Background
Hair plays a significant role in our life. Another person's hair is one
of the first characteristics we notice upon meeting.
Our own hair is one of the first and last things we attend to before a
meeting or a social engagement.
Hair disorders, especially when severe, often profoundly affect the
lives of those afflicted.
Severe hair loss evokes not only cosmetic concerns but may also evoke
feelings of vulnerability (nakedness),
loss of self-esteem, alterations
in self-image, and, perhaps, even self-identity.
Single men and woman who had begun losing hair in their early twenties
were more likely to suffer
from extremely low self-esteem.
The most common form of hair loss is determined by our genes and
hormones: Also known as androgen-dependent,
androgenic, or genetic hair
loss.
It is the largest single type of recognizable alopecia to affect both
men and women.
It is estimated that around 30% of Caucasian females are affected
before menopause.
About 50 per cent of children with a balding parent of either sex will
inherit the dominant baldness gene.
1. Male Pattern Baldness (MPB)
Signs and Symptoms
· Receding hairline
· Moderate to extensive loss of hair, especially on the crown
2. Female pattern Baldness (FPB)
Signs and Symptoms
· General thinning of hair all over the head
· Moderate loss of hair on the crown or at hairline
Diet and Your Hair
The quality of your hair reflects in part the adequacy of your diet:
regular, well-rounded meals are best for you
and your hair. Consuming extra protein or amino acid preparations will not promote
hair growth.
In fact, there is evidence that megadoses of some vitamins-particularly
A and E may contribute to hair loss.
Iron deficiency, due to inadequate consumption of red meat or heavy
menstrual bleeding in women,
could cause hair shedding.
Crash diets and eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa can damage
hair dramatically.
A daily dose of carrot, lettuce and spinach juice furnishes vital missing nutrients to the roots of the hair,
and thereby stops hair loss and restores natural colour.
Besides the dangerous minoxidil compounds (which lead to a patchy growth that disappears on stopping the drug),
juice therapy is the only known way to stimulate hair growth in certain cases.
This is because only juices can provide a range of vitamins, enzymes, minerals, and trace elements that go into the
ormation of hair. The high content of potassium, calcium, iron,
magnesium, phosphorous, and silicon in
the above-mentioned combination
furnishes the hair roots with the missing nutrients, stops hair loss
and actually
restores natural hair colour.
While male- and female-pattern baldness result in permanent hair loss,
other factors can cause temporary loss of hair.
For instance, the drop in the level of estrogen at the end of pregnancy
can cause a woman's hair to shed more readily.
Two or three months after a woman stops taking birth control pills, she
may experience the same effect,
since birth control pills produce
hormone changes that mimic pregnancy.
Baldness as a side-effect of
medication
It is well known that many cancer chemotherapy medications cause
baldness.
Most people are willing to put up with hair loss when accepting
treatments for life-threatening diseases.
But a large number of popular medications can cause hair loss while
neither pharmaceutical industry nor your doctor
will tell you about
this side effect.
Here is a list of drugs that are known to cause hair
loss in some patients:
Cholesterol-lowering drugs: clofibrate (Atromis-S) and gemfibrozil
(Lopid)
Parkinson Medications: levodopa (Dopar, Larodopa)
Ulcer drugs: cimetidine (Tagamet), ranitidine (Zantac) and famotidine
(Pepcid)
Anticoagulents: Coumarin and Heparin
Agents for gout: Allopurinol (Loporin, Zyloprim)
Antiarthritics: penicillamine, auranofin (Ridaura), indomethacin
(i\Indocin), naproxen (Naprosyn), sulindac (Clinoril),
and methotrexate
(Folex)
Drugs derived from vitamin-A: isotretinoin (Accutane) and etretinate
(Tegison)
Anticonvulsants for epilepsy: trimethadione (Tridione)
Antidepressants: tricyclics, amphetamines
Beta blocker drugs for high blood pressure: atenolol (Tenormin),
metoprolol (Lopressor), nadolol (Corgard),
propranolol (Inderal) and
timolol (Blocadren)
Antithyroid agents: carbimazole, Iodine, thiocyanate, thiouracil
Others: Blood thinners, male hormones (anabolic steroids)
Next time your doctor prescribes any drug for you, ask if it will cause
hair loss.
If the drug is linked to reversible alopecia, ask if another can be
substituted.
When you get the prescription filled, ask your pharmacist as well.
