Let it be

Jun 22

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Technorati Tags: hair loss, baldness, hair restoration

Hair is composed of proteins, primarily keratin, which grows from a sac called the follicle. Keratin and various other proteins are generated by cells in the hair follicle and forms part of the hair shaft.

Sulfur atoms are common in various proteins and when two of these sulfur atoms pair up and bond, they form a disulfide bond. The number of disulfide bonds between hair proteins found in the hair shaft, makes it curly or straight. Hence, the greater the number of bonds, the curlier the hair, and the fewer the number of bonds, the straighter the hair.

The high air humidity can force water back into the hair fiber, acts on its protein structure, and forces the hair shaft to return to its original structure, consequently altering the degree of curliness or of straightness of hair. Thus a “bad hair day” it is especially if it’s hot and windy outside.

Beauty saloons can alter your hair to force it into a straight state, or a curly state, but only on a temporary, not on a permanent, basis. A “perm” to achieve a curly hair forces the making of strong disulfide bonds by using chemicals. However, the wave does not stay permanently, because new hair, which is straight, grows in as the “perm” grows out. Conversely, when people with curly hair wanted it straighter, another chemical formulation alters the disulfide bonds.

And regardless if the hair is curly or straight, it turns gray when pigment cells in the hair base at the roots of the hair stop producing melanin. However, it is more noticeable in darker haired people – yes, curly or straight.

The graying of hair appears to be genetically determined but the connection isn't at all established. Even, age is not the most accurate indicator. The onset of this “salt and pepper” condition varies greatly from person to person but the hair generally starts graying at the age of around 30 for males and 35 for females.

Save the most dreadful for last, baldness.

Baldness is the most common form of hair loss. According to study, mild to moderate hair loss affects about 50% of all men by the time they are 50. It added that, today, some 40 million male adults in North America alone experiences some form of hair loss.

Male pattern baldness results in either the thinning at the crown of the head or a receding hair line. The condition, also known as Androgenetic Alopecia, occurs due to a chemical known as dihydrotestosterone (or “DHT”) which builds up around the follicle and eventually kills the follicle and the hair. Similar condition called Alopecia Areata is characterized by spotty hair loss.

Unfortunately, it was found out that a hair follicle’s resistance to DHT is genetic – as such some men opt to go shaven (forever!) and some can grow their afro wildly. Yes, it can run in the scalp, (or in the follicle for that matter) and can be inherited from either the mother’s or the father’s side of the family. However, male pattern baldness gene can also skip generations. Pray that it skips yours.

It is generally observed that aging makes male pattern baldness more likely. Hair loss, or what appears as the onset of in thinning, fine hair, is more noticeable as the person ages, say 60.

Curly or straight, gray or bald....some things just have to be.

And yes, cosmetic surgeons are reminding that this thing about current hairstyle fads - braiding, straightening, curling, coloring – has links to hair loss.

Did your hairstylist tell you that?

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