What causes excessive hair loss?

November 22nd, 2009

A number of things can cause excessive hair loss. For example, about 3 or 4 months after an illness or a major surgery, you may suddenly lose a large amount of hair. This hair loss is related to the stress of the illness and is temporary.

Hormonal problems may cause hair loss. If your thyroid gland is overactive or underactive, your hair may fall out. 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.

Many women notice hair loss about 3 months after they’ve had a baby. This loss is also related to hormones. During pregnancy, high levels of certain hormones cause the body to keep hair that would normally fall out. When the hormones return to pre-pregnancy levels, that hair falls out and the normal cycle of growth and loss starts again.

Some medicines can cause hair loss. This type of hair loss improves when you stop taking the medicine. Medicines that can cause hair loss include blood thinners (also called anticoagulants), medicines used for gout, medicines used in chemotherapy to treat cancer, vitamin A (if too much is taken), birth control pills and antidepressants.

Certain infections can cause hair loss. Fungal infections of the scalp can cause hair loss in children. The infection is easily treated with antifungal medicines.

Finally, hair loss may occur as part of an underlying disease, such as lupus or diabetes. Since hair loss may be an early sign of a disease, it is important to find the cause so that it can be treated.

Non-Drinkers More Likely to Be Anxious, Depressed

November 18th, 2009

While alcohol may be considered a depressant, teetotalers as well as heavy drinkers are more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety than moderate tipplers, a new study has found.

Norwegian and British researchers also found that people who don’t drink report having fewer friends than drinkers do, a possible reason for their increased likelihood of being depressed.

“We see that this group is less socially well-adjusted than other groups,” study co-author Dr. Eystein Stordal, an adjunct professor in the Norwegian University of Science and Technology’s neuroscience department, said in a university news release. “Generally when people are with friends, it is more acceptable in Western societies to drink than not to drink. While the questionnaire recorded non-drinkers’ subjective perception of the situation, a number of other studies also confirm that teetotalers experience some level of social exclusion.”

Another possible explanation, the researchers said, had to do with general health of the teetotalers.

“We found on average that there were more people with physical complaints among the non-drinkers than in the other groups,” Stordal said. “These individuals are more likely to use medicines that mean they shouldn’t drink. But it may also be true that having such an illness increases a person’s tendency to be anxious or depressed.”

The study, based on a survey of 38,000 Norwegians and published in the August online edition of the journal Addiction, found high levels of depression and anxiety even when it factored out people who abstained from drinking because of previous problems with alcohol. In all, roughly 17 percent of abstainers reported having anxiety and nearly 16 percent reported having depression.

The researchers also found that people who averaged only two drinks per week reported the fewest bouts with depression or anxiety.

What is the normal cycle of hair growth and loss?

November 14th, 2009

The normal cycle of hair growth lasts for 2 to 6 years. Each hair grows approximately 1 centimeter (less than half an inch) per month during this phase. About 90 percent of the hair on your scalp is growing at any one time. About 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 starts to grow in its place.

It is normal to shed some hair each day as part of this cycle. However, some people may experience excessive (more than normal) hair loss. Hair loss of this type can affect men, women and children.

Gene Linked to Inherited Kidney Disease Found

November 12th, 2009

A genetic mutation associated with inherited kidney disease has been pinpointed by an international team of researchers, who also identified a potential treatment that’s currently being tested in a clinical trial.

The mutation occurs in the gene that encodes the protein renin, which plays an important role in blood pressure regulation. People with this genetic mutation suffer from anemia in childhood and progressive kidney disease, resulting in the need for dialysis, the researchers noted.

The study appears in the Aug. 14 issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics.

“There are many families with inherited kidney disease that do not know the cause and may suffer from this condition. We are interested in helping these families identify the cause of kidney disease that runs in their family,” co-investigator Dr. Anthony Bleyer, a professor of internal medicine-nephrology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, said in a university news release.

Learning more about how the renin gene mutation affects families with inherited kidney disease will also help researchers better understand how renin works in healthy people. For example, this study revealed that renin plays an important role in maintaining a normal blood count and preventing anemia in children.

Single Kidney Transplant From Young, Deceased Donors Works Well

November 11th, 2009

Adult kidney transplant recipients who receive a single kidney from a very young, deceased donor may do just as well in terms of life expectancy and organ function as those who are given both kidneys, new research has found.

The finding is centered on the controversial issue of how to handle kidney transplants coming from donors 5 years of age or younger, and raises new questions about the common assumption that such kidneys must be transplanted in unison to be viable.

Currently, kidneys taken from children 5 years of age or younger are typically kept together and transplanted as a set into adult recipients, the idea being that splitting up such tiny pediatric organs could undermine the success of the transplant.

By contrast, kidneys taken from donors 10 years of age or older are usually deemed separable. There is no clear protocol regarding kidneys from deceased children between the ages of 5 and 10.

But the new finding suggests that adult patients may fare equally well after receiving just one kidney from a very young donor — an observation that could prove auspicious for the approximately 80,000 Americans currently awaiting a kidney transplant.

