Hair loss and its Homoeopathic management

Hair loss and its Homoeopathic management in day to day practice.

Prof G R Mohan.

M D (Hom), PGDip (Env Stud),

Principal, Devs Homoeopathic Medical college,

Ankireddypalli, RR District, A P-501301

“The hair is the richest ornament of women: Martin Luther

HAIR CARE IMPORTANCE:

Hair reacts to our state of well being. This includes our physical, spiritual, and emotional bodies.  many people don’t feel right unless their hair looks perfect. If their Hair looks good they feel great. Hair grows everywhere on the external body except for mucous membranes and  on the soles of the hands, feet, and lips. Shampoo is the largest segment of the global hair care market, accounting for 39.1% of the market's total value. According to a forecast, by 2015 global hair care market is going to reach $57,675.2 million mark. Money spent on hair products  is very high, recent past even homoeopathic pharmaceuticals are coming out with various brands of shampoos and hair oils.

Each strand of hair is made up of the medulla, cortex, and cuticle, the innermost region the medulla are typically only used for determining species and ruling out suspects. The cortex of the hair shaft is located between the hair cuticle and medulla, the hair cuticle is the outermost part of the hair shaft, attractiveness of hair is due to the cuticle. Cuticles are often damaged by excessive mechanical manipulation such as brushing, using heat (like using curling irons) or chemical processing (like perms or texturizers). Although the cuticle is the outermost layer of the hair, it does not give the hair its colour because it has no melanin, which is the pigment responsible; the colour of a person's hair depends on what type of melanin they have, which is found in the cortex. All natural hair colours are the result of two types of hair pigment. Both of these pigments are melanin types, produced inside the hair follicle and packed into granules found in the fibers. Eumelanin is the dominant pigment in dark-blond, brown, and black hair, while pheomelanin is dominant in red hair. Blond hair is the result of having little pigmentation in the hair strand. Gray hair occurs when melanin production decreases or stops. The shape of the follicle determines the shape of the cortex, and the shape of the fiber is related to how straight or curly the hair is.

A hair does not continue to grow indefinitely; Hair follows a specific growth cycle with three distinct and concurrent phases: Anagen, catagen, and Telogen phases

Anagen phase : Anagen is the active growth phase of hair follicles. The root of the hair is dividing rapidly, adding to the hair shaft. During this phase the hair grows about 1 cm every 28 days. Scalp hair stays in this active phase of growth for 2–7 years. The amount of time the hair follicle stays in the Anagen phase is genetically determined. At the end of the Anagen phase an unknown signal causes the follicle to go into the catagen phase.

Catagen phase : The catagen phase is a short transition stage that occurs at the end of the Anagen phase it signals the end of the active growth of a hair. This phase lasts for about 2–3 weeks while the hair converts to a club hair.

Telogen phase :The Telogen phase is the resting phase of the hair follicle .When the body is subjected to extreme stress, as much as 70 percent of  hair can prematurely enter a phase of rest, called the Telogen phase. This hair begins to fall, causing a noticeable loss of hair. This condition is called Telogen effluvium.

Diet required for good grout of Hair:

To increase your hair's length, shine or thickness can be achieved by healthy hair by eating well and maintaining a balanced diet. Essential omega-3 fatty acids are needed to support scalp health," says Andrea Giancoli, a dietitian in Los Angeles. A deficiency can result in a dry scalp and thus hair, giving it a dull look. Dark green vegetables also provide iron and calcium. Kidney beans and lentils are important part of hair-care diet. A zinc deficiency can lead to hair shedding; nuts should be part of regular diet. Walnuts contain alpha-linolenic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid that may help condition your hair. They are also a good source of zinc, as are cashews and almonds. Eggs and whole grains are one of the best protein sources. Low-fat dairy products like skim milk and yogurt are great sources of calcium. Spinach is an excellent source of vitamins A and C, which are needs to produce sebum the oily substance, secreted by your hair follicles, is the body's natural hair conditioner.

Common causes of Hair loss:

Everyone loses some hair every day. Losing up to 100 hairs a day is normal.Hair loss can best be defined as a decrease in the percentage of hair follicles on an individual's scalp in the anagen phase with a corresponding increase in the percentage of hair follicles in the Telogen phase.

In women who have irregular menstrual cycles, continued episodes of acne, or too much body hair (hirsutism), androgens, testosterone hormones should be tested. Decreased estrogen production after reaching menopause,
Androgenetic Alopecia: This is by far the leading type of hair loss in men and women and is a result of genetics. This genetic hair loss is hereditary and can be inherited from either side of the family. Commonly known as male and female pattern baldness, this type of hair loss is due to the action of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) which attacks the hair follicles and causes hair loss.

