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Is hair dye the cause ?
I was diagnosed with TCC cancer of the kidney in March, 2009. I had my left kidney and ureter removed in April and was told there was no sign of the cancer in the ureter or bladder. At my first 3 month cystoscopy my urologist found 1 small tumor that he removed and biopsied and several tiny tumors that he cauterized. At my 2nd 3 month cystoscopy 4 days ago, he found a larger tumor that needs to be scraped out during outpatient surgery and smaller ones he will remove. I will then be going through 6 weeks of immunotherapy.
My main concern now is “what caused this”? My dr says it could be from coloring my hair. I am now on a mission to find a safe hair color. Anyone have any information about this? I’m researched and believe the safest is probably Aveda or a natural version of Goldwell. Anyone else who has found a safe hair color? I just turned 50 a few weeks ago and I’m not ready to be gray yet!! :)
Thanks!
:blink:
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4 Replies
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I forgot to put the disclaimer on the GUILT = BAD comment above.
My understanding is that if one is raised Catholic or Jewish, that guilt is a mandatory requirement.
However, Catholics only have to maintain the guilt until they get to confession and then it should be disposed of.
The Jewish faith requires guilt only when speaking with parents.As long as the guilt is kept to a minimum it should be OK.
I believe excessive guilt is not required in either religion and should be avoided if at all possible.Mike :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:
(The above is a joke. Please take it in that light.)
Age 54
10/31/06 dx CIS (TisG3) non-invasive (at 47)
9/19/08 TURB/TUIP dx Invasive T2G3
10/8/08 RC neobladder(at 49)
2/15/13 T4G3N3M1 distant metastases(at 53)
9/2013 finished chemo -cancer free again
1/2014 ct scan results….distant mets
2/2014 ct result…spread to liver, kidneys, and lymph system
My opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of ABLCS or anyone else. I am not a doctor nor do I play one on TV.
Kim,
Given that you have a concern, it might be better to switch. Then you won’t be thinking in the back of your mind (should I have switched?… am I increasing my chances?…).
If you didn’t change and then you had a recurrence some day, you’d possibly start feeling guilty about not switching (whether it really made any difference or not).I’d probably say the same thing if someone thought having their bedroom walls painted blue was the cause. If they have a worry about it, that isn’t good. My belief is that the worry itself is a bad thing.
Your case is obviously and clearly different because there was at least enough concern (in the medical community) about hair dye that it’s been studied repeatedly as a possible carcinogen and certain chemicals are now not allowed to be used in dyes because of those concerns.
Point being that it isn’t necessarily what the specific concern is as much as the fact that it’s a concern. If it’s easy to change and it removes the concern, why not just do it. <---(My humble opinion) Compare the upside and downside of each option and go from there. Worry = bad :( Guilt = bad :( Long term anger = bad :( Bottling up negative feelings = bad :( Happy = Good :) An occasional cry if you're sad = Good :) Confidence that you will are or will be cured (as long as you continue regular followup care) = GREAT :) :) Mike
Age 54
10/31/06 dx CIS (TisG3) non-invasive (at 47)
9/19/08 TURB/TUIP dx Invasive T2G3
10/8/08 RC neobladder(at 49)
2/15/13 T4G3N3M1 distant metastases(at 53)
9/2013 finished chemo -cancer free again
1/2014 ct scan results….distant mets
2/2014 ct result…spread to liver, kidneys, and lymph system
My opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of ABLCS or anyone else. I am not a doctor nor do I play one on TV.
Thanks, Mike. It is hard to know what to do. My doctor is a highly regarded urologist at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston and questions the hair dye factor as being a valid concern. Should I disregard his warning and hope this isn’t the cause or switch to an all natural hair color so I can, perhaps, feel a bit better about my efforts to rid myself of these tumors? I have to think about this one. :) Thank you!
Kim,
Here are some recent studies I could found on bladder cancer and hair dye.
Baan’s team also looked at whether people using hair dyes at home had similar risks for cancer. They found there wasn’t enough evidence to make a definitive conclusion about the personal use of hair dyes and the potential for cancer.
Thun noted that people are exposed to naturally occurring carcinogens all the time — in food, in air and water. “The goal is not to increase that load. So the goal here is to have these products be free of substances that are potential carcinogens and to minimize the exposure of people who work with them,” he said.
Unless you are a hairdresser, I think the probability is very, very low that hair dye caused it.
Sometimes, people just get it.The primary risk is smoking (past or present) but I assume you haven’t smoked or you probably wouldn’t be looking at things like hair dye and your doctor would have blamed smoking immediately.
The hair dyes in the 70’s had a somewhat higher potential to cause issues but they changed the ingredients long ago. If you aren’t using the banned hair dyes then I don’t think there is any problem with continuing to dye your hair.
Here is another study by MD Anderson: MD ANDERSON HAIR DYE STUDY
In a large-scale study, researchers determined that do-it-yourself permanent hair dye does not put users at higher risk for bladder cancer.
So it kind of appears that as long as you aren’t buying black-market hair dye, anything should be fine.
Mike
Age 54
10/31/06 dx CIS (TisG3) non-invasive (at 47)
9/19/08 TURB/TUIP dx Invasive T2G3
10/8/08 RC neobladder(at 49)
2/15/13 T4G3N3M1 distant metastases(at 53)
9/2013 finished chemo -cancer free again
1/2014 ct scan results….distant mets
2/2014 ct result…spread to liver, kidneys, and lymph system
My opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of ABLCS or anyone else. I am not a doctor nor do I play one on TV.Sign In to reply.