Eek! Hair Dye Causes Breast Cancer!

How many women color their hair? I think most of my friends do. I don't and I am unusual among the women I know.

But, brace yourselves, the news is now going to be filled with the warning that coloring your hair with anything but natural dyes will cause breast cancer and you will die very quickly. Why? Because a researcher in the UK said so:

"Frequently dying your hair has been linked to an increased risk of developing breast cancer.

According to a study by London surgeon Kefah Mokbel, women who colour their hair have a 14 per cent rise in rates of breast cancer.

Professor Mokbel, who works at the Princess Grace Hospital in Marylebone, London, advises that women dye their hair no more than two to five times a year."
But here is the kicker:

“Although further work is required to confirm our results, our findings suggest that exposure to hair dyes may contribute to breast cancer risk.”

Professor Mokbel has also made clear that the link is merely a correlation: “The positive association between the use of hair dyes and breast cancer risk does not represent evidence of a cause-effect relationship,” he wrote on Facebook.

You need to note the word 'CORRELATION' before jumping to any conclusions. And then he opted to clarify more on Twitter (that ever so helpful 140 character way of communicating scientific and political information).

In addition, there was a Finnish study which also found a link between hair dye and breast cancer risk. But that researcher points out more information is needed because maybe women who use hair dye are also more likely to use make up which has some kind of chemical in it which could be more likely to cause breast cancer.

"Sanna Heikkinen from the Finnish Cancer Registry said separate Finnish research found a link between women who use hair dye and likelihood of developing breast cancer.

“We did observe a statistical association between hair dye use and risk of breast cancer in our study,” she said.

But like Mokbel, Heikkinen stressed that scientists aren’t certain of a cause-effect relationship though.

“It is not possible to confirm a true causal connection,” she said. “It might be, for example, that women who use hair dyes also use other cosmetics more than women who reported never using hair dyes.”"

So please use common sense and don't jump on the hair dye will kill you bandwagon which you will find far and wide in the news in the upcoming weeks. 

You Can't Put A Big Bow On A Cancer Diagnosis

When a cancer treatment commercial airs, the people are happy and smiling. The drug or medical center promises they will cure you and you will be back to yourself soon. They want you to believe that they will make it all better.

They are full of bullshit.

"Patients and families are bombarded with the news that the country is winning the war against cancer. The news media hypes research results to attract readers. Drug companies promise "a chance to live longer" to boost sales. Hospitals woo paying customers with ads that appeal to patients' fears and hopes.
"I'm starting to hear more and more that we are better than I think we really are," said Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer at the American Cancer Society. "We're starting to believe our own bullshit."

The consequences are real -- and they can be deadly. Patients and their families have bought into treatments that either don't work, cost a fortune or cause life-threatening side effects.

"We have a lot of patients who spend their families into bankruptcy getting a hyped therapy that [many] know is worthless," Brawley said. Some choose a medicine that "has a lot of hype around it and unfortunately lose their chance for a cure."

Cancer doesn't come with a pretty bow on it (or a stupid ribbon). Basically cancer is nasty. Its a date with death unless you get lucky.

Current advertising wants you to believe they can cure your cancer and keep you smiling. They make all sorts of promises. But those promises are vague. they can extend your life.

But they do not tell you how long - either the medical centers or the pharmaceutical manufacturers - and it could very well only be a couple of months. And those side effects that are printed in tiny type at the bottom of the ad? Well how about a lot of quality time in the bathroom with diarrhea, extreme pain, fever, chills, and shakes? They never tell you that part.

So perhaps there is a little 'fake news' in the commercials for these cancer treatment centers and the treatments themselves. And they do not even provide enough information for patients anyway.

With a cancer diagnosis, we need to not believe the hype and accept the facts while we find the best treatment options for us.

Year round pinkification

Estee Lauder is going to new lengths to create year round pinkificaiton. In October 2014, they will offer story telling videos of four families facing breast cancer. They made sure to include young and old, Asian and African Americans so it can't be deemed racist, sexist, or ageist.

They have two good reasons for running the campaign year round. The first is that with breast cancer its a year round diagnosis, not just one month of the year. That is clearly been a complaint for decades. But the other is their multimillion dollar campaign won't fit into one month. I am sure they could have made it fit into one month but it doesn't really impress me yet.

There will be personal touches through the storytelling....

"The company plans to add a personal touch through storytelling, via documentary-style online videos featuring four real-life families affected by the disease. Viewers are also encouraged to upload their own videos and stories, which may be featured on the site in the future."

Will that include the hairless body and rushing to the bathroom. And maybe they will get extra Estee Lauder makeup to cover the chemo pallor.

"Some of the donations will also come straight from the company's own pocket.  The Breast Cancer Research Foundation will receive portions of sales from 15 "Pink Ribbon" products with brand names like Aveda, Bobbi Brown, Clinique, La Mer, Origins, and Estée Lauder itself. Furthermore, the retailer will donate one dollar for each uplifting photo shared on one of their social media platforms (with a cap at $22,000)."

