Archive for June, 2007
I have a seven-year-old daughter who has become increasingly upset about the Madeleine McCann story. She is old enough to hear and understand the news headlines and she watches the news for children. At school, teachers are still saying prayers for Madeleine and her family. My daughter says that she is starting to have nightmares that involve her four-year-old sister being taken away. I don’t know whether she is aware of the type of speculation surrounding the McCann case (ie, paedophilia), or if her fear is simply of herself or her sister being taken away from home. I don’t want to encourage unnecessary alarm, neither do I want to play down the reality. How do I find a line between the two?
Michelle
The story of Madeleine McCann and her family is so tragic that I think we as adults are having a difficult time thinking about it – never mind our children. I find the daily agonies of Madeleine’s parents almost too difficult to contemplate – among the horrors of life, to lose one’s child and not know whether he or she are alive or dead must be the worst.
I have had many e-mails and letters about Madeleine, as my colleagues writing for this paper and others have. When faced with such a horror we need to ask questions, find answers – and try to discover something rational to hold on to when the facts tear at what we know and feel sure about.
Lay off the McCanns
When an unspeakably awful thing happens, compassion is more appropriate than judging
Background
The truth is that there are no rational or easy answers. In fact the only comfort we onlookers can take is from the calm, dignified, determined way in which the McCanns are conducting themselves.
Your e-mail really struck me because it reminded me of the dilemma I faced when in 2001 my daughter, then aged 6, asked me why people would fly airplanes into buildings to explode and kill other people. I can remember at that time feeling that the events of 9/11 had to some degree shattered her innocent belief system and brought her face to face with the cold sharp realities of the cruelties of life. This realisation devastated me. I felt angry that my child was not sheltered from the harshness of life in the way that I remembered being as a child. Indeed, this week I found my children studying the bruised, battered and tortured face of Baha Mousa – the young Iraqi man who died in the custody of British Forces – on the front page of a national newspaper after it dropped through our front door.
Do our children know too much? Do they see and hear too much? Should we stem the liberal way we allow information to be reported? Should news reporting be given a watershed in the same way as TV programmes are?
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At the risk of sounding old fashioned, out of touch, ridiculously conservative and unfashionable, I answer yes to all of the above. I am fervently in favour of the empowerment of children via the honest delivery of information, but I believe that we have gone too far. Why do children need to know about aspects of life that can, at their stage of psychological, emotional and cognitive development, only confuse, terrify and undermine all that they know as safe and good?
How do you discuss this with your seven-year-old? I suggest that you tell her that what happened to Madeleine McCann is very sad but also substantially and extremely rare, and that children can sleep safely in their beds without being snatched. I think you may need to spend a few nights sitting by her bed until she falls asleep and then gently move further away until she can fall asleep on her own. I also suggest that you think about restricting access to lurid newspaper headlines and pictures (as I have recently decided to) and, finally, I feel that we as adults should support our children with our honesty – limited to what they can cope with and really understand. Our children should not join us in the national outpouring of horror and sorrow for the plight of the McCanns, or any other family who has lost a child – because they are children themselves and so should be allowed the right to live their early years free of the anxiety and pain that we as adults know life can bring.
My ten-year-old daughter has started to pull out her eyelashes. She says that it makes her feel better and takes away her fears. She has been having a difficult time at school with girls being mean, and she has a huge fear of flying and even of going to bed at night.
Sue
What you describe is trichotillomania: an impulse control disorder, usually beginning in infancy, where a person (usually female) is compelled to pull out their body hair in a repetitive and uncontrolled way – from the head, the eyelashes, the eyebrows, the arm or the pubic area. Although Hippocrates noted that doctors should assess whether a patient “plucks his hair”, trichotillomania wasn’t labelled until 1987 despite an estimated 10 per cent of the world population pulling out hair in an uncontrollable fashion, leaving them with emotional and social difficulties, including significant and noticeable hair loss.
Hair-pullers describe how they feel tense and agitated before pulling, yet calm and focused afterwards. I have met people who describe the comfort derived from pulling and how they can become obsessed with tugging out the “perfect hair”, analysing its length, shape and root. Some people also eat their plucked hairs – trichophagia. Because of these experiences, trichotillomania has been likened to skin-picking and nail-biting, where anxiety and stress are managed in a body-focused manner. However, it is also worth noting that hair-pulling could be part of another clinical syndrome such as Tourette, autism or obsessive compulsive disorder.