Condition like pregnancy, chemotherapy for cancer treatment, very high fevers, severe illnesses, and sometimes even high levels of stress can result in Telogen effluvium. In this condition a lot of hair is lost in a short span of time, anti-thyroid medicines are known to cause hair loss and Traction Alopecia which is due to excessive pulling of hair for tight ponytail hair style, diet largely composed of highly-processed foods, high stress levels. Side effect of chemotherapy. sun exposure are also causes.

HAIR LOSS DIAGNOSIS

Androgenetic alopecia can usually be diagnosed by examining the scalp and  Hair analysis

Assessment of  hormone levels of androgens, testosterone  , iron levels (anaemia), TSH levels.

HomeopathIC  management:

Homeopathy treats the person as a whole. It means that homeopathic treatment focuses on the patient as a person, as well as his pathological condition. The homeopathic medicines are selected after a full individualizing examination and case-analysis, which includes the medical history of the patient, physical and mental constitution etc.

Fundamental cause is: Can be a single miasm or all the three, in psoric miasm hair is dry, lustreless, breaks and splits, hair fall is frequently seen, and fall from crown,  itching of scalp. In sycotic miasm hair is very oily and greasy, hair fall out in bunches in the sides, fetid odder is present.  In pseudo psora hair is sticky, matting of hair is seen, it is oily greasy, with fetid smell, in Syphilitic miasm hair fall is in small circular patches, fishy odder is also seen.

If it is due to Pseudo chronic diseases because of avoidable noxious influences or some maintaining causes and in their treatment require just correction of  causes. In hair loss better to correct if Anaemia if present, any abnormalities with Thyroid, Stress related problems etc

Exiting and Maintaing causes are to be kept in the mind like excessive  pulling of hair for styling.

Homeopathic medicines are known to give very good results in cases of alopecia areata. The medicines most commonly found useful are –
Acid-flouricum, Phosphorus, Graphites, Apis, Ars-alb, Calcarea, Hepar-sulph, Psorinum, Kali-carb, Rhus-tox, Sepia, Psorinum, Calc-phos, Carbo-animalis, Selenium, Kali-phos, Lycopodium.

Cara ©1997 Miccant Ltd

 Boericke - Head

HAIR, BRITTLE, HARSH, DRY (10)

2 bad, 2 bell, 2 bor, 2 graph, 3 KALI-C, 2 plb, 3 PSOR, 2 sec, 2 staph, 2 thuj

HAIR, FALLING OUT, ALOPECIA (32)

3 ALUM, 2 ant-c, 3 ARS, 2 arund, 2 aur, 2 bar-c, 2 calc, 2 calc-i, 2 carb-v, 3 FL-AC, 3 GRAPH, 2 hyper, 2 kali-c, 2 lyc, 2 manc, 2 mez, 3 NAT-M, 3 NIT-AC, 2 petr, 3 PH-AC, 3 PHOS, 3 SEL, 3 SEP, 2 sil, 3 SYPH, 3 THAL, 2 thuj, 3 VINC, 2 zinc, 2 bac, 2 sphing, 2 thyr

HAIR, GRAY, PREMATURE (4)

2 lyc, 3 PH-AC, 2 sec, 2 sul-ac

HAIR, GREASY (3)

2 benz-n, 2 bry, 2 merc

Phatak - Phatak

HAIR, FALLING (24)

1 alum, 2 ars, 1 ars-s-f, 1 aur, 2 calc, 1 carb-v, 1 fl-ac, 3 GRAPH, 1 hell, 2 hep, 2 kali-s, 1 lach, 2 lyc, 1 nat-m, 1 nit-ac, 3 PHOS, 1 sep, 1 sil, 1 staph, 3 SULPH, 1 thal, 1 thuj, 1 thyr, 2 ust

HAIR, FALLING, ILLNESS, SEVERE, AFTER (3)

1 carb-v, 1 manc, 1 thal

HAIR, FALLING, BEARD OF (4)

1 graph, 1 kali-c, 1 plb, 1 sel

HAIR, FALLING, CHILDREN IN (1)

1 nat-m

HAIR, FALLING, COMBING WHEN (1)

1 canth

HAIR, FALLING, HANDFULS BUNCHES IN (5)

1 carb-v, 1 mez, 2 phos, 1 sulph, 1 thal

HAIR, FALLING, LACTATION DURING (1)

