Posts Tagged ‘Androgens’
Hair loss is a common medical problem. Millions of people all over the world are putting their efforts to stop their hair loss. How ever, most of them did not spend a couple of minutes learning what the reasons behind their hair loss are and how to handle this problem properly. Read this article to learn the basics about hair, hair loss and hair loss treatments.
One important fact to know is that an average scalp has about 150,000 hair follicles and hairs, in them more than 90% of them grow continuously. Hairs arise from these hair follicles that are present in the scalp. When these scalp pores (hair follicles) gets blocked, it leads to hair fall or growth of bad textured hairs.
Causes of Hair Loss
There may be many reasons behind hair loss. So it’s tough to list all of them here. This article will tell you only the major causes which are normally seen.
Hormonal Imbalance- One major cause of hair loss may be the hormonal imbalance brought on by something like a thyroid disease. Correcting a hormonal imbalance like the excess of androgens or estrogens could cause hair loss.
Genetic- Another big cause of hair loss is the genes being passed on from generation to generation.
Pregnancy- Many women begin to lose hairs a few months after pregnancy due to the imbalance in their hormones. This is usually cured on its own several months after the hormones return to normal.
Long Illness- Another common causes of hair loss is a long illness or a very stressful period of family strife. Stress can cause many problems with your body with one being the excessive loss of hair.
Infections- Certain types of fungal infections or degenerative diseases can also cause hair loss. To overcome the fungal infections that cause hair loss, you need to purchase an anti-fungal shampoo or lotion.
Poor diet- Lack of vitamins and minerals in your diet also leads to hair loss. You diet should contain proper nutrients to help you hairs grow healthy and keeps them strong.
Diet to Prevent and Cure Hair Loss
Protein is a vital food element required by all human beings and serves to the body in many ways. Natural sources of protein are milk, buttermilk, yogurt, soyabean, eggs, cheese, meat and fish. Normally 60 grams is required for women, between 80 to 90 grams for men and 80 to 100 grams of protein for adolescent boys and girls.
Hair problems like falling of hairs and premature graying of hairs may be caused by deficiency of some of B Vitamins, iron, copper and iodine.
A well balanced diet containing an adequate quantity of vegetable seeds, nuts green leafy vegetables, fresh fruits, egg and milk should taken when a person tends to lose hair.
Prevent Hair Loss through Scalp Massage
An effective method to prevent hair fall and to promote hair growth is scalp massage. It’s easy, safe and free from side effects. Massage your scalp regularly for 5 to 10 minutes. Massage gently with the help of your finger tips. One thing should always be kept in mind that never massages your wet hairs. Allow it to dry by itself or blow it dry.
Scalp massage improves the blood circulation of the scalp thereby supporting the proper nutrition to the scalp. Secondly it helps in getting rid of dead cells and improves the hygiene of scalp and hairs. These methods in turn help in supplying nutrition to the hair follicles and leads to hair grown. Massage also helps in opening blocked scalp pores (hair follicles) and thus promoting hair growth.
Though massage is very essential to achieve hair growth but the massage should be done with the help of some nutrient and supplement that are essential for hair growth. These can be hair oils, hair creams and hair packs etc.
Disclaimer: This article is not meant to provide health advice and is for general information only. Always seek the insights of a qualified health professional before embarking on any health program.
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Hair loss is a common problem seen today. In this article we will discuss hair loss causes and prevention.
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Hair loss also known as Baldness is a big worry to many people, both male and female. Baldness is not usually caused by a disease, but is related to aging, heredity, and testosterone. Hair loss usually develops gradually and may be patchy or diffuse. Some women also develop a particular pattern of hair loss due to genetics, age, and male hormones that tend to increase in women after menopause. The pattern is different from that of men.
Female pattern baldness involves a thinning throughout the scalp while the frontal hairline generally remains intact. Excessive hair loss can occur if any of the stages of hair growth become disrupted. For example, if follicles shut down instead of growing new hairs, there will be less hair on the head. Loss of hair at a very early age has become a common disorder these days. We loose 50 to 80 strands of hair per day. Do not get alarmed, this is quite normal. Unless there is some deficiency in diet, or ill health, lost hair is quickly replaced by new ones. Each hair grows between one quarter and one half inch each month.
