HAIR WE GO: I was concerned to read Mark Oaten’s article (News Review, last week). My son was a contemporary of Oaten at the “rough comprehensive”. He too came from a middle-class background and is also losing his hair. Should I now warn his wife that he may start visiting rent boys or does the fact that he is prepared to take responsibility for his own life mean he will be safe from these dangers? — Hilary Wright, Bath.

SHARP TEETH: If Oaten has a relationship with a rent boy when he loses his hair, what will happen when he needs dentures? — Michael Dean, Colchester, Essex.

DOCTORED REPORTING: I must take issue with part of Stephen Armstrong’s article (Culture, April 30), particularly the inevitable “doctor bashing” and his justification for not trusting medics. We did not create the necrotising fasciitis scare, the sars scare or the mad cow disease scare. The media did. Andrew Wakefield was, and is, a discredited maverick who would never have been heard of had the media not over- reported his study. Doctor bashing seems to be the great game of the age in the media — we appear to be the hate figure that football hooligans once were. — Dr Rhodri Morgan-Smith, Winsford, Cheshire.