Hair dyes: Choice between beauty and cancer

[Guest guest]

An important healing principle in ayurveda is to locate the root

cause of the disease and eliminate it as far as possible. The ancient

acharyas worked in this way, which results in many food

recommendations, their method of preparation, times and seasons in

which specific foods should/should not be consumed etc.

 

It is clear that the roots of growing epidemic of cancer lies in

chemical rain everywhere around us. Synthetic clothes, articles of

daily use made from polymers etc. are obvious. What does not often

occur to us is some chemicals in cosmetics also may be carcinogenic.

We had a querry on aftereffects of Botox injections last week, and it

is well known that some aged bolywood cine actrors use those

injections to keep looking wrinkle-free.

 

When author noted that his 70% patients in age group 30-50 use hair

dyes, he became concerned. Since India cannot afford research at the

same scale as in western countries, and most of the drugs, dyes,

cosmetics are registered trade marks of western multinationals, need

to look into western medical journals was obvious.

 

The hair dyes produced before 1980 were dangerous, however, there's

growing evidence to suggest that even those produced today may

contain carcinogenic chemicals, warns Prof Gordon McVie, an

oncologist. People who regularly use dyes, and those who work with

them, should check themselves for any abnormal lumps or bumps.

Permanent dyes - regarded as the most aggressive - represent 70 per

cent of the entire hair dye market.

 

The scientific research published in reputed medical and health

journals needs to be sifted carefully to read between lines as

suggested by Dr Tracy, fighting to de-approve the SSRI class drugs

for youngsters[drugawareness.com]. May be a substantial portion is

ghost written and is a silent but high pitch propoganda for sales. Thus a

published study[1], which concluded that there was no compelling

evidence of an association between dyes and cancer, was based on a

study of 210 articles on the subject that had been published between

1966 and last January.

 

This definite and categorical conclusion was a little surprising, as

the papers the researchers studied included one that discovered that

dyes were responsible for a five-fold increase in non-Hodgkin

Lymphoma.

 

The point was picked up by speakers at the International Conference

on Malignant Lymphoma last week, who confirmed that the dyes were

most likely to cause this type of cancer than any other.

The new study[2], which was presented at the conference, involved

5,000 women in Europe. It concluded that women who regularly use hair

dyes increased their risk of lymphoma by 20 per cent compared with

women who had never dyed their hair before 1980.

 

Lead researcher Prof Paolo Boffetta said that it was 'reassuring'

that the risk has not increased in the last 25 years, but as experts

believe that the earlier hair dyes were more carcinogenic than the

current generation of products, the findings wouldn't seem to be

reassuring at all.

 

Conference chairman Prof Franco Cavalli pointed out that the

frequency of lymphoma in the west has doubled over the last 20 years,

although the increase cannot be laid solely at the door of hair dyes.

Other chemicals are also responsible for the increase along with

viruses, doctors believe.

 

Prof Gordon McVie, senior consultant at the European Institute of

Oncology, says that manufacturers have removed carcinogens from hair

dyes following tighter regulatory guidelines, so users 'should not be

alarmed.' Then, in the next breath, he urges hairdressers and people

who regularly use dyes to 'be on the alert and look out for any

abnormal lumps and bumps', presumably in a non-alarmist way.

 

Both teams of researchers agree on one thing at least. This is not

the last word, and more research needs to be done if we are to

finally establish if hair dyes cause cancer. In the meantime, of

course, nothing will be done. It's enough to make your hair turn

white.

 

In India, ladies use Henna, a natural vegetable dye and a typical application

lasts for six weeks. Making this natural dye is an art, and they use tea

decoction, lemon fruit/tamrind, Aamalki powder, neem powder(for dandruff), etc.

Every beautician uses slightly different nut purely herbal formulation and

everyone claims to have a better formula than the competitor.

 

Dr Bhate

 

 

[1] Journal of the American Medical Association, 2005; 293: 2516-25

[2]Proceedings of the International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma,

2005, as reported by the BBC, 8 June 2005