Some men have areas on the scalp that are very sensitive to the male sex hormones that circulate in men’s blood. The hormones make the hair follicles – from which hair grows – shrink. Another reason might be interference with the formation of new hair cells at the root during the growing phase; this occurs with some anticancer drugs. Baldness is generally regarded as natural, and not a disease. So if a person decides they wish to try to get their hair back, they will probably have to pay for the lengthy, expensive procedure themselves. This hair loss usually can be helped by treatment thyroid disease. Hair loss may occur if male or female hormones, known as androgens and estrogens, are out of balance. Correcting the hormone imbalance may stop your hair loss.
Women can also suffer hair loss, especially those with many relatives who are also prone to losing their hair. Fungal infections of the scalp can cause hair loss in children. The infection is easily treated with antifungal medicines. If a medicine is causing your hair loss, your doctor may be able to prescribe a different medicine. Treatments for alopecia areata include injecting steroids into affected patches to stimulate hair growth. This is not practical for large areas. Other treatments, such as oral steroids or ultraviolet light therapy, are either toxic or impractical. In most mild cases, patients can comb over the affected areas.
Treatment For Hair Loss:
1. Styling hair to cover the areas with the most hair loss is effective for mild cases. Washing and styling the hair will not cause further hair loss.
2. Minoxidil is a liquid that you rub into your scalp twice daily to regrow hair and to prevent further loss.
3. Finasteride: A pill taken once daily that blocks the effects of testosterone on hair growth.
4. If adequate treatment is not available for your type of hair loss, you may consider trying different hairstyles or wigs, hairpieces, hair weaves or artificial hair replacement.
5. Surgical procedures like hair transplants can be useful for some women as well as men to “fill in” thinned-out areas.
Use the following essential oils for massage of hair to reduce hair loss: 1. Jojoba oil.
2. Roman Chamomile.
3. Lavender.
4. Rosemary.
5. Grapefruit.
6. Cedarwood.
Home made remedies for reducing the hair loss:
1. For nourishing your hair, apply coconut milk all over your scalp and massage it into the hair roots.
2. Massage almond oil on scalp 2-3 times a day, daily. This will stop further hair loss.
3. Make a shampoo by mixing 100 g each of amla, reetha, and shikakai and boil in two liters of water until the liquid reduces to half. Use this shampoo for your hair for at least one month. Your hair will become thick.
4. Lettuce is useful in preventing hair loss. A mixture of lettuce and spinach juice is believed to help the growth of hair if taken to the extent to half a litre a day.
5. The juice of alfalfa, in combination with equal quantities of carot and lettuce juice, taken daily, also helps the growth of hair to a remarkable extent.
6. Onion has also been found beneficial in patchy baldness. The affected part should be rubbed with onions morning and evening till it is red. It should be rubbed with honey afterwards.
Hair loss also known as Baldness is a big worry to many people, both male and female. Baldness is not usually caused by a disease, but is related to aging, heredity, and testosterone.
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Hair Loss: How to Combat It?
Hair loss is an ailment that can affect almost all men and women. The cause of hair loss is the change of balance of androgens and estrogens, which are the male and female hormones. The falling of hair typically starts within the age of 12 and 40 years.
There are numerous causes of hair loss. However, the main causes are either genetic or hormonal changes. In fact these causes are behind 95% of hair loss cases. Other causes of hair loss include stress and usage of some drugs. No doubt, reducing one’s stress is important in slowing hair fall. There is a close relationship between DHT and the male baldness pattern. This dihydrotestosterone gives a bad effect on the hair follicles and slows down hair growth.
There are some drugs, which causes hair loss on the scalp as well as other places of the body. If doubted that the cause of one’s hair loss is due to certain medication, they must immediately consult the doctor and look for an alternative suggestion. There are reports of hair loss in both male and female when treated with certain medication for cancer.
One must begin hair loss treatment as soon as it is detected so that the effective treatment can slow down the hair loss. In women, the common cause of hair loss is known as androgenetic alopecia, which is also called as female pattern alopecia or baldness. The treatment of hair loss includes reduction of enzymatic activity that occurs on the scalp.
In male, the most common form of hair loss is the male Pattern hair loss. It represents 95% of all hair loss cases in men. One must look for hair treatment that is suited to him or her for the specific needs and help in hair growth. In women, hair loss also occurs due to hormonal changes during pregnancy or menopause.
