Wednesday, 16 April 2014

How Your Habits Make You Lose Hair

One day you wake up to see few strands of hair on your pillow. You take a bath and see another bunch clogged in the drain. It is natural to panic in this situation because you are losing hair and don’t know why!

Most people associate hair loss as a sign of ageing. However, with the changes in lifestyle, many people start losing their hair in early 20s as well. Normally, one may lose about 100 hairs a day but this loss is refilled by a healthy scalp. On the contrary, an unhealthy scalp is not able to recover and starts to develop bald patches. 

Besides other reasons, some of our daily habits may also be responsible for hair fall such as:

Food habits

A balanced diet has been much stressed upon in almost all topics related to health. Hair is no exception to that. People who eat food with low protein and iron content are prone to hair loss. Also, crash diets and people with eating disorders may experience this too. 

Side effect of medications

Some people think taking extra medications than prescribed will cure them faster. However that is not the case, as taking higher dosage or amount of drugs can lead to side effects including hair fall. Medicines that are high in vitamins especially are not good for hair growth as excess Vitamin A reverses the growth pattern. 

Wet hair management

Women may face problems out of this than men due to longer hair, it may however affect both. When we have a bath and the hair are still wet, the strands are fragile because of the water. Combing your hair in the shower followed by towel-drying makes the fragile strands to break. Also, too hot water can dehydrate hair strands and make it difficult for them to retain essential oils. 

Choosing the wrong shampoo

Often, people tend to choose a shampoo or a hair conditioner that does not match their hair pattern and end up damaging them rather than maintaining them. Many of these cleaning agents contain chemicals meant to improve the external appearance rather than making them healthy from within. 

One should always check with an expert or a physician to see what kind of cleansing agent best suits. 

The good news is if the reason for your hair fall is due to one of these reasons, correcting the habit may help in restoring the look. Also, it is important to speak to your healthcare provider to seek alternate treatments. 

Prescription drugs such as Propecia (finasteride) may be taken if prescribed by a physician. To avoid side effects, it is essential to take it only under prescription. 

Tuesday, 8 April 2014

Air Pollution – A Cause of Emphysema

Recently, after the Sahara dust smog hit parts of London, there was a 14% rise in calls to emergency services by people suffering from COPD or asthma as reported by BBC and London Ambulance Services

Initially, burning coal was considered to be a pollutant whereas now, it also includes modern factories, industrial plants and diesel car emissions which contains toxic gases namely nitrogen dioxide. When these pollutants combine in the air, it pollutes the air badly which is now visible and we inhale varying levels of it every day.

Emphysema and air pollution

When these smaller particles are inhaled, they go deep inside the lungs. Once inside the lungs, multiple health problems can occur. They may cause immunological responses and inflammation.

Friday, 4 April 2014

Gastritis Diet and Tips

Inflammation or irritation of the lining of the stomach is termed as gastritis. Stomach indigestion, vomiting, stomach pain and nausea are symptoms seen in this condition. Gastritis has two forms: Acute gastritis that occurs suddenly and is critical in nature and chronic gastritis that occurs gradually over a period of years and is not very severe.

Tuesday, 1 April 2014

What does Ankylosing Spondylitis Stand for?

A chronic inflammation of the sacroiliac joints and the spine is termed as ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Stiffness and pain in the spinal area is caused by chronic inflammation in these joints located in the area where the sacrum meets the iliac bones. In certain cases, it may affect other organs including the heart, kidneys, eyes and the lungs.

Thursday, 27 March 2014

Basics of Bronchitis

One can be said to have bronchitis, when he faces breathing problems due to irritated and inflamed bronchial tubes that produce mucus.

The bronchial tubes are the ones that transfer air to the lungs, when these tubes get inflamed and irritated due to a number of reasons, they swell and produce mucus, causing breathing problems. This is known as bronchitis. There are two forms of bronchitis: acute bronchitis and chronic bronchitis.

Monday, 24 March 2014

Osteoarthritis Pain: Causes and Remedy

An inflammation in the joints is termed as arthritis and when there is a wear and tear in the arthritis then it is termed as osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis and it is deeply related with the cartilage breakdown in the joints, this can affect any joint in the body.

Thursday, 20 March 2014

5 Lifestyle Changes To Improve Life With COPD

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease or COPD is a condition in which the airflow in the lungs is limited. As per American Lung Association, COPD is the third leading cause of death in the United States. The disease develops and worsens over a period of time, although there is no cure, certain medications and lifestyle changes can slower the progress of the disease.