Women who have been colouring their hair for over 25 years have a higher risk of developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma, US researchers reported.
They said their study of 1300 women could help explain a mysterious rise in the number of cases of the cancer, which affects the lymphatic system.
Writing in the American Journal of Epidemiology, researchers said women who began dying their hair before 1980 were one-third more likely to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), and those who had used the darkest dyes were twice as likely to develop the cancer.
"Women who used darker permanent hair colouring products for more than 25 years showed the highest increased risk," Tongzhang Zheng, associate professor of epidemiology and environmental health at Yale School of Medicine, said in a satement.
Cancer experts note that a person's absolute risk of developing lymphoma is very low, so doubling that risk still means a woman who dyes her hair is very unlikely to develop lymphoma.
Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma will affect about 54,000 Americans this year and kill 19,000, according to the American Cancer Society.
Each year about 3500 Australians are diagnosed with the disease.
In 2001, 969 Victorians were diagnosed with the disease, while 404 died from the condition.
The incidence of NHL had soubled since the mid-1970s and no-one knows why. Experts suspect exposure to chemicals can be a factor. The lymphatic system is part of the immune system, so people with immune weaknesses are at special risk - notably AIDS and organ transplant patients.
© Herald Sun
They said their study of 1300 women could help explain a mysterious rise in the number of cases of the cancer, which affects the lymphatic system.
Writing in the American Journal of Epidemiology, researchers said women who began dying their hair before 1980 were one-third more likely to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), and those who had used the darkest dyes were twice as likely to develop the cancer.
"Women who used darker permanent hair colouring products for more than 25 years showed the highest increased risk," Tongzhang Zheng, associate professor of epidemiology and environmental health at Yale School of Medicine, said in a satement.
Cancer experts note that a person's absolute risk of developing lymphoma is very low, so doubling that risk still means a woman who dyes her hair is very unlikely to develop lymphoma.
Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma will affect about 54,000 Americans this year and kill 19,000, according to the American Cancer Society.
Each year about 3500 Australians are diagnosed with the disease.
In 2001, 969 Victorians were diagnosed with the disease, while 404 died from the condition.
The incidence of NHL had soubled since the mid-1970s and no-one knows why. Experts suspect exposure to chemicals can be a factor. The lymphatic system is part of the immune system, so people with immune weaknesses are at special risk - notably AIDS and organ transplant patients.
© Herald Sun
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Oh well. 
and she just permed her hair (to make it curly even MORE) the day before it so she couldn't wash it out... so she just decided to fuck it and shaved it off. She said that she finally realized how horrible her hairdo was after she finally grew it out for 2 years and she looked back. She thought it was SO cool of her. 