It isn’t yet known what causes hair-pulling. For some it may be a learnt habit, for others related to stress at home or at school. Neurological research is now looking at structural differences in areas of the brain associated with motor actions. Genetics may also play a role, as is the case with obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette syndrome.
June 25th, 2007
The real challenge during hair transplant
Hair transplants happen over a long period of time and a number of treatments are usually required to get to the final satisfactory result. The real challenge though is to find a way to deal with the lack of hair during the treatment period, and the solution could be to just apply hair spray with hair thickening agents if you need a slight cover up during these initial stages. Alopecia areata victims would also benefit greatly by using hair thickening sprays.
What are hair thickening agents?
But it does help to know more about what hair thickening agents are.
They are used during your hair transplant to maintain a definitive quantity of hair. A hair thickening agent is usually a fine powder mixed with a sticky matter to make the powder cling to your existing hair or your new transplants. You can even style your hair as normal after you have applied it although it washes out the next time you wash your hair.
Problem with hair thickening agents after hair transplant
These thickening agents can also be used after hair transplant when there is none or not much hair at all on the area that it is being applied to. Although to be at its most efficient the hair thickening agent should really be sprayed onto the hair and not directly on the scalp. This is because the scalp is obviously greasier than hair and smoother and therefore the powder is likely to skate off or begin to “runâ€.
Another problem with thickening agents is that they do not work very well on wider bald areas. This is for a very simple reason, which is basically that there is probably not enough hair for the thickening agent to stick on to and give its maximum effect.
Coverage of hair after hair transplant
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However, if you apply hair thickening agents with a bit of care the changes in volume and coverage to your scalp can be quite amazing, especially if applied to the crown or smaller, thinning areas after hair transplant. It is also very easy to find a colour that suits your real hair colour, as hair thickening agent sprays are available in a large range of hair colours, which are very natural looking.
The hair thickening solution
The hair thickening solution can indeed be very efficient as a hair thickening product after hair transplant and can solve the appearance of thinning hair and baldness extremely well. Remember though it is only useful as a volatile solution for the very reason that it will wash out every time you have a shower. Plus it is generally not very useful in humid conditions, so be realistic in your expectations of the results you expect in these kind of situations.
All in all a hair thickening agent is an outstanding solution for when temporary, short term solutions are needed for baldness. The duration between the first and last hair transplant treatment is exactly the time when an agent like this is needed.
After the hair transplant, because of the hair thickening agent’s great ability to wrap up small patches, if this is the type of hair loss you are experiencing, then you can experiment with hair thickening agents while you are waiting for a more non-volatile solution to be found and used.
June 21st, 2007
The science of hair is a lot more complicated than shampoo and conditioner and can be a lot more life-altering than a botched dye job.
About 40 people with serious hair disorders will be seeking help from international hair experts this week at what’s being billed as the largest hair meeting ever.
At least 400 hair researchers from Europe, Japan, Korea, Australia and North America have registered for the fifth annual Congress of Hair Research starting today at downtown Fairmont Hotel Vancouver.
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Font: ****Along with workshops and symposiums, experts will be trying to help patients from the University of B.C.’s hair clinic suffering from a range of hair problems that put a bad perm in perspective.
They vary from cicatricial alopecia, a rare disorder that destroys the hair follicle and replaces it with scar tissue, and alopecia areata, an autoimmune skin disease resulting in hair loss, to more common disorders such as male pattern hair loss and women who have too much hair.
“These are people who may be cases where treatment may be complicated,” said Jerry Shapiro, a clinical professor at UBC’s department of dermatology and skin science and a doctor at the clinic. “We may have to go to more risky therapies, and we’d like other people’s opinions.”
Shapiro, who is also the conference chair, said the meeting will address a slew of hair disorders as well as the latest research on treatments and cures.
Session topics include chemotherapy-induced hair loss, tissue engineering of hair follicles, nutrition and hair growth, pigment biology and hair-related surgery.
One hot research topic is the quest to use stem cells to regrow a full head of hair from one hair sample. Shapiro calls the procedure “the holy grail of dermatology,” and predicts it will be possible within his lifetime.
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Hair loss treatment is a $7-billion annual industry in North America, according to estimates from the Canadian Hair Research Foundation.
Isn’t it all a bit of a fuss for hair?
Not so, insists Shapiro. “The people who don’t care about it are people who have lots of it.”
Shapiro said about 50 per cent of Canadians experience some sort of hair disorder, and hair loss — which he added occurs in women as well as men — can affect a person’s self-esteem and confidence.
For actors and models, it can have a direct influence on their career. But Shapiro said he’s seen studies in which photos were sent out with job applications and, all other factors being equal, the candidate with hair was favoured.