And the truth comes out in two little statements. first of all the BRCF will receive portions from the sale of 15 products? And how much would that portion be? A tiny $0.50 on a $50 product? That is one issue here. The second statement is the $22,000 cap on the photos shared. Does that mean they will only donate up to $22K for all the pictures shared or $22K for each of the pictures shared?

"While Estée Lauder had been planning to focus heavily on Internet platforms for some time, the recent success of the ALS Association’s Ice-Bucket Challenge proved the effectiveness of online activism, with nearly $80 million raised in one month, compared to $2.5 million last year."

Well goody for them. They are using social media and internet platforms and want to tap into the online activism as with the Ice Bucket Challenge. Sorry. I doubt it. The ice bucket challenge worked because it was a single guy who started it, not a corporation and it was a nice hot summer time where a bucket of ice isn't so bad. January would be bad. Its very difficult to create an online viral success. the best ones are teh spontaneous ones that cross borders, touch a nerve with people, and have a sensne of humor and one-up-manship (I triple dog dare you to dump a bucket of ice water on your head). 

I'm sorry a pink ribboned product isn't going to make me do much of anything. And some ad agency must be raking in big bucks for all of this.

Don't believe everything you read or hear

The majority of that 'research' online and in the news is wrong. Or biased or incomplete. In other words, not credible.

This is what happens. Journals which are peer reviewed, meaning a medical journal where all articles are reviewed and approved by a board of doctors before being published, are full of credible information. That is good information.

But then there are many other magazines and journals where researchers send their results to get published. If you get published as a researcher it adds to your credibility and CV so you can build pages of publications so it gets to be nice a long which is a positive think the research world.

Journals are always trying to find ways to fill pages. Some journals are ad free which are published by associations who pay for their publication through member dues and other funding. Magazines which have ads are stuck between a rock and a hard place. They want the ads to pay for their publication but are required by law to have a maximum percentage of pages of ads vs. pages of articles. So the more articles they have the more ads they can have and therefore increase their revenue.

They will publish anything that looks credible.

Then articles get picked up by the media and blown out of proportion and we all get scared and hyped up to avoid BPA or food additives or Vitamin C or red wine (next week white wine).

I am sure I have blogged about this in the past. The advantage of chemo brain, fibro fog, tamoxifen fog, and whatever else I have is that I can't remember squat. But this time I have an article which explains how the whole BPA thing was based on poor data and sampling but hen got picked up by  the media and all the manufacturers got right by getting us to buy new water bottles without BPA.

So don't believe what you read no matter how much it is splashed all over the media. Wait for additional verification. And use your common sense.

A lttle negativity

Today is the Fourth of July and (unless you are still fighting a damn cold) most Americans will be enjoying barbecues, fireworks, the beach, and having all sorts of fun.

Then the media has to come along like a wet blanket. First we have, How To Avoid Getting Cancer From Your BBQ. After the doom and gloom headline, the real answer comes buried way down. "If you’re grilling and following the proper safety tips, the risk of getting cancer from grilling food is very low."

So first the fear and then the honest truth.

Then we  have the fact that there are carcinogens in Pepsi. I don't think I have had a Pepsi myself in decades. Who still drinks that much soda any more? And who ever thought Pepsi was a healthy beverage?

But I digress. Just more of the media being a wet blanket.

Yes they are ominous warnings. Cancer risk is nothing to minimize but let's keep risks to real levels and not over stress them. The media times their stories to make sure that they get the most coverage because its a time of year when more and more will be barbecuing or drinking soda. These would get less coverage in January simply because its cold and there is less barbecuing and more hot chocolate.

Happy July 4th to you all, just watch out for your carcinogen intake and out of line negativity.

Breast cancer over hype

"...breast cancer has become the most heavily promoted disease in this country, women walk in with information, misinformation, strongly held beliefs, opinions, and frequently a literal army of supporters."

 I completely agree with this statement which came from this article which I found to have brought up many thought provoking points. There is no other ailment which has an army of patients, painting the world pink, with the best of intentions, and share good and bad information.

The author, an oncologist with 30 years of practice, concludes with:

"The point is that breast cancer patients are a particular entity, heavily influenced by the media, social networks, and well-meaning friends. They envision themselves as patients, victims, warriors, survivors, experts, activists, victors, and people who just hit a bump in the road and kept moving forward. Pay attention to which one is sitting in front of you."

As you know I have numerous ailments. They all have message boards, support groups, web pages full of information, and all sorts of resources.

None of my other ailments have:
- As many 'warriors'
- Awareness messages on Facebook which want you to post your bra color
- Color coded events
- Arguments over treatment among friends
- As much 'advice' from know it alls who never had the disease.

I meet people all the time with breast and other cancers as well as all sorts of fun ailments. A breast cancer diagnosis turns on the media and the pinkification and takes off. All other ailments seem to have a different effect on the patient. Media influence is a huge part of it.

My advice is pay attention to your doctor's advice.