Tattoo lovers beware! It can cause you liver cancer

Tattoo lovers beware! It can cause you liver cancer

People seeking to get a tattoo should be picky about the parlor they have them done at, U.S. researchers say in the wake of a study that found a link between body art and Hepatitis C, the leading cause of liver cancer.

According to the study, which appeared in the journal Hepatology, people with the blood borne hepatitis C virus, were almost four times more likely to report having a tattoo, even when other major risk factors were taken into account

"Tattooing in and of itself may pose a risk for this disease that can lay dormant for many, many years," said study co-author Fritz Francois of New York University Langone Medical Center, although he warned that the study could not produce a direct cause and effect.

About 3.2 million people in the United States have hepatitis C, and many don't know because they don't feel ill, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Hepatitis C is the leading cause of liver cancer and the most common reason for liver transplants in the U.S. Some 70 per cent of people infected will develop chronic liver disease, and up to 5 per cent will die from cirrhosis or liver cancer.

EB