Ladies, think again before colouring your hair. A study has concluded that hair colours and hormonal contraceptives may increase the chances of breast cancer.
A Researcher Sanna Heikkinen from the University of Helsinki in Finland and Finnish Cancer Registry studied the contribution of hormonal contraceptives and hair dyes in causing breast cancer.
"The biggest risk factor in breast cancer is high age and known lifestyle-related risk factors include late age at first birth, a small number of children, high alcohol consumption and sedentary lifestyle," said Heikkinen.
They analysed the self-reported survey data collected from 8,000 breast cancer patients and 20,000 controls from Finland. The results showed alarming numbers. Use of hormonal contraceptive was linked to 32 percent higher breast cancer risk among the younger women under 50 as compared to those who didn’t use hormonal contraceptives.
The team also studied the amount of opportunistic mammography, which was found to be very common. More than 60 percent of the responders reported having had a mammography before the age of 50.
"Women should be more extensively informed of the harms of opportunistic mammographies, such as accumulating radiation burden and the potential consequences of false positive or negative findings," Heikkinen noted.
