Afraid to dye?

Does Dr. Allan Mills of Leicester, England, intend to frighten the tops off a large number of people? His newly published study [“Could Hair Dyes Cause Hair Loss?” Allan Mills, Medical Hypotheses, Medical Hypotheses, vol. 66, no. 5 , 2006, pp. 1048-9.] concludes with a chilling passage:

[A] carefully designed and statistically valid epidemiological study is required to take the hair dye hypothesis further. A recent paper — intended to be reassuring — does not mention any such study.

The “recent paper” to which he refers is:

“Cosmetics and Hair Loss,” Christopher L. Gummer, Clinical and Experimental Dermatology, vol. 27, no. 5, July 2002, pp. 418-21. The author is at Procter and Gamble Europe Ltd, Egham, Surrey, UK.

Dr. Gummer is pictured at right.