1 nat-m

HAIR, FALLING, PREGNANCY DURING (1)

1 lach

HAIR, FALLING, PARTURITION AFTER (3)

1 carb-v, 1 lyc, 1 sulph

HAIR, FALLING, SPOTS IN (7)

1 alum, 1 fl-ac, 1 graph, 1 hep, 1 lyc, 2 nat-m, 2 phos

Murphy - Head

DANDRUFF scaly hair comes out, skin peels off with itching and smarting (1)

1 staph

A  Case of Alopecia Areata an evidenced based treatment :

Alopecia Areata is a common idiopathic disorder in which there is a patchy loss of hair that usually begins on the scalp. If all the hair on the scalp is lost the condition is called alopecia totalis, and if there is complete loss of body hair it is designated as alopecia universalis. The essential basis is cessation of hair growth with premature club-hair formation. Heredity, emotional stress and its frequent association with autoimmune disorders like Addison’s disease, thyrotoxicosis, Hashimoto’s disease, pernicious anaemia  have been implicated as aetiological factors.

The exact cause, why hair follicles undergo this kind of destruction, is not known but a genetic component to this is suspected. Family history of Alopecia Areata or any of the other auto-immune diseases (such as hypothyroid, diabetes, cancer, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.) 

The most widely accepted hypothesis is that alopecia areata is a T-cell–mediated autoimmune condition that is most likely to occur in genetically predisposed individuals

Prevalence of Alopecia Areata in the general population is 0.1-0.2%. The lifetime risk of developing alopecia areata is estimated to be 1.7%. Alopecia areata is responsible for 0.7-3% of patients seen by dermatologists; worldwide prevalence of alopecia areata is the same as that in the United States. A male-to-female ratio of 1:1 was reported. As many as 44% of people with alopecia areata have onset at younger than 20 years. Onset in patients older than 40 years is seen in less than 30% of patients with alopecia areata.

Alopecia areata most often is asymptomatic, but some patients (14%) experience a burning sensation or pruritus in the affected area. 80% have only a single patch, 12.5% have 2 patches, and 7.7% have multiple patches. No correlation exists between the number of patches at onset and subsequent severity. Alopecia areata most often affects the scalp (66.8-95%); however, it can affect any hair-bearing area. The beard is affected in 28% (males; see first image below), eyebrows in 3.8%, and extremities in 1.3% of patients (see second image below). More than one area can be affected at once

Diagnosis is on clinical grounds; a scalp biopsy seldom is needed, but it can be helpful when the clinical diagnosis is less certain.

The following are few associated conditions Atopic dermatitis is seen in 9-26% of patients with alopecia areata. Vitiligo is seen with an incidence varying from 1.8-3%; clinically evident thyroid disease was found in 0.85% of 1700 patients with alopecia areata. Collagen-vascular diseases have been found in 0.6-2% of patients with alopecia areata, Diabetes mellitus was found to be more common in control subjects (1.4%) than in patients with alopecia areata (0.4%).  Alopecia areata is seen in 6-8.8% of patients with Down syndrome.

 Stressful life events within the 6-month period preceding episodes of alopecia areata were significantly higher in patients with alopecia areata compared with patients with androgenetic alopecia or tinea capitis.  

A Case:

 A boy aged 14 years, 37 KGs weight came to my clinic on 09092011, with single complaint of patchy hair loss as shown in the visual below,

Case was with few symptoms , he was timid, bowels constipated, Cracks over nostrils, dryness of skin. These few symptoms were repertorised  as show below : Graphites, calc carb, phos, Ars Alb

090911 Graphitis30C was given 5 doses and placebo for 15 days, there was not much improvement Bacillinum 1M, one dose was given on 2309 alone with 15 days placebo.07 10 11 was better by 70% as show in the  visual, Graphitis30C was given 5 doses on 2110 along with placebo for 15 days.  The patch  was almost 9O% covered by hair. The patient was a economically backward ,he stopped the treatment.

      09-09-2011

   23-09-2011

   23-11-2011

References:

1)      Bajaj A K ,A P I Textbook of medicine  6^th Edition , 1999.

2)      Phyllis Speight  , A Comparison of the chronic Miasms,Jain publishing Co, New Delhi  110055.

3)      Cara @ 1997  Miccant Ltd

4)    http://www.nature.com/jid/journal/v123/n3/full/5602462a.html

*********** published in  G R Mohan,Medicina Futura, vol:1 issue  1, April 2012