Moisturized Mice Mean Skin Cancer - Do They?

Women and men around the world owe the vitality of their skin to moisturizers. However, the seemingly harmless cosmetics, moisturizers, could be a cause for developing skin cancer, suggests a recent study, published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.

The non-melanoma skin cancer that developed is quite common in humans, and for the most part is curable surgically and with cancer drugs. And it is fatal only rarely.

But are the results of the study a reason to be scared of moisturizers? Even though the study has surprised one and all, many have questioned the validity of the study and have expressed that there's no need to worry for now.

As always is the case, the mice used in the experiment have hogged all the limelight, when four randomly chosen moisturizing creams were applied on bald mice. Which later caused tumors to develop fast on these mice. And the mice not treated with moisturizers didn't show this effect.

The fact that bald mice were experimented upon and not humans means, that the findings aren't exactly applicable to humans. And the authors themselves put forth this very viewpoint. Another reason that goes against the study is that type of skin cancer found in humans is pretty different than those found in animals.

Further, one of the cream's manufacturers have been skeptical about the study and have opined that their product has been used for over 30 years with great results. At the same time, there are pointers that the components, namely mineral oil and sodium lauryl sulfate, known to cause irritation might be the culprits. Because when they were removed from the moisturizers the tumors didn't seem to develop so rapidly.

While, there's a lot of skepticism surrounding the study's findings, the findings can't be completely shunned outright. Perhaps the best option is to wait and watch as more research throws light on the issue. As the author's of the study have stated that this research should encourage experts to verify and have more conclusive evidence about the cancer risk moisturizers pose to humans.