The study found a link between hair color and the type of breast cancer


Salon worker using a curling iron.

Salon worker using a curling iron.
Photo: Justin Sullivan (Getty Images)

The new large population study looks to clarify the theorized connection between hair color and cancer. There is no correlation between using hair color in this study and the risk of developing most types of cancer in women. However, he found a possible link between hair color and some types of breast cancer, ovarian cancer and the most common type of skin cancer – links that “guarantee further investigation.”

Learning, Published in BMJ This week, Called the Nurses Health Study, looked at data from another research project. The study looked at the health and lifestyle habits of the volunteers since 1976, sending out questionnaires every two to four years and returning. Initially, more than 120,000 women between the ages of 30 and 55 registered.

The researchers looked at 117,200 women who had never used permanent hair dye and reported being cancer-free at the start of the project. On average, women were followed for 36 years, and a third reported using hair color at some point in their lives. During that time, more than 1,000 self-reported cases of cancer were reported in women, with over 800 deaths.

This study found no significant association between most cancers and the high probability of hair color use, regardless of whether women have been using hair longer or more often. He also found no connection between cancer and the high risk of dying from hair dye use.

Compared to women who do not use hair color, however, women who have always used hair color seem to have a higher risk of developing it. Hormone receptor-negative Breast cancer, a form of breast cancer that grows rapidly, affects young women, and does not respond to treatment that inhibits or lowers estrogen and progesterone. They also had an associated skin risk of ovarian cancer and basal cell carcinoma, the most common but highly treatable form of skin cancer.

The results of this new study agree with other research showing a link between hair research and many types of cancer, including 1994. Study For leukemia and related blood cancers, use the same group of women to deny hair color. But also in line with that Recent research For hair color use, especially breast cancer. It included a government-led study last December that found such a link, especially for black women.

The authors write, “This prospective mass study of mostly white U.S. women offers some reassurance against concerns that individual use of permanent hair dyes may be associated with an increased risk of cancer or mortality.” “However, we found positive association for some cancer risks.”

The risk of cancer is often a Very difficult thing Study and nail down. Hair dye products contain about 5,000 chemicals and some are thought to be carcinogenic. But the risk of any one thing that causes cancer is affected by many factors, including a person’s genetics, the environment and their ability to come into contact. Another unanswered question is how much risk there is to hair color by assuming the hair exists.

The World Health Organization has found that hair dyes are professionally approached by people who work all day in salons and similar locations, for example, possibly human carcinogens. The individual use of hair dye, although currently considered by the WHO to be a “group 3 agent”, means that there is not enough evidence to classify its cancer risk right now.

Such studies alone cannot directly prove or disprove the cancer-causing link. But they do give scientists a clear direction to focus on, such as cancer that may be involved in the study with the use of hair dye. Importantly, the authors note that future studies should look at more diverse groups of women and look outside the U.S., as well as consider what color they were using, which was not possible in this study. Darker hair colors are of particular concern for study, the authors note, as they contain more chemicals than lighter ones.

The American Cancer Society, is debating Research So far, the summary of things on hair color and cancer is:

“It’s not clear how much hair color can increase the risk of cancer, if not exactly. Most of the studies done so far have not found a strong link, but more studies are needed to clarify this issue. “

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