Renee Sarich, general manager of Axis Hair Salons in Vancouver, said she sees lots of men looking for a cut that hides their hair loss.
But she admits there’s only so much a stylist can do. “Once you start thinning on top to a certain degree, it’s done, it’s over,” she said.
She said she’s increasingly seeing clients turning to drug therapies such as Propecia to treat pattern hair loss. She said it has helped some, although she has concerns that patients must take it continuously and there are some side-effects.
But you don’t have to convince Sarich, who’s been working in salons since she was 13 years old, of the importance of a good head of hair
June 13th, 2007
New cell source will build neurons, blood vessels, brain tissue
Laura Payton, The Province
Published: Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Stem cells found in hair follicles could one day heal people with paralysis or neurological diseases, says a doctor coming to Vancouver for the fifth International Congress on Hair Research today.
Stem cells can be grown into different types of tissue. The ones thought to have the most potential to heal are embryonic stem cells, which are controversial because the embryo is destroyed when the cells are harvested.
“We think that hair-follicle stem cells may be an alternative for many of the applications,” said Dr. Robert Hoffman, a San Diego researcher.
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Hoffman’s research team found that hair-follicle stem cells could form the cells that build neurons, blood vessels, muscle cells and brain tissue.
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In an experiment to be presented at this week’s congress, mice with severed spines regained partial use of their legs after stem cells originally from hair follicles were injected into their spinal column.
A laboratory at the University of B.C. is also delving below the skin’s surface to look at hair follicles.
Researchers know that hair follicles provide the cells that regenerate and heal skin.
The UBC lab, one of only a few that deal with hair research, is investigating the connection between the immune system and hair growth, as well as between hormones, aging and hair growth.
Much of the university lab’s research, however, will apply to solving pattern baldness by implanting cultured hair cells into bald skin.
“We’re still a few years away from [making it a standard procedure]” said Dr. Ken McElwee, the lab’s clinical director and one of a few people in the world with a doctoral degree in hair biology.
But people looking for a new baldness treatment can take comfort in the researchers’ empathy for them.
June 13th, 2007
Madisyn Jenkins, just shy of 4 years old, is fighting leukemia, and the treatments that began on May 22 to help her get well will eventually cost her the full head of strawberry-blonde hair that billows with every active moment.
On May 17, however, before those heavy-duty treatments, she could be seen chasing her brother Mason, 5, around several chairs set up at the front of the Polk County Courthouse.
That’s where all manner of law enforcement personnel, firefighters and dispatch-center employees were busy getting their heads shaved in solidarity with Madisyn’s plight and to raise money to help in her struggle to get well.
Polk County Sheriff Bob Wolfe’s well-coiffed, close-cropped silver hair was cropped even closer; Sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Van Laanen’s sparse-to-begin-with locks became non-existent; and parole and probation officer Katie Newman made the ultimate sacrifice of her shoulder-length hair to be one with the post-May 22 Madisyn.
Madisyn did the honors on the head of her father, Sheriff’s Detective Tyrone Jenkins, while being held by her mother, Kim.
“We got five donations the first day Sheriff Wolfe agreed to do this,” Van Laanen said. “His participation has been a great boost to the fundraiser.”
The little girl was afflicted with acute lymphoblastic leukemia — one of the more treatable types of the disease — the week in November 2006 that Tyrone and Kim decided to have Kim become a stay-at-home mom.
“Then it was on and off to doctors until the diagnosis was made,” Tyrone said. “The prognosis is very positive and it’s been a neat experience to see how kids are so resilient when these sorts of things happen.”
Tyrone has had to take only two weeks off since the diagnosis, since Kim could now stay home to be with Madisyn and Mason. He said he can take any time off he needs, and his insurance “has covered a huge amount of her treatments (at Doernbecher’s Children’s Hospital in Portland)” — which totaled about $40,000 as of mid-May.
Katie Newman was sanguine about the experience of having her hair cut off for the cause.
“I have a 13-month-old son and I think deciding to have my head shaved to raise money for a child came from a combination of having a child of my own and understanding the pain that family (the Jenkinses) is going through,” she said.
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She had thought to herself that if she could raise $500, she might indeed have her head shaved, “but when it went to $1,000, then to $1,500, I thought, ‘whoa, this is great.’ ” She ended up raising $1,800.
“I started realizing how much money people were willing to pay me to go bald, and that convinced me. I think it was important for (Madisyn) to see a woman do that.”
