidemiology.  The study has linked perms to early-onset puberty and worse -- uterine fibroid tumors.  Although, there are still some questions about a direct cause-and-effect relationship between the two, however, the research may explain why black women have two to three times higher rates of fibroids than their counterparts of other races.

BET News reported:  "Scientists followed more than 23,000 pre-menopausal Black American women from 1997 to 2009 and found that the two- to three-times higher rate of fibroids among black women may be linked to chemical exposure through scalp lesions and burns resulting from relaxers.  Women who got their first menstrual period before the age of 10 were also more likely to have uterine fibroids, and early menstruation may result from hair products black girls are using, according to a separate study published in the Annals of Epidemiology last summer."

Surely there has to be a better way or at least something that involves less risk. What are some alternatives for women? Does the flexibility of high quality weave give women another option? What about going natural?  Let me know what you think.

More on this story here:  http://www.theroot.com/buzz/study-perms-linked-fibroids
The American Journal of Epidemiology Report here: