PharmaPassport Health Tips Blog

September 14, 2010

4 Hair Myths Exposed

Filed under: balding,baldness,blood circulation,hair growth,hair loss,hair thinning — Tags: balding, baldness, hair, hair growth, multivitamins, prenatal vitamins — Amanda @ 4:21 pm

Many women are willing to try anything in order to have healthy, beautiful hair. Some women believe that home remedies and shopping channel products can provide larger than life results. Let’s face it – we spend hours coiffing and poking at our hairstyles in order to look our best. So when it comes to hair myths, we are willing to believe anything that will provide us with promising results. Lets shed some light on the truths of common hair care myths.

1. Shaving or Cutting your hair makes it grow back thicker: I have a friend whose mother shaved her head when she was just a baby in hopes that she would develop thick, luscious locks. The truth is, shaving doesn’t affect the texture of the hair because it acts on the hair shaft, not the hair follicle where the hair develops. My friend even claims she has very thin hair regardless of her mother’s good intentions.

2. Baldness is passed on through the mother’s genes: Its been common knowledge that a mans baldness can be determined by looking at the mothers father, however there is a lot more to it than that. Either parent can pass down the gene for baldness however the female X chromosome passed down by the mother is an important factor in determining whether or not baldness will occur. Men and women can both inherit the gene for baldness, but men are more likely to have physical signs of the gene. Luckily, there are ways that men can slow down the rate of hair loss.

3. Your hair will be healthy and shiny if you brush it 100 times a day: Some time ago someone believed that doing this will stimulate blood circulation in the hair follicles and improve hair quality. The fact is that although hair is naturally strong, unnecessary brushing will cause excessive breakage and damage to the hair.

4. Prenatal vitamins help hair growth: Most women truly believe that these vitamins increase hair growth, however there is no evidence that proves prenatal vitamins assist in hair growth. During pregnancy, however, hair does grow longer and thicker due to higher hormone levels. Vitamins can help people who experience poor hair growth due to a vitamin deficiency, but in this case there is no difference between a regular multivitamin and prenatal vitamins.

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January 7, 2010

Top 5 Reasons For Hair Loss

Filed under: anxiety,anxious,causes of hair loss,chemotherapy,depression,eczema,hair loss,hair loss treatment,seborrhea,stress,Uncategorized — John @ 3:34 pm

As most men age, they begin to experience hair loss, sometimes even starting while in their teen years. However, most men don’t really know, or really even try to prevent hair loss. Additionally, some women also experience hair loss, but instead of just accepting it, as most men do, they become very anxious. However, there are some ways that you can avoid losing your hair simply by first, eating a healthy diet and second, attempting to avoid the other main causes of hair loss.

Hormonal Abnormalities - There are certain hormonal problems that have been shown to lead to hair loss. Some of these abnormalities include elevated levels of testosterone, too much or too little thyroid hormone, high insulin levels, and polycystic ovary syndrome (women with elevated levels of testosterone and insulin).

Local Trauma - Putting stress on your hair can cause very serious damage that could lead to hair loss. Things like cornrows or putting your hair in tight hairbands can cause the breaking of hair at the base. Some chemical treatments, like hair dye, can damage the follicles, especially if the use of chemicals occurs often. Certain insects, such as lice can also contribute to hair loss.

Scalp Inflammation - Certain skin condition that cause inflammation, like eczema, seborrhea, and psoriasis, can lead to hair loss in patches that often have red and scaly skin underneath. Bacterial and fungal scalp infections can cause problems similar to inflammatory skin conditions. However, an autoimmune condition called alopecia areata can cause patches of hair loss with any redness.

Medications - When you start taking certain medications, you may notice some hair loss. Among the most common medications that cause hair loss are steroids and chemotherapy. Medications may result in temporary or even permanent hair loss, but if they’re saving your life I would think this would be one of those times to just accept the fact that you’re probably going to have to give up your hair on this one.

Psychological Factors - Many psychological conditions are actually very common for causing hair loss. Among these psychological factors are, stress, anxiety, depression …etc. While many people do not know these factors cause hair loss, or even realize that these psychological factors are affecting them. Try to find some time during the day that you can just relax, even if it’s just 5 minutes. If you begin to notice different habits forming or feelings of constant sadness you may be developing depression and you should probably talk to a doctor.

Additionally, there are certain medications and creams that can be used to restore hair to your scalp. Talk with a doctor before using these medicines to make sure they are safe for you.

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December 28, 2009

Your Fingernails and Your Health

Filed under: anemia,bronchitis,fingernails,hair loss,heart disease,iron,liver,lung disease,psoriasis,respiratory disease,Uncategorized,vitamins,zinc — Amanda @ 1:52 pm

The state of your fingernails can provide clues about your overall health. Simple things like color and shape can indicate complicated health conditions such as chronic bronchitis. Pay attention to the signs that your nails give you in order to take care of yourself.

Nail Pitting - Tiny indents in the nails are normal for people with psoriasis. These depressions can also result from nail injuries and cause your nails to crumble. Sometimes pitting is associated with things like chronic dermatitis or alopecia areata which causes hair loss.

Nail Curling - Nails that are soft and curl into the shape of spoons could indicate iron deficiency anemia.

Brittle and weak nails - Indicates a lack of vitamin A or an Iron deficiency.

Horizontal Ridges (Beau’s lines) - these deep crevices can indicate circulatory problems, diabetes, or can be caused by an illness such as pneumonia.

