Tag: Low Thyroid Function

Lack of Iodine and Silica Can Create Hair Loss

Iodine is vital to your hair growth. Sheep farmers long ago found that vegetation-lacking iodine due to iodine-depleted soil would adversely affect the growth of wool in their sheep. Likewise, to avoid hair loss, you need iodine. Iodine is synthetically added to table salt, however in this form it is not assimilated well into your body and can therefore cause iodine overload.

An excess of iodine in the body can adversely affect the thyroid. The lack of iodine can cause hypothyroidism. In hypothyroidism, your cell metabolism slows down and body cells and hair cells don’t receive the energy they need to function properly. When you lack iodine, you will lose more hair than normal and may even lose eyebrow hair.

You can check your thyroid with a basal thermometer, not a digital thermometer, by placing it in your underarm first thing when you wake up. Then, don’t move for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, look at the temperature. The normal body temperature for good thyroid function is 97.8 to 98.2 degrees C. Take this measurement for 5-10 day. If your temperature is below 97.6 and lower, for the 5-10 days, you will want to consult your doctor or for more direction and information. You definitely have low thyroid function.

Menstruating women should start this 5-10 day check on the 3rd day of their cycle.

It is best to use non-iodized salt and get your iodine from natural foods. These include seaweed, salmon, seafood, lima beans, molasses, eggs, potatoes with the skin on, watercress and garlic.

Silica

One of the most difficult nutrients vital to your hair growth to get in your diet is trace mineral silica. Silica is a form of silicon and is the second most abundant element in the earth’s crust, second only to oxygen. The Earth provides everything we need for health, and with silicon being so abundant, it would seem that there would never be a problem with silica deficiency.

Unfortunately, trace minerals are rare in our diets because our food is processed and our soil depleted by chemical treatments. Silica provides strength to your hair, and although it will not necessarily stop your hair from falling out from the follicle, it will stop hair breakage.

Silica works by stimulating your cell metabolism and formation, which slows the aging process. Foods that are rich in silica are rice, oats, lettuce, parsnips, asparagus, onion, strawberry, cabbage, cucumber, leek, sunflower seeds, celery, rhubarb, cauliflower, and swiss chard. Try to buy these vegetables from organic sources. Note that many of these foods, particularly rice, are a large part of Asian diets and Asians tend to have the strongest and healthiest hair.

For best results eat all your fruits and vegetables raw. For certain vegetables that need to be cooked, steam them for only a few minutes.

Be sure to test your thyroid even though doctor’s tests show you do not have a thyroid problem. The basal temperature test is sometimes more sensitive than blood tests taken by doctors. If you have hyperthyroidism, you will definitely have hair loss.

Can Female Hair Loss Make Me Totally Bald?

View the pattern that affects women only. Loss of female hair is not the same as male hair loss determined by heredity. Female hair loss is temporary and is seldom an advance warning of baldness. Transient loss of hair should not, however, be ignored. It is possible for a woman to suffer from hormonal hair loss leading to baldness.

Some of the most common causes are:

1. Pregnancy
2. Severe emotional stress
3. Under medical treatment
4. Hormonal hair loss
Is there a relationship between hair loss and menopause?

The most common cause of hair loss is low thyroid function, which is common among menopausal women.

Other causes include, but are not limited to: changes in hormone levels, increased testosterone, increased stress, which can either be physical stress, or emotional stress, various medications, scalp/dermatological issues and heredity.

Any time sudden hair loss is experienced, one must consider events which took place up to three months prior to the hair loss, as factors affecting hair loss can often take up to three months to have an effect, i.e., were you diagnosed with something new in the past few months? Did you start taking medication during the past few months?

Did you go through a traumatic experience. Subsequently, any treatments for hair loss should be given at least three months to have noticeable effects.

There are of course various ways to solve hair problems, such as:

1. Wig / toupe
2. Hair-weaving (weaving in extra hair)
3. Hair transplant
4. Cosmetic hair treatment courses
5. Therapy

There are only a few products available worldwide which have been conclusively proven to combat hair loss. They are Aminexil, Alopesan 400, Maxilne, Minoxidil and Finasteride.

Its very important for you as a consumer to know this if you are thinking of taking steps to combat your hair loss. Rogaine is another one of the more popular brand names in the hair loss industry.

Eczema Treatment Cannot Begin Without Knowing What Caused It

Eczema is a skin disorder. It is one of those problems that has no cure and can return and you cannot undergo eczema treatment without knowing first what caused it.

Some doctors believe that there is an imbalance in the body which is why you have eczema. In some cases, the body is producing too many or too few hormones. One example is when you have low thyroid function. When this happens, you will also have poor blood circulation and your skin will now develop the symptoms of eczema such as blistering, itching, oozing and swelling.

Eating also causes some people to have eczema. In fact, some patients have complained of certain food allergies before the flare-ups occur.

We all know that if we sustain an infection, the immune system will not work properly and your body will shut down. When this happens, we are also vulnerable to this skin disorder. A casing point is the growth of Candida albicans which is a yeast type infection.

Aside from ingesting something that may soon make you give you eczema, it is also possible that you either inhaled it or this was absorbed by your skin. This can happen if something overloaded your kidney and liver.

Believe it or not, stress has also been known to cause eczema because the body produces cortisol, a hormone that affects the intestinal tract by destroying friendly bacteria. As a result, your digestive system becomes impaired. You will feel pain in your stomach and when it happens more often, you may soon develop ulcers. This will soon affect other systems in the body and then make you vulnerable to eczema.

Eczema is also hereditary. This means if someone in your family like your parents or grandparents had this before, there is the possibility that you will also have it.

So now what? Well, knowing what caused eczema will make it easier for doctors to figure out how to help you. If the trigger factors were determined, you will be advised to stay away from it so that after you have undergone treatment, you will not encounter flare-ups.

Should eczema be stress related, you will be advised to stay away from activities that make it come back. You could talk to your boss and tell them about your condition. This will allow him or her to lessen your workload and give this to someone else rather than seeing you in such terrible shape.

Sadly, there is nothing you can do if it is genetic. The only thing doctors can do is tell you what to do when it happens and how to prevent it from recurring. Proper hygiene is probably the best advice because with the help of moisturizers, you will be able to keep your skin healthy.

There are also supplements you can take to help fight against eczema and you can get this over the counter at the drug store.

Based on the different causes mentioned, you can say that doctors have not really pinpointed the exact cause of eczema. Yes there is speculation that certain abnormalities may have caused this but this is different for each person who has even been diagnosed with it.

The only good news is that there is eczema treatment available. Before you try anything, it is best to get yourself diagnosed rather than self-medicating because you could only make matters worse.