Sunday, July 31, 2011

Ways to Improve the Rate of Hair Growth

Increasing one’s hair regrowth rate is a common quest among male and female hair loss sufferers, coming from every race and also nationality around the globe. Many people discover that they are losing their locks and they get one of these numbers of ways to reduce the loss. Several want to make it longer and also healthier. There are a number of natural items that that can be obtained or done to help increase the rate of hair growth.

Protein is an important factor in the improvement of hair growth. A head of hair consists mainly of protein; therefore, it is very important that your food intake contains the necessary proteins in order to assist faster hair growth. Virtually any meals that contain proteins are fantastic to add to your daily diet, which includes meat, eggs, hen, and seafood. Proteins include amino acids, which feed your hair, making it healthy and develop quicker.

Physical activities can also be essential. With regular physical exercise, the blood flow in your systems increases, promoting nutrient distribution and flushing out toxins that slow down natural hair growth. There are lots of chemicals within your body that can cause injury or damage to scalp tissues, cells, and follicles. You may get rid of body toxins along with other harmful particles simply by boosting your water intake—a minimum of 2 or 3 liters of water every day.

Your body naturally generates biotin, which helps with hair regrowth. The quantity produced is not adequate and needs being supplemented. Biotin is also referred to as vitamin B7, which is part of the B complex vitamins. Biotin assists in metabolizing proteins, which is important for the growth of healthy hair.

You ought to clean your scalp thoroughly in order to eliminate dirt, excess sebum, pore-clogging grime, and oil. Through removing the scalp oils and dirt from your locks, the scalp environment will be made healthier and more conducive for hair growth. Hair will grow far better, gain body, and become healthier as well as increase in volume. A greasy crown as well as a flaky crown can be a primary impediment to new hair growth and is also the bad thing associated with excessive shedding of locks.

You may also give your scalp a deep massage to improve the flow of blood in your crown, thus helping the rate of hair growth and development. This may also evenly distribute the sebum that your crown creates, and definitely will ease the hair follicles to be able to increase the rate of ongoing growth.

There are a number of excellent vitamins created by various organizations that claim to speed up new hair growth. However, these supplements ought to be taken in conjunction with a stress-free lifestyle, balanced diet, and proper hair care practices.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Alopecia Areata: Staying Beautiful Despite the Condition

The National Alopecia Areata Foundation says alopecia areata affects about 2 percent of the population. About five million people in the United States have the condition. It affects people of all ages and races, and often begins in childhood.

That was true of twenty-two-year-old Kayla Martell, the winner of the Miss Delaware Pageant. Ms. Martell began losing her hair when she was about ten years old. By the time she was thirteen, all of her hair had fallen out.

Kayla Martell began competing in beauty pageants around that same time. In many of the events, she competed without hair. In fact, three of the five times she attempted to become Miss Delaware, Kayla was bald. She wore a blond wig the last time she competed, winning the competition in 2010.

That win put her in position to take part in the Miss America Pageant in January. Ms. Martell has used beauty pageants to help educate the public about alopecia. She compares wearing a hairpiece to other beauty queen traditions, like false eyelashes and hair weaves.

She says it is important for people to understand the emotional and social pressure that alopecia sufferers experience. She advises people with alopecia to contact a support group to tell them that they are not alone. She also says the most important form of beauty is inside out, not outside in.

Kayla Martell did not win the 2011 Miss America Pageant. But she was one of the top ten finalists. And her public comments have helped raised public understanding of alopecia.

Except for their hair loss, many people with alopecia are healthy individuals. And since the hair follicles are not dead, some people with alopecia can experience periods of hair growth. Ms. Martell’s hair grew during the Miss America competition. She now has what is sometimes called a buzz cut, a short crop of soft, fuzzy hair. Alopecia patients may grow and lose their hair several times during their life.

Scientists are not exactly sure what causes alopecia areata. It is not clear why the body’s white blood cells begin to attack the cells in the hair follicles. There is no cure for the disease and no effective treatment that works for everyone.

Last year, researchers at Columbia University Medical Center in New York reported findings that they hope will help lead to a cure. The researchers found eight genes they believe may be important in causing the condition. They said many of the genes are also linked to autoimmune diseases. These include rheumatoid arthritis, type-1 diabetes and celiac disease, a condition that affects the digestive system.

There are already effective treatments available for many of these conditions. Other treatments are being developed. The researchers say these treatments could prove to be promising for alopecia patients.

Angela Christiano is a professor at Columbia University Medical Center. She also suffers from alopecia areata. She says the study gives hope that there may someday be a cure for the condition.

The researchers studied 1,054 cases from the National Alopecia Areata Registry. They looked for similarities in the genes that people with different levels of alopecia carry. They found that those with thirteen to fourteen similar genes had diseases that did not progress. Those with sixteen or more similar genes usually progressed to alopecia universalis, or total baldness.

The researchers are now working on a genetic test to predict the severity of the disease. Professor Christiano says the next step is to repeat the study in future research, with a larger number of patients.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Homeopathic Treatments for Hair Loss

Although results may vary, majority of hair loss sufferers who have undergone homeopathic treatments for baldness, hair thinning, excessive hair fall, and scalp problems were able to obtain desired results from the treatment.

Let’s see some important homeopathic medicines that help in the treatment of baldness.

1. Fluoric Acid. This is used to treat androgenic alopecia, a type of hair loss that tends to be inherited from either of the parents. Fluoric acid is also present in homeopathic treatments for alopecia areata, a type of hair loss that appears in patches. This is also used to solve problems with hair that is brittle and easily tangles and with scalp that is irritable to hair products.