“Basically, the normal practice of giving two small kidneys to an adult is unnecessary,” said study author Dr. Rubin Zhang, medical director of kidney and pancreas transplantation at the Tulane University Abdominal Transplant Institute in New Orleans. “It just doesn’t make sense to think of this as if two function better than one, because even though a pediatric kidney will grow larger over time everything else about it in terms of its function is there and fixed at birth. So transplanting two is wasting a lot of kidneys.”

The findings will be published in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

The notion that a single pediatric kidney transplant might be as effective as a double transplant has huge implications, given that an estimated 4,000 American men and women with kidney disease die before a suitable organ becomes available, according to background information in the study.

To assess the viability of single pediatric kidney transplantations, the study authors tracked 79 adult kidney recipients who were patients at Tulane University Abdominal Transplant Institute between 1996 and 2007. During that time, all the adult patients received just one kidney from a deceased donor who was 10 years of age or younger.

Half the adults were given a single kidney from a child between the ages of 5 and 10, while the other half received a kidney from a child who was under the age of 5 — the youngest donor being a 9-month old female.

By most measures, the two groups fared equally well, regardless of the age of the donor child. Both groups were similar in terms of the need for additional surgery following the transplant due to complications, and both experienced comparable rates of kidney rejection and kidney function delays.

Also, kidney function improved along the same trajectory among both groups of recipients during the first three years following transplantation, and both had similar survival rates following surgery.

Zhang and his colleagues noted that the two kidneys from the 9-month-old donor remained healthy and functioning six years after they were transplanted into two separate patients.

The researchers did find that nearly twice as many recipients of kidneys from children younger than 5 had to undergo a urine-drainage procedure following transplantation.

But, the study authors concluded that single kidney transplants from children younger than 5 years old are safe and effective.

Zhang said that he views his finding as definitive, and suggested that “no matter how young the donor — even less than one year — one kidney transplant is enough.”

Dr. Jeremiah Lowney is an internist and medical advisor to a Canton, Mass.-based not-for-profit group called MatchingDonors.com, which seeks to give people in need of transplant surgery an “active way to search for a live organ donor,” according to its Web site. He called the new findings “fantastic news,” while noting that every day approximately 17 Americans die while awaiting a kidney transplant.

“So what we have right now in renal [kidney] transplantation is a supply problem,” Lowney explained. “And it’s actually been getting worse over the years, as the numbers continue to grow. So this study offers a lot of hope, in that this might be one way we can increase the supply of kidneys, and certainly help many more people who are already waiting for a transplant.”

Medication Review May Help With Heart Failure

November 10th, 2009

If doctors and pharmacists work together to ensure that people with heart failure take their medicines correctly, hospitalizations would be less frequent, an Australian study suggests.

In a study of 5,717 people with heart failure, the hospitalization rate for the 273 who had their medications reviewed by doctors and pharmacists was 45 percent lower than the hospitalization rate for the others, whose medicines did not undergo a collaborative review.

People in the study averaged about 82 years old. Those who had their medicines reviewed were slightly sicker and, on average, had more health problems in addition to heart failure than the others — eight vs. seven.

During a year-long follow-up, 5.5 percent of the people in the medication-review group were hospitalized, compared with 12 percent of those in the no-review group.

The study appears online Aug. 18 in Circulation: Heart Failure.

As part of the review, pharmacists visited the participants at home and asked to see all of their prescription and non-prescription drugs. The pharmacists looked for such signs of possible medication misuse as under-dosing, overdosing and hoarding of unneeded medications from previous prescriptions, which can increase the risk of accidentally taking the wrong medicine. They also looked for over-the-counter medications and vitamins that could interact with prescription drugs.

After reviewing the medications, the pharmacist prepared a report for the person’s doctor, who followed up if needed.

A collaborative review system comparable to the one followed in the study has been available in Australia since 2001.

“This is the first study to show these benefits in real-world practice, rather than in a trial setting,” the study’s lead author, Elizabeth E. Roughead, a pharmacist and associate professor in the School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences at the University of South Australia in Adelaide, said in a news release from the American Heart Association.

“Poor use of medications can increase costs enormously,” she added. “This study indicates that investing in improvements in medication management can result in more cost-effective health care.”

Hey You, Do You Want To RegrowYour Hair Back

October 27th, 2009

Studys have shown the things you eat has a lot to do with your problem of hair loss as it may be due to imbalance of certain nutrients in your body. Most of the people who suffer from thinning of hair do so due to lack of proteins, zinc and minerals in their diet, or not enough stomach acids.

Before going for any kind of hair loss treatment it is important to find out the reason behind hair loss. You may be facing hair loss problems due to hormonal disorder, excessive stress, malnutrition, long term illness, effects of major surgery, or due to reaction of some medicine. Once you identified the correct reason behind hair loss, it is easier to find the treatment.

If the underling cause behind your hair loss problem is malnutrition you should have implement a balanced diet, rich in vitamins and protein. If you are facing it due to hormonal imbalance you should find medicines for balancing the level of required hormones in your body.

