Avoid   Baldness

Receding hair lines, fallen hair in the drain and on hairbrushes, and easily broken hair are some of the most common issues women experience with their crowning glory. The first panicky thought is about the loss of self-esteem due to less flattering appearance of one’s hair, but apparently, there are more reasons to worry. Thick, shiny and vibrant hair is indicative of good health, so thinning hair may mean exactly the opposite. Losing too much hair every time you shower or comb or lay your head on a pillow may mean hormonal imbalance, poor nutrition and vitamin deficiency, or overwhelming psychological stress. These are all signs of declining health and poor well-being.

The same is true for dry, sallow skin as well as weak and discolored nails. It is crucial that you pay attention to your hair loss and take it as a sign that there are something that’s not right about your health status. Prevention is ultimately better than any form of cure, so underlying conditions like the ones mentioned above must be treated before they get to a point of complications or irreversibility. There’s really no harm in seeking consultation with your doctor before you talk to a hair specialist. Or, your hair specialist can help you determine the cause of your thinning hair and can refer you to a doctor who will assess you for underlying conditions. Your hair is not called crowning glory for nothing.

A healthy mop of thick, lustrous and vibrant hair strands will imply that you also have a healthy and vibrant well-being.

Hair loss has been very common for women of all ages. This disorder is caused by a lot of factors, and one of them is anemia. A lot of people are wondering about the connection between hair loss and anemia. Iron deficiency or anemia is caused by a lot of factors including recent surgery, recent childbirth, women entering the menopausal stage and loss of hair. But one of the most popular causes of hair loss and anemia is medical stress. It is very important for people to know the causes of baldness for them to be able to prevent it from happening.

The common link to hair loss and anemia is having a low count of RBC (red blood cells). If you have this condition, then you have anemia. But it has to be noted that baldness and anemia is caused by a graver medical illness. Once you experience having a low RBC count, the body has less nutrition for the hair follicles which cause baldness. Once you have assessed that you are very susceptible to anemia, you should go and visit your doctor for some medication. Prescribing you with iron supplements would bring back your RBC count to normal and will also help you prevent losing hair.

Aside from this, you should also consider getting a complete medical examination in order for you to determine if there are more severe conditions that are causing you to lose hair.Hair loss and anemia are connected in some way, and for women, the best way to prevent these things from happening is to be aware of their system and make sure that they get proper check-up once in a while.

For men who smoke, the chances of going bald are much higher than the non-smokers. Smoking has various side effects; however, the link between smoking and hair loss is not a well known fact.

Smoking does destroy hair follicles, it affects the manner in which hormones and blood circulates in the scalp and even increases estrogen production. Taiwanese researchers at the Far Eastern Memorial Hospital recently carried out a study on 740 persons between the ages of 40 and 92 years, in which they carefully studied the link between Androgenetic Alopecia [ALA], which is known more commonly as male pattern baldness and smoking. The study also looked into estimating the amount of Asian men affected by hair loss due to smoking.

The results of the study indicated that smoking did play a fairly big role in hair loss, ranging between moderate and severe levels. This was even more apparent in men who smoked 20 or more cigarettes per day. Comparing ethnicities, the danger of hair loss due to smoking was very much lower amongst Taiwanese males.

The study controlled factors such as family history and age, which brought out other factors which were fairly significant. They included the intensity of smoking, number of cigarettes smoked per day and a person’s current smoking status.

Men who exhibit very early signs of Androgenetic Alopecia or male pattern baldness should be clearly informed of the danger smoking could cause to their hair loss issue, so that they would be able to prevent hair loss to reach advanced stages.

According to Spanish researchers, male pattern baldness is now linked with an enlarged prostate. The findings were revealed at an American Urological Association meeting held in San Francisco recently. The researchers said that their findings also indicated that hair loss during the early stages of life was a sign that prostate disease might being to develop – which is when medical advice should be looked into and preventive treatment be taken.

Androgenetic Alopecia is more commonly known as male pattern baldness. It is the kind of baldness that most men suffer from. Male pattern baldness results from abnormally high levelS of 5-alpha-reductase which is an enzyme; it converts testosterone into dihydrotestosterone. Also known as DHT, dihydrotestosterone causes hair follicles to shrink and thus causes baldness. This very same enzyme is also responsible towards a benign prostatic hyperplasia also known as BPH. The link between an enlarged prostate and baldness has been speculated by researchers for many years. Propecia, which is a drug used to treat hair loss includes finasteride, which incidentally is also used in Proscar – used to treat or prevent BPH.

Around thirty men suffering from early male pattern baldness were studied by the Spanish researchers for the purpose of this study. They were then compared with men of the same age with a full head of hair. The criteria that participants were not diagnosed with BPH previously or were taking any kind of medication for it was strictly adhered to. Via the use of an ultrasound, the Spanish researchers’ findings showed that in bald men, their prostates were 34% larger, and their flow of urine – 32% lower.

Researchers have discovered a gene variant apparently responsible for causing baldness in females.

Scientists at St. Vincent’s Hospital and the University of Melbourne discovered the gene variant following studies carried out on the DNA of around 500 women suffering from hair loss. The discovery was reported in The Age recently. The study was carried out amongst women all aged between 18 and 65 who had only around 50% of their hair on their scalp.

Tests carried out on DNA of a control group of women who did not suffer from hair loss indicated the presence of a variant called ESR2 or Oestrogen Receptor Beta, which is a gene that made hair follicles even more sensitive towards the oestrogen levels in the body.
The link between ESR2 and hair loss was extremely strong in women aged over 40 years. Women who did not suffer from baldness showed the same gene, but with a different variant – which was not affected much by levels of oestrogen.

The head of this particular research, and also St Vincent’s Professor of Dermatology – Rod Sinclair stated that thickening of hair is noticed amongst women especially during pregnancy, whereas loss of hair is experienced once the baby is delivered and also during the period of breastfeeding. During these periods in their lives, the level of oestrogen is fairly low, causing hair loss. The same applies for menopause as well.
He also spoke of the practise of hormone replacement therapy taken to combat hair loss. Professor Sinclair stated that contrary to the popular belief that it would aid hair re-growth, he said hormone replacement therapy does just the opposite.

The findings of the study are to be presented in Cairns next month at the World Congress for Hair Research.