Yellow Nails - If you have a yellow discoloration on your nails it could be signs of a respiratory condition. Yellow nails will often grow slowly and thicken. Sometimes, when nails are affected with this condition, they may detach from the nail bed and come off. This is not always a sign of a respiratory illness. Yellow nails are caused when nail growth slows down.

Red Nail bed - At the bottom of the nail is the nail bed. A red nail bed can indicate heart problems.

White Nail bed - A white nail bed can indicate an iron deficiency causing Anemia, or liver problems

White spots - White spots on the nails can indicate a Zinc deficiency.

Darkening Nails - If your nails are becoming darker, you may have insufficient vitamin B12 levels.

Rippling Texture - Rippling of the nail surface can in indicate psoriasis or arthritis.

Clubbed Nails – This occurs when your fingertips become bigger and your nails curve around the fingertips. Low oxygen levels in your blood causes clubbing and can be a sign of lung disease. Clubbing can also be associated with inflammatory bowel disease, cardiovascular disease and liver disease.

Hang Nails – The stray pieces of hard skin around your nails can be a sign of a lack of protein, folic acid, or vitamin C.

Loose Nails - a condition know as onycholysis can cause your nails to become loose and detatch from the nail bed. This may also be associated with injury or infection, thyroid disease, drug reactions, reactions to nail hardeners or acrylic nails, or Psoriasis.

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October 1, 2009

Male Pattern Baldness

Filed under: balding,baldness,causes of hair loss,hair loss,hair loss treatment,how to grow hair,male pattern baldness,Propecia,thinning hair,Uncategorized — Amanda @ 5:10 pm

At some point, all men will experience hair loss. Nearly all men experience baldness by the time they are in their 60′s. We all know it’s going to happen – but what causes it? Is there anything you can do to prevent it?

Hair is produced out of follicles in the skin that grow for about 3 years. After 3 years the hair is shed and a new hair begins growing from that follicle. When men get older, the follicles on their heads have been believed to get smaller, resulting in thinning hair. Eventually the follicle closes up so that no new hair is visible on the surface. A change in male hormones may be the reason follicles close up. Normal or lower levels of testosterone are apparent in men who are balding.

There is no cure for baldness, it is a natural part of aging, however there are medications such as Propecia that are designed to treat men with male pattern baldness by allowing them to grow hair. There are also topical ointments like Minoxidil or Rogaine that work for some men, but there is no guarantee that medications and creams will work for everyone. The best thing to do is accept the change – besides, all of your friends are going bald too.

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September 29, 2009

Ways To Prevent Or Slow Down Hair Loss

Filed under: balding,baldness,causes of hair loss,hair growth,hair loss,hair loss treatment,hair thinning,male pattern baldness,Uncategorized — John @ 4:23 pm

If you live in North America then you’ll be sad to hear that there is more baldness happening amongst the population than in Europe. Why? Well it’s no coincidence. Actually the main reason is the different diets. American diets in particular are much worse for the body than the average European diet. This probably has something to do with the fact that American diets consist of a lot of fatty foods and animal proteins, while many fruits and vegetable tend to mysteriously disappear from many menus.

The good news is there are ways to prevent or at least slow down hair loss. Yes, that’s right there are treatments for when you start to lose your hair. Now this is that point when you ask,”But John aren’t you going to tell us how we can avoid the loss of our precious hair?” Well I’m glad you asked, and yes, I am going to tell you some methods that may help prevent or slow down the process of losing your hair. I am however, going to warn you. It might be hard at times, you might have to eat gasp dare I say it, healthy food, you might not like it, you might not want to eat it… but then again you could very well like it who knows.

First of all, let me start with what is probably the second most difficult thing to overcome when trying to keep you hair. I’ll tell you the first thing later. Okay, obviously as many of you have probably guessed already the first thing I will touch on is diet. If you don’t want to end up looking like a bowling ball then you are going to have to change some of the things you’re putting in your body. The typical American diet focuses on a high fat, high-salt diet. Now having fast food every once in a while is acceptable, but having it once a week is not. Why not trying to go home and cook and healthy meal that has appropriate portions of a variety of foods. Yes, I will say you should have some sort of vegetables and fruits on there. Really they do taste good. This is the first step to saving your hair.

However, if your diet is healthy then you may be chemically damaging your hair. Ever heard of those things called dyes? Yeah, well if you use them then they might be contributing to your hair loss. Regular supply of chemicals to your hair to change the color isn’t the greatest thing to ensure longevity. Sure it’ll look good for a bit (unless you dye it some weird neon green) but once it starts to fall out I’m sure you might regret your decision a bit.

However, if you are doing neither of these things then you may have a more difficult obstacle to overcome. Genetics. Your genes are the most difficult thing to overcome. You can’t change your genes…yet. However, you can do some things to slow the speed of hair loss. Vitamin E, golden maidenhair, red sage extracts, and formulas that contain a mix of turmeric with horsetail or oat straw have been proven to slow the speed at which you hair is lost. Also a diet high in fruits and vegetables and low in starch may be beneficial.

For women there are three things that may also cause you to start balding. Any hormone change can definitely cause hair loss even if it’s temporary. This mainly occurs during/after pregnancy, during menopause, and occasionally when you take birth control.

Hopefully you’ve found something in this article that actually helps you with your hair problems. You may have found a hair loss treatment that works for you. Maybe you just wanted to stop hair thinning. Either way best of luck.

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