There are many reasons for hair loss. Hair loss could be due to stress, medication, hormonal imbalance etc. DHT and male pattern baldness are closely related to each other. The dihydrotestosterone has a very bad effect on the hair follicles as it slows down the growth of hair or stops hair growth completely.
As mentioned in the beginning, stress along with mental tension result in hair loss. In the case of males, hair loss is more a genetic problem and is found in the heredity. The testosterone and DHT also causes hair fall and can result in complete baldness. One can grow hair on their bald scalp through medication or surgery. It must be remembered that baldness is a condition and not a disease. Baldness do not occur in a short time but takes time. First Hair thinning occurs and the hair falls off. Slowly the growth of hair stops and one gets bald.
To stop hair loss, one must go for hair loss treatment. One can reverse the course of hair loss if treatment starts early. Through hair loss treatment, one can aid the growth of new hair follicle. One must also keep the internal body functions in correct state. If some illness is found, it must be treated immediately.
Tony Miller is author of this article on Hair Thinning. Find more information about Hair Loss here.
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The hair growth cycle normally lasts for 2 to 6 years. Each strand grows approximately 1 centimeter per month during this phase. About 90 percent of the hair on your scalp is randomly growing. The remaining 10 percent of the hair on your scalp, at any one time, is in a resting phase. After 2 to 3 months, the resting hair falls out and new hair begins to develop in its place.
This resting phase makes it normal to shed some hair each day as part of the cycle. However, some people may experience excessive hair loss. Hair loss that is more than normal can affect everybody, and it is good to know what causes this.
There are a number of things that can cause excessive hair loss. For example, about 3 or 4 months after an illness or a major surgery, a patient may abruptly lose a large amount of hair. This hair loss is associated to the stress of the illness and is temporary. Another example is when women just had a baby. This loss, that may occur 3 months after giving birth to most women, is also related to hormones. During pregnancy stage, high levels of certain hormones make the hair more attached to the body which minimizes hair loss. After birth, the hormones return to pre-pregnancy levels making that hair fall out. Then the normal cycle of growth and loss starts again.
Hormonal problems may cause hair loss too. For example, if your thyroid gland is overactive or underactive, your hair may fall out. This hair loss usually can be helped by treating the thyroid disease. Hair loss may also happen if male or female hormones, known as androgens and estrogens, are having an imbalance state. Correcting this hormonal imbalance may stop the unwanted hair loss.
Some medicines can also cause hair loss. But the moment you stop taking the medicine, hair loss stops too. The medicines that we are talking about include blood thinners (anticoagulants), medicines used for gout, medicines used in chemotherapy to treat cancer, vitamin A (if too much is taken), antidepressants and birth control pills.
Certain infections can also cause hair loss such as fungal infections of the scalp. The infection is easily treated with antifungal medicines. Improper hair care may cause hair loss as well. Wearing pigtails, cornrows, or tight hair rollers put much stress on your hair that can cause hair loss. Minimize using these regularly to avoid scarring of the scalp. Scarring can cause permanent hair loss.
Finally, hair loss could be part of an underlying disease you are suffering, such as lupus or diabetes. Since hair loss may be an early sign of these diseases, your urgency is to find the cause so that it can be treated. Examples of hair treatment that can scar your scalp in the process are hot oil treatments and chemicals used in permanents (commonly known as perms).
You may address your hair loss depending on the of type you are experiencing. If a medicine is causing your hair loss, your doctor may be able to prescribe an alternative. Spotting and treating an infection may help prevent hair loss. Correcting a hormone imbalance may stop further hair loss.
Medicines may also help slow or stop the occurence of common baldness. One unisexual medicine, minoxidil (with brand name: Rogaine), is available over the drugstore counter. Just apply it simply to the scalp. Another medicine (however, for men only), finasteride (brand name: Propecia) is available with a prescription and comes in pills. Effectivity of these medicines may take up to 6 months.
If the type of your hair loss has no adequate treatment available for your type, you may consider trying different hairstyles or wigs, hairpieces, hair weaves or artificial hair replacement.
The hair growth cycle normally lasts for 2 to 6 years. Each strand grows approximately 1 centimeter per month during this phase.
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