PART 1
Very much a highlighted news topic, the stem cell research controversy continues. Reasons for the “need” of research include possible help for persons with terminal cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury…and hair loss.
Hair loss is an important subject for the many men and women who experience it. The careless remarks and gratuitous jokes about baldness made by people with full heads of hair only add to their humiliation. Some people even experience anger that their hairline threatens to become as receded as the waters of the Red Sea for the Hebrews so many years ago.
Countless people wonder whether or not there really exists a cure for hair loss. Before we answer that question, we should first answer the questions, “What is hair loss?” and “What causes it?”
What is Hair Loss?
The term “Alopecia,” more commonly known as “baldness,” includes various disorders that involve the lack of hair where it would normally grow; especially when it involves the head. The most common form of baldness is a progressive hair-thinning condition that occurs in some adults.
Each piece of hair has a follicle located at the end of the hair shaft. Follicles act as the hair’s incubator;” it is where the hair is produced. Each strand of hair has a matrix, located at the base of the follicle. Cells in this area produce keratin, a tough protein that makes up the hair shaft, and melanin. Melanin stains the keratin, giving hair its color.
The activity of each follicle is dependant on surrounding follicles. Healthy hair follicles continuously grow. About 85% of the hair follicles on a healthy scalp are actively growing at the same time, and hair loss is not a problem.
Each strand of hair continues to grow for about 4 years, before going into a dormant period of about 4 months. On an average, only about 15% of the total amount of hair follicles on a healthy scalp is dormant at any one time. It is when a higher percentage of hair follicles stop growing at one time that hair loss becomes a problem.
What Happens During Hair Loss
Follicles are nourished by a network of capillaries, bringing nutrients to the base of the follicle. The amount of blood available to the scalp and to the follicles is determined by the health of the capillaries in the scalp, as well as the arteries in the neck and temple.
Problems develop when hair follicles do not receive proper nourishment. For instance, some women experience noticeable hair thinning after menopause, after the production of estrogen slows down or stops. Hair loss in women is usually more diffuse then in men. Women seldom have bold spots; a large area of the head may show sparse hair growth instead. Only about 15% of women are afflicted by such a high degree of hair loss that it becomes obvious.
In men the hormone DHT can harm hair follicles, making them shrink, or cause them to prematurely enter into the resting stage of the hair cycle. When this happens the result is often the characteristic U-shaped pattern of hair loss at the top of the head.
What Causes Hair Loss?
Predisposition can be one factor as to why one person begins losing their hair as they age, while another person does not. Various other disorders, such as obesity, allergies, and diabetes can also be attributed to predisposition. Sometimes hair loss can be the result of side effects caused by certain prescription drugs. Of course, these factors can often be countered.
Where you may not be able to reverse predisposition, you can sometimes contain it. By changing lifestyle, maintaining a customized healthcare regimen, and eating a well-balanced diet, many such factors can be alleviated or turned around.
More about Hair Loss
When it comes counteracting or slowing down the process of hair loss, products such as Rogaine, Dutasteride, and Propecia can help. Scalp exercises and massages using special preparations can also help.
Telogen Effluvium (TE) is a type of hair loss more common in women then men. It is characterized by high numbers of hairs that enter into the resting stage of the hair cycle, all at one time. This usually causes profuse shedding, as opposed to bald patches. This can be an overwhelming experience for women, especially those who once had luxuriant hair.
TE can be brought on by prolonged emotional or physical stress, severe illness, post-pregnancy hormone changes, or crash dieting. Once the triggering factor has been removed, TE hair loss usually stops. Hair can grow back in even without treatment, usually in 6 months to a year.
With proper treatment, hair growth can be accelerated. Some professionals recommend bringing the level of iron stored in the body up to 70 or 80 ng/ml (nanograms per milliliter). The range of iron normally stored in a woman’s body might be between 12 – 50; the lower end not high enough to speed hair growth.
Rogaine can also be used for a few months to start the TE recovery process; once hair does begin to grow back in, Rogaine use can stop.
As mentioned earlier, crash dieting can trigger TE in both men and women. As a matter of fact, diets of less than 1,200 calories a day can trigger sudden hair loss. This is especially true of diets low in protein. When the body lacks proper protein it “borrows” by shifting healthy hairs into dormancy to conserve protein.
