This chain letter is currently making its rounds on Facebook, telling people not to use underarm anti-perspirant. It has actually been going around since the year 2000 but the Internet has a very short memory, so everyone thinks it's a new discovery. Basically, it claims that anti-perspirants are the leading cause of breast cancer... Check it out... This chain letter actually originates from this version that was sent around the year 2000 : Needless to say, BOTH are false. Let me address the various "mistakes" in their claims... 1. Most of our toxins are metabolized by the liver or kidneys, and excreted mostly in our stool and urine. Some gets excreted in our sweat but our sweat is mostly used to keep us cool. If our sweat is the primary way of getting rid of toxins, then folks living in cold areas would die off real quick because they wouldn't be able to sweat out their toxins! 2. We sweat from all over our body - from the scalp to armpits to even between our fingers! You will sweat wherever you have skin. So there's no need to worry about only "blocking" sweat from your armpits! 3. The sweat glands in the armpits, around the nipples and ear canal and parts of the genitalia are slightly different from the usual eccrine sweat glands. They are apocrine sweat glands whose primary function is to secrete an oily substance that serves as a pheromone. It is this substance that produces "body odour" after bacterial action. This is why we apply anti-perspirant and/or deodorant on our armpits! 4. Toxins in our blood don't accumulate in the lymph nodes. They get metabolized by the liver and/or kidneys before being excreted. 5. Most anti-perspirants use aluminum chlorohydrate to "block" the sweat glands. It works on the sweat glands so it isn't affected by the presence of hair. Therefore, if anti-perspirants cause breast cancer, then men who use anti-perspirants would be equally affected as women. However, the incidence of breast cancer in men is less than 1%. 6. A large segment of the population - the males, use anti-perspirants but don't get breast cancer. This alone debunks the hypothesis that anti-perspirants are the main cause of breast cancer. 7. The sweat glands are not connected to the lymph nodes. Neither are they designed to excrete toxins from the lymph nodes. 8. Such rumours, though unfounded, has led scientists to examine the possibility that cosmetic products may increase risk of breast cancer. They are currently testing several hypotheses (NOTE : they are merely HYPOTHESES!) that parabens and phthalates may increase the risk of breast cancer through their oestrogenic properties. So before you throw away your deodorants and anti-perspirant, please consider the evidence above. You may feel that living with BO is better than risking breast cancer, but I have to be honest - your BO is something that the REST OF US have to deal with, not you!
