common drugs that cause hair loss

Common Drugs That Cause Hair Loss* *Source: Fighting Hair Loss, a book by Dr. Mary Sheen, published by Clearbrook, Inc.** ----------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------- Hair plays a significant role in our life. Another person's hair is one of the first characteristics we notice upon meeting. Our own hair is one of the first and last things we attend to before a meeting or a social engagement. Hair disorder, especially when severe, often profoundly affects the lives of those afflicted. Severe hair loss evokes not only cosmetic concerns but may also evoke feelings of vulnerability (nakedness), loss of self-esteem, alterations in self-image, and, perhaps, even self-identity. In 1992, researchers at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, surveyed 145 men, and found that 84 percent of the balding men were preoccupied with their loss. They described themselves as filled with self-consciousness, helplessness, and envy of men with full heads of hair. Single men and woman who had begun losing hair in their early twenties were more likely to suffer from extremely low self-esteem. While stressful, balding isn't the end of the world. Although the men reported glancing in the mirror constantly and wearing hats even in warm weather, they manage to make it through their daily lives without much problem. For some it even sparked self-improvement tactics like fiddling with hair styles, working out more, and dressing better. Stereotypes associated with baldness are not flattering. A research back in 1971( reference) had been conducted to investigate how one person was perceived by others can be influenced by quantity of scalp hair (regular, balding, and bald) as well as color, length, and quality of scalp hair. Pictures of the same person were presented to 60 judges. Differences in appearances of this person (ie, experimental conditions of regular, balding, and bald) were manipulated through modifications made by a commerical artist. The results revealed that the person with a regular quantity of hair was rated as most handsome, virile, strong, active, and sharp. The person with a balding head of hair was rated as least potent, weak, dull, and inactive, and the person with a bald head of hair was rated as most unkind, bad, and ugly. Many other studies also show employment discrimination based on a person's appearance Motivation to avoid baldness is not confined to this century. In 1150 BC Egyptian men smear their pates with fats from ibex, lions, crocodiles, serpents, geese, and hippopotamuses. In modern society, this aversion is readily evident from the many available remedies such as creams, hormones, vitamins, hairpieces, wigs, scalp reduction and hair transplants. A government report in 1983 reveals that over the past 9 years the FDA has overseen the investigation of ingrediets in about 300,000 products claimed to help hair regrowth, none of them has any medical benefit, of course. Part 2 Get to Know Your Hair The amount of hair and where it grows vary with different mammals. The entire body of the dog, the sheep, the cow, and the horse is covered with a hairy coat. The whale and the hippopotamus have only a few hairs. In humans, hair is not found on palms of the hands or the soles of the feet. The coloration and pattern of coats in animals serve both as a camouflage for protection against enemies and as an allurement to mates. Fine and transparent, human hair is a vestige of our hairier animal forbears, that probably evolved from the scales of reptiles. The adult human body averages five million hairs, of which 100,000 to 150,000 are on the scalp. Hair is composed of keratin, the same protein that makes up nails and the outer layer of our skin. The part seen rising out of the skin is called hair shaft or strand. Each strand consist of three layers. The outermost protective layer (cuticle) is thin and colorless. The middle layer, or cortex , is the thicknest. It provides strength, determines your hair color and whether your hair is straight or curly. Hair color is determined by melanin from your pigment cells. The more pigment granules there are, and the more tightly packed, the darker the hair. Two kinds of melanin contribute to hair color. Eumelanin colors hair brown to black, and an iron-rich pigment, pheomelanin colors it yellow-blonde to red. Whether hair is mousy, brown, brunette or black depends on the type and amount of melanin and how densely it's distributed within the hair. For example, deep-black African hair contains closely packed melanin in the cortex, a few in the cuticle. Very dark European hair, quite apart from having more melanin granules than lighter or blonde hair, has more melanin per granule. When pigment-producing cells cease to function, the result is the uncolored white or gray hair. Scalp hair varies tremendously between races, between individuals of same race, and even within an individual. Mongolians have straight hair simply because their scalp hair has the greatest thickness and the roundest cross-section. In Caucasians the hair is more elliptical and slender; in Negroes it is flattened, resulting in kinky curls. Mongolians, both male and female, have much less public, axillary, facial, and body hair than Caucasians. In Caucasians, true blonds typically have more hair (about 140,000 hair) than brunette (about 105,000) or redhead (about 90,000). Below your skin is the hair root which is enclosed by a sack-like structure called the hair follicle. Tiny blood vessels at the base of the follicle provide nourishment. A nearby gland secretes a mixture of fats (called sebum) which keep the hair shiny and waterproof to some extent. Secretions from some sweat glands also produce a characteristic odor. A dog can differentiate a human being by the typical scent secreted by these glands. Two sets of glands discharge secretions through the skin. while sebaceous, or oil, glands arise from the walls of hair follicles and produce an oil called sebum that lubricates the skin and hair, Sweat glands, embedded in the subcutaneous layer, are scattered over the body, particularly in the palms and soles. Sweat glands produce moisture called perspiration that reaches the skin's surface through the pores and evaporates to cool the body. At the base of the follicle is the papilla, which is the "hair manufacturing plant." The papilla is fed by the blood-stream which carries nourishment to produce new hair. Male hormones or androgens regulate hair growth. Pubic and axillary (armpit) hair are particularly androgen- sensitive and grow at lower androgen levels than hair on the chest or legs. In boys, most pubic hair is grown by age 15, followed by the development of armpit hair two to three years later. In girls, too, an increase in androgens at puberty triggers growth of pubic and armpit hair. Scalp hair, not directly androgen-responsive, is influenced by local amounts of a testosterone derivative, dihydrotestosterone. @@NL@