Hair loss, whether log term or short term, can’t be cured. But treatments are available to help regrow thinning hair. In November 1997, scientific advisors (to the FDA) stated that Propecia (1mg finasteride) is effective in treating hair loss. In December 1997, the FDA officially approved the drug Propeica as the first ever anti-baldness pill in the world.

You must maintain proper diet and an exercise regime to avoid malnutrion. Your diet must contain all the vital vitamins and nutrients that are needed for the growth of the body. You must also incorporate more vegetables and fruits. Besides this, you can also have whole grains, eggs that can promote hair growth. You must have food that is rich in proteins and vitamin E. This is very important so you can stop hair loss.

Propecia is the most effective and the only treatment out there for male pattern hair loss on the crown “the top of the head” and the anterior mid scalp area (the middle front of the head). Propecia is a prescription pill that is taken orally. Propecia is in a class of drugs known as alpha reductase inhibitors. This Hair loss medication is prescribed to the unfortunate souls who have been plagued by Hair loss problems in the past. Propecia restricts the action of DHT (dihydrotestosterone) and hence reduces hair loss and controls baldness or alopecia in males.
Today Propecia finasteride is the most looked for treatment to treat male pattern baldness. Scientific studies have shown an 80% success rate in stopping the hair loss process and 64% have shown an actual reversal or mending of previous balding. Propecia finasteride works only in men. Women are strongly advised to refrain from administering Propecia. Propecia is also not recommended for cancer patients.

You must maintain proper diet and an exercise regime to avoid malnutrion. Your diet must contain all the vital vitamins and nutrients that are needed for the growth of the body. You must also incorporate more vegetables and fruits. Besides this, you can also have whole grains, eggs that can promote hair growth. You must have food that is rich in proteins and vitamin E. This is very important for the growth of the hair.

You can also get a scalp massage done that has been shown instudies to stimulate hair growth. This is the easiest and cheapest way to promote hair growth. An increased blood flow will help improve the health of the hair. This can be done easily by using the fingertips and massaging the scalp thoroughly. Over a period of time, you can experience hair growth due to the increase in blood flow.

Drink Less: Heavy alcohol use may increase risk of prostate cancer

October 21st, 2009

The question: Might alcohol consumption affect the risk for prostate cancer?

This study: It analyzed data on 10,920 men. In a seven-year b, prostate cancer was detected in 2,129 of them, including 564 men with high-grade tumors, which grow and spread quickly. Those who consumed, on average, four or more drinks a day (totaling roughly two ounces or more of pure alcohol) five days a week in the year before diagnosis were more than twice as likely to have developed high-grade prostate cancer as were those who did not drink. No link was found between prostate cancer and moderate drinking. Also, among men who had been randomly assigned to take finasteride (Proscar, Propecia) as part of other research to test the drug’s ability to prevent prostate cancer, heavy drinking blocked the effectiveness of the drug.

Who may be affected? Men. Health experts suggest that men consume no more than two alcoholic drinks a day. Drinking more raises the risk for high blood pressure, stroke, violence and injuries, including car wrecks, and can lead to addiction. Prostate cancer affects about one in six men in the United States. As detection and treatment methods have improved, the death rate for prostate cancer has fallen to about one in 35 men.

Caveats: Alcohol-consumption data came from the men’s responses to questionnaires, and long-term consumption was not assessed. Most heavy drinkers in the study consumed beer.

New treatment for receding gums works long-term

October 19th, 2009

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Symposium on genetics of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis to be held

October 11th, 2009

A symposium about “Pharmacogenomics In Dermatology And Cosmetics” will be presented on Thursday, October 8 to coincide with the 18th European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress. It will be held at the Kempinski Hotel Bristol – Salon Charlottenburg-Cecilienhof, Kurfürstendamm 27, D-10719, Berlin, Germany.

It will be hosted by pharmacogenomics research and development innovators HairDX and PsoriasisDX, pioneers of genetic tests for predicting the risk of male and female hair loss and for the risk of developing Psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

Featuring Hans Wolff, MD, the symposium will include speakers addressing the following topics:
Genetics and Genomics – Sharon Keene, Chief Medical Officer, HairDX, LLC.
Clinical Application: Genetics of Androgenetic Alopecia – Antonella Tosti, M.D.
Clinical Application: Genetics of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis – Errol Prens, M.D., Ph.D.

“For dermatologists, this is an important educational seminar in the genetics of psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and androgenetic alopecia,” says Dirk Segers, President of HairDX Europe. “HairDX and PsoriasisDX are pleased to share this knowledge as global innovators in molecular dermatology.”

The PsoriasisDX Genetic Test helps identify those at high risk for developing Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) before they experience arthritic symptoms, providing the opportunity to lessen joint damage through early medical intervention.

HairDX’s easy to use genetic test provides an accurate and understandable genetic analysis of a man’s or woman’s likelihood of developing Androgenetic Alopecia, the most common type of hair loss.

The HairDX (RxR) Genetic Test for Finasteride Response helps doctors predetermine if patients will have a subtle, moderate, or great treatment response to Finasteride, allowing the physician to provide patients with the best treatment regimen to save their hair.