! Democrats Encouraged to Moisturize Often!

http://www.newsmax.com/health/moisturizers_skin_cancer/2008/08/15/122299.html

Popular Moisturizers May Cause Skin Cancer

Friday, August 15, 2008

Moisturizers used by millions of people induced skin cancer in
experiments on mice, a study released Thursday said, as experts
expressed strong doubts over any possible risk to humans from creams.

Researchers at Rutgers University, New Jersey, in the United States
tested four common skin creams on gene-altered hairless mice exposed
to heavy doses of cancer-causing UV light.

The scientist who led the study, however, cautioned that rodent skin
is more sensitive than human skin, while other experts said they had
reservations about the relevance of the study's conclusions.

Rates of non-melanoma skin cancers increased between 24 and 95 percent
compared to control mice not treated with creams, the study found.

Non-melanoma skin cancer is very common in humans, and is curable
surgically. In very rare cases, however, it can prove fatal.

When the scientists, led by Allan Conney, repeated the experiments
with a made-to-order cream missing several suspect ingredients --
including mineral oil and sodium lauryl sulfate -- the cancer rates
dropped sharply.

Conney said that further studies were needed to test the impact of
topical creams on people as rodent skin, usually covered by fur, is
thinner and more permeable than human skin.

His findings were published in the Journal of Investigative
Dermatology, part of the Nature Publishing Group in Britain.

Experts familiar with the study doubted its significance for humans.

"The UV source used to pre-sensitize the mice is a very poor surrogate
for sun exposure," commented Brian Diffey, an emeritus professor at
Newcastle University in Britain.

The dose the rodents received exceeds what most people would
experience in a lifetime, he said.

Gordon McVie, a senior consultant at the European Institute of
Oncology said: "This has no relevance to causation of human skin
cancer and does not prove in any way whatever that moisturizing creams
are cancer-causing in humans."

The four creams analysed in the study were: Dermabase, manufactured by
Paddock Laboratories in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Dermovan, made by
Healthpoint Ltd. in Fort Worth, Texas; Eucerin Original Moisturizing
Cream, made by Beiersdorf Inc. in Wilton, Connecticut; and Vanicream,
made by Pharmaceutical Specialities, Inc. in Rochester, Minnesota.
.

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