2. Phosphoric Acid. This is used to reverse the process of early graying of hair, progressive thinning of hair, and stress-induced hair loss. Aside from hair and scalp-related problems, phosphoric acid is also efficient in addressing difficulty in comprehension, extreme debility, and long-standing effects of mental agony and state of shock.

3. Graphite. This is useful in remedying hair fall, patchy baldness, menopausal hair fall, and skin problems.

4. Daphne Mezereum. This flowering plant is a usual ingredient for hair tonics to be applied on the scalp that is suffering from excessive hair fall, severe itchiness, and dandruff. Also, daphne mezereum is a therapeutic remedy for skin rashes and sensitivity to cold air.

5. Sepia. This inky secretion of a cuttlefish is beneficial for the treatment of hair loss due to menopause, childbirth, and changes in the production levels of hormones. Sepia is also used to strengthen sensitive hair roots.

6. Silica. Baldness in young people, hair fall from the forehead or frontal areas of the scalp, premature graying of hair, and mild case of alopecia are a few of the problematic conditions that silica can treat. This silicone dioxide is also used to remedy a nervous and anxious disposition and excessive sweating.

The aforementioned homeopathic medicine components are best taken in conjunction with a healthy lifestyle, a proper diet, and good hair care practices.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

7 Ancient yet Efficient Hair Loss Remedies

Thinning of hair is a very common problem faced by most people. Women’s hair loss issue is quite serious and you have to take precautionary measures to get rid of this problem because the beauty of girls also depends on their hair and style.

1. Intake of water is another important step to avoid dandruff. Surplus water intake would not only remove the toxins from your body and cleanse it, but would also not leave your hair dry and damaged.

2. Bhringaraj oil is an ancient Asian treatment for hair loss. According to Asian traditions, it is an herb that rejuvenates the body and clears the mind. It is often used to treat liver problems. It is available as oil and in many shampoos in many Asian countries. Rub the oil and shampoo into your hair and wash off. Bhringaraj oil contains a compound that mimics estrogen. Estrogen actually helps stimulate hair growth, much like testosterone causes hair loss.

3. Aromatherapy is helpful in some cases. A soothing scalp massage using lavender oil, bay essential oil along with other oils from almond, coconut, soybean or sesame stimulates hair follicles to a greater extent.

4. You can moisten fenugreek seeds in a cup of water and then grind them into a paste. This paste is most often used on the scalp to combat hair loss and the formation of dandruff. It would be very well worth your time to incorporate this remedy into your routine for more hair growth.

5. Exercise and yoga are the best stress busters and result in building a healthy mind and body. Hair fall is caused due to stress, tension, erratic sleeping time, and depression. You can exercise in the evenings also but ensure that you leave a gap of 4-6 hours after meal. Re-growth of hair is also possible if yoga is practiced regularly.

6. Massaging your hair everyday at least for couple of minutes a day can increase blood circulation to the hair follicles and in some cases stimulate hair growth in minor cases of temporary hair loss. You can pick any of the several electric scalp massages available in the market if you can’t do it yourself!

7. You need these natural DHT blockers in your system daily to combat that threat of losing your hair. Pygeum and nettle root when used together have been said to be as powerful in fighting baldness as the leading prescription baldness drug finasteride.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Hope for Hair Loss Sufferers

Baldness is a sensitive subject for many men and for a growing percentage of women. To many it is perceived as a disease and to others it is a sign of old age.

Baldness is normally caused by changes in hormone levels as one grows old and it could also be genetic (androgenetic alopecia).

However, alopecia (medical term for baldness or hair loss) can be caused by a number of factors like illness, infections to the scalp and typhoid fever, lifestyle such as tight braiding and poor diet, environmental factors such as exposure to x-rays, gases and pollutants, medications such as chemotherapy, fungal infections and hair products.

It is thought that temporary hair loss can be caused by stress. The scale of people affected by the condition is massive and statistics show that a third of all men by age 45 are affected by baldness or hair loss.

In females hair loss is less pronounced but those with hair loss have increased levels of androgens, a steroid hormone that stimulates or controls the development of male characteristics leading to hair loss in their later stages.

These women may face menstrual irregularities, infertility and other abnormalities. However, scientists from the Berlin Technical University in Germany have discovered a stem cell breakthrough that could provide the answer to baldness.

Stem cells are characterized by the ability to multiply indefinitely within certain conditions through mitotic cell division. Stem cells play an unexpected role in explaining what happens in bald scalps.

Using cell samples from men undergoing hair transplants, researchers compared follicles from bald scalps and non-bald scalps and found that bald areas had the same number of stem cells as normal areas in the same person but noted a major difference: the number of a more-mature cell type called progenitor cells was markedly depleted in the follicles of bald scalps.

Progenitor cells and stem cells differ majorly on the concept that stem cells can multiply indefinitely while progenitor cells are limited to a given number of times. Thus, researchers sighted a problem in the activation of stem cells converting to progenitor cells in a bald scalp.

Nevertheless, the fact that there are normal numbers of stem cells in bald scalps provides hope for reactivating those stem cells.

Using hair from animal cells though somewhat thinner than normal, researchers are optimistic they could grow human hair from stem cells within a year and have it implanted on the bald spot.

Though still a working method for stem cells to mature properly in bald regions, this could allow hair to re-grow, creating a hope to reverse baldness. This could help people wear their own hair until they are ripe with old age.