She wrote to Madisyn in the little girl’s online guest book that she had been “trying this bald thing out for a few days and ya know what!? It’s not that bad … getting ready in the morning is a breeze … and it grows back, too!”
Her husband, Polk County Sheriff’s Deputy Dustin Newman, also had his head shaved. “Everyone now just calls us the bald couple,” Katie Newman laughed.
A second woman — Nancy Law, office manager of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office — held a raffle of sorts, telling people she would either get her head shaved or not, depending on which option they wanted their pledge money to go to.
“I got $700 from those who wanted me to keep my hair, and $297 from those who wanted me shaved,” she said. “But they had me guessing the whole way as to how it would go.”
“The Crop a Cop event also will show Madisyn she is not alone in learning about what it means to lose her hair, and it raises the level of cancer awareness in general,” he said.
An initial set of treatments early in the year did not affect Madisyn’s health or result in much hair loss, but the Jenkins family hopes the weekly treatments from May 22 through July 1 that will cause the hair loss also will be enough to put her disease into remission.
“I would really like to thank everyone for their support,” Tyrone said. “I feel I am a better person for their generosity.”
He has pledged to continue supporting Doernbecher’s in the future, even when Madisyn is healthy again, saying he believes in their mission and their work.
June 6th, 2007
Alady had gone for a kitty party and there she discussed her hair extensively with some of her friends. Someone told her, “A woman should brush her hair one hundred times everyday to keep them healthy and shiny.” Is this correct, she wondered . Fortunately, a trichologist was also present at the party who then explained some important facts about hair-care .
Does brushing help enhance hair growth?
Brushing does help distribute the natural hair oils but more than 8 to 9 strokes of the hairbrush a day, can actually damage your hair. Excessive brushing can tear the hair, pull it out and damage the cuticle layer causing split ends, especially in people with dry and colour-treated hair. Over-brushing does not help oily hair either - it merely stimulates the sebaceous glands and thus, increases the level of sebum in the hair.
Is using shampoo good or bad for hair?
Women in India seem to have an unfounded fear of shampoos . It is indeed harmful to their hair to have a continuous supply of moisture applied to it, but a shampoo is not the culprit . Rather, it is advisable not to wash your hair more than thrice a week (with or without shampoo), unless you find it distinctly greasy or dirty. If you are a sports person or travel a lot and thus get your hair dirty, don’t hesitate to use a shampoo while washing your hair - only make sure it is formulated for daily use.
Shampoo is merely a cleansing agent and it makes no difference , as long it suits your hair type. The hairs that fall out during a shampoo wash, are due to fall out anyway (telogen phase) and people with oily hair should, in fact, shampoo daily.
Why does hair not grow and fall simultaneously in men like all mammals?
Unlike in all mammals, the human hair cycle is such that hair growth and hair fall is synchronized . So, at any point of time, 80 per cent of the hair is in growth phase and 20 per cent of the hair is in the falling phase. How much hair fall is normal , 40, 60 or 100? There is no such thing that 40, 60 or 100 hair fall is normal. What should be normal is the the ratio of growth phase to the ratio of the falling phase, i.e. 80:20 at any given point. Therefore, it is important to get Tricho analysis of the hair done to find out whether you have excessive hair loss or not.
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Would shaving a child’s hair give her better hair growth ?
When a person normally shaves, the hair tends to get coarse. This gives a thicker effect , which makes you believe that growth has been better.
Does my diet affect my hair?
Hair is a result of what we eat. If we eat correctly and drink enough water, 80 per cent of the problem is solved. Prevention of hair loss is better than cure.Great hair foods are palak, paneer, milk, almonds, Chinese cabbage, soya bean, and Bajra. Thus, a primary necessity for good-looking hair is an adequate protein intake . Fat helps in making the hair look lustrous as linoleic acid stimulates the sebaceous glands. Vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids and essential amino acids are necessary for a harmonious cell balance. Therefore, they affect the cells responsible for hair growth.
HAIR CYCLE
We can break the hair cycle into three phases:
Anagen Phase:
This is the growing phase where cell division takes place. This phase lasts for about three years. On an average, 85 per cent of follicles are in the anagen phase
Catagen Phase:
This is a transitional phase which lasts for about a month and marks the end of the growth period. The hair has now come of age. The hair follicle shrinks to about a sixth of its normal size. On an average, 1per cent of follicles are in this stage
Telogen Phase:
This is the final phase or the falling phase, which lasts for about three months. It is now time for the hair to fall. The hair follicle then re-enters the anagen phase. Approximately , 10-15 per cent of all hair is in this phase at one time.
June 5th, 2007