Although hair loss resulting from inadequate diets is most often temporary, it can result in permanent loss of hair in persons genetically predetermined towards hair loss. Also, extreme weight loss in men can increase the production of androgens – male sex hormones that kill hair follicles. Once hair follicles are destroyed, there can be no re-growth of hair.
In part-2 we of this article we discuss effective treatments for hair loss and where to go for help. Visit Writers Write Now for part 2, “What can be done about Hair Loss.”
Showing posts with label grow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grow. Show all posts
Cycle Of Hair Growth And Information About Follicles
At any Stage of our life, only 10% of hair is in resting phase. They Fall off in 2-3 months and the new hair grows in a total time of 2-6 years. About 90% of the hair grows on our scalp at a time and They grow at a rate of 1 cm. per month.
Normally hair lasts for two to four years in men and four to six years in Women.
Hair Internal Structure : Deep Inside The hair follicle, the hair forms inside a hair bulb and protrube and grow outside.
Any Method of hair improvements like shampooing, conditioning, cutting, sun exposure does not effect the rate of grwth of the hair.
There Are 3 phases of hair growth –
1. Anagen which takes a time of about 1000 days or 3 years.
2. Catagen lasting for 10 days.
3. Tologen for nearly 3 months.
Anagen includes the start of growth of hair and Tologen is the end i.e. trhe shedding phase of hair. The Hair bulb goes on coming outside from the start to the shedding phase. Hair groth is effected by the seasonal changes, i.e. hair grows more quicker in winter than in summer as a result of the seasonal change. In the Catagen phase, Hair growth is stopped for a small time and no pigment is produced at this time.
The time of Anagen Phase is usually fixed and and is determined genetically and is also responsible for the length of the hair. The no. of Hair Follicles in a human head counts approximately 100,000. Each Follicle produces hair for about 20 times in the lifetime. In a new born baby, the hair follicles grow hair in a Unison, i.e. all at a same time but as time passes, the follicles produce hairs at different times.
If a hair is Plucked from the head, the follicle is not ruptured but it starts to produce a new hair. As age increases, the shedding of follicles is evidently seen in most of the people in the top of the head and also in the forehead. The Hair does not grow in a definite straight manner but makes the follicle to stand in some constant angle. Depending on this angle, the Hair are always set to lie. The Stream is usually in a twisted manner but it is then influenced by the way of combing of hair by people.
Finally, Hair grows at a slow rate, so utmost care is needed to prevent them from shedding.
Normally hair lasts for two to four years in men and four to six years in Women.
Hair Internal Structure : Deep Inside The hair follicle, the hair forms inside a hair bulb and protrube and grow outside.
Any Method of hair improvements like shampooing, conditioning, cutting, sun exposure does not effect the rate of grwth of the hair.
There Are 3 phases of hair growth –
1. Anagen which takes a time of about 1000 days or 3 years.
2. Catagen lasting for 10 days.
3. Tologen for nearly 3 months.
Anagen includes the start of growth of hair and Tologen is the end i.e. trhe shedding phase of hair. The Hair bulb goes on coming outside from the start to the shedding phase. Hair groth is effected by the seasonal changes, i.e. hair grows more quicker in winter than in summer as a result of the seasonal change. In the Catagen phase, Hair growth is stopped for a small time and no pigment is produced at this time.
The time of Anagen Phase is usually fixed and and is determined genetically and is also responsible for the length of the hair. The no. of Hair Follicles in a human head counts approximately 100,000. Each Follicle produces hair for about 20 times in the lifetime. In a new born baby, the hair follicles grow hair in a Unison, i.e. all at a same time but as time passes, the follicles produce hairs at different times.
If a hair is Plucked from the head, the follicle is not ruptured but it starts to produce a new hair. As age increases, the shedding of follicles is evidently seen in most of the people in the top of the head and also in the forehead. The Hair does not grow in a definite straight manner but makes the follicle to stand in some constant angle. Depending on this angle, the Hair are always set to lie. The Stream is usually in a twisted manner but it is then influenced by the way of combing of hair by people.
Finally, Hair grows at a slow rate, so utmost care is needed to prevent them from shedding.
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