Talcum Powder Is Potentially Linked to Ovarian Cancer

Talcum Powder Is Potentially Linked to Ovarian Cancer
photog/shutterstock
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This week a Missouri jury court ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $55 million to a woman who claimed their talcum-powder products caused her ovarian cancer. J&J lost another case for $72 million recently and now has close to 1,200 lawsuits alleging that the company knew about cancer risks but did not warn consumers. Ovarian cancer affects 21,000 North American women each year, but nobody knows the cause. Because it rarely causes symptoms until it has spread beyond the ovaries, it kills most patients and is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among women.

Many women use talcum powder on themselves or on their babies, or sprinkle it on personal products such as sanitary napkins, diaphragms or condoms. The powder can pass through the vagina, uterus and fallopian tubes to the ovaries. Talcum powder could possibly cause ovarian cancer by turning on a woman’s immunity to cause inflammation. An overactive immunity can attack your own cells in the same way that it kills germs, possibly damaging your DNA to cause uncontrolled cell growth which is cancer.

Why Talcum Is Suspect

Today, most baby powders and body powders are made from cornstarch, which has not been linked to cancer. (photog/shutterstock)
Today, most baby powders and body powders are made from cornstarch, which has not been linked to cancer. photog/shutterstock
Gabe Mirkin
Gabe Mirkin
Author
Sports medicine doctor, fitness guru and long-time radio host Gabe Mirkin, M.D. brings you news and tips for your healthful lifestyle. A practicing physician for more than 50 years and a radio talk show host for 25 years, Dr. Mirkin is a graduate of Harvard University and Baylor University College of Medicine. He is one of a very few doctors board-certified in four specialties: Sports Medicine, Allergy and Immunology, Pediatrics and Pediatric Immunology.