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Tattoos Are Good For You

Philippe Kyprianou

— 1 min read
Tattoos Are Good For You
Sometimes science tells us stuff we don’t want to hear. Usually it’s something like our cell phones or our favorite food causes cancer. But recently, science has been on our side. Good news,?GothRiders: tattoos are good for your immune system. But you need to get more of them. You know, to make sure you’re really healthy. Anthroplogist Christopher Lynn from the University of Alabama (ROLL TIDE!) recently published a study in the American Journal of Human Biology. The data suggests a correlation between having multiple tattoos and having a stronger immune system. When you get your first tattoo, your body is like, “What the hell?!?” I mean, seriously, who would purposely inject?a foreign substance repeatedly into our skin? Humans, that’s who. But your first tattoo will actually weaken your immune system. Your body has to try to fight off the foreign invader. But if you repeatedly inject yourself with ink (or rather, have someone qualified do it), your immune system has to raise its equilibrium. It’s a lot like working out: at first your body rebels, but then you get stronger, and you have to work out harder to get sore. Researchers analyzed blood samples from participants at a tattoo parlor. People getting their first tattoo had a higher antibody levels, as well as higher cortisol levels. The antibody shows the immune response, and the cortisol shows stress. People with lots of ink had way lower levels of the antibody. This suggests that multiple tattoos causes a stronger level of immunity. The study isn’t perfect, and there will need to be more research. They only sampled 29 people, and only 5 were men. There’s not enough to prove causation, but we can see there is definitely a correlation. In short, keep getting inked. It’s good for you.

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