Tag: Male Hormone

Acne Get The Lowdown On This Four Letter Word

Acne Get The Lowdown On This Four Letter Word

Acne is considered pimples, zits, blackheads, and whiteheads. These are all part of the same irritating ailment that affects so many, especially teenagers. In fact, many people consider acne the most irritating thing about puberty. At a time when teenagers tend to be very self conscious and are going through physical changes, cracking voices, menstrual cycles, facial hair, and hair growing in strange places, these darn pimples come along to make things even more complex.

Common acne is officially known as acne vulgaris. This blemish producing blight is caused by multiple factors. During puberty the body produces an excess of the male hormone testosterone. Also, female menstrual cycles cause changes in the body that throw the hormone balance a bit out of whack.

For many years people thought that acne was caused by poor hygiene, and kids would scrub their faces raw in an effort to open up pores and get rid of pimples and blackheads. That actually may make the problem worse by damaging the skin. Also for many years people thought that certain foods would make some people more prone to acne.

Teenagers often eat candy bars and other chocolate foods. Also teenagers tend to be fans of fried foods, such as hamburgers, French fries, tator tots, fish and chips, and fried chicken. Many people associated oily skin with greasy foods, but there is no medical or scientific connection. Acne is a nasty, but natural part of growing up.

Most people outgrow acne as their bodies change and puberty ends. In fact, by the time most people reach their twenties they are through with the ravages of acne. For a few people it may hang on longer, but for the vast majority of people it is a temporary and passing thing. Time will cure most cases as a person passes into adulthood.

The types of acne blemishes are divided into two different categories, inflamed and non-inflamed. Non-inflamed blemishes are called blackheads or whiteheads. The whitehead is a clogged follicle that plugs the skin pore. The mass is made up of dead skin cells. The blackhead is in essence the same thing, but it has opened up and become oxidized, creating the darker tint. Many people think that blackheads come from dirt, but that is not the case.

Inflamed blemishes are those that are commonly call pimples or zits. These blemishes are usually reddish and look inflamed. The red pimple is classic. A bit more troublesome is the larger cyst. Pimples develop when a whitehead does not turn into a blackhead and plugs the pore so that it can be expelled. Instead the pore wall breaks down and becomes a repository for oil, dead skin cells, bacteria and other debris of the body. White blood cells congregate in the blemish to fight the infection, and form a puss substance, that can become painful.

There are many misconceptions about acne. Some people think that the sun will cure acne and seek a suntan as a cure all. However, this has no positive effect, simply darkening the skin just makes pimples harder to see, and the side effects can be wrinkles and skin cancer in later life. However, there are many treatments available for acne that can lessen the impact it has on the lives of the sufferer.

Female Pattern Baldness

Female pattern baldness a.k.a. alopecia in women is the most common form of hair problem that women come across. It involves a typical hair loss pattern, resulting from hormones, aging and genetic predisposition.

Hair loss pattern resulting from alopecia in women

Unlike in men, female pattern baldness does not cause hair loss in a well-defined pattern. The hair starts thinning all over the head though there is no hair line receding. It is rare for alopecia in women to result in total baldness.

In the case of females, the scalp hair loss may begin at any age though usually after 40.
The patterns of female pattern baldness can vary considerably in appearance and may include:

Diffuse thinning all over the scalp often with more noticeable thinning toward the back of the scalp.

Diffuse thinning all over the scalp with more noticeable thinning toward the front of the scalp but not involving the frontal hair line.

Diffuse thinning all over the scalp with more noticeable thinning toward the front of the scalp, involving and sometimes breaching the frontal hairline.

Symptoms of alopecia in women

In normal condition a woman tends to lose around 100-125 hairs per day. Losing more hair than that indicates that the condition is not normal.

The following two conditions indicate alopecia in women

Hair thinning over the entire head

Hair loss at the crown or hair line, from mild to moderate

Causes of female pattern baldness

The disease is triggered by the presence of a male hormone called testosterone in female body. Testosterone is produced by androgen hormone.

Certain women are decidedly more sensitive to testosterone than others. This sensitivity results in hair thinning on their scalp. Testosterone interacts with the enzyme 5 alpha reductase produced by the body. The interaction causes the production of DHT within the hair follicle.

DHT causes production of shorter and finer hairs. When DHT is not received well by hair follicles, it causes reduced blood supply and it causes hair thinning on the scalp.

Diagnosis of female pattern baldness

Women tend to have less obvious hair loss patterns than men and they face non-pattern hair loss more frequently than men. Diagnosis of female hair loss should be conducted by a trained and experienced physician.

The physician diagnoses this hair disease on the basis of hair loss appearance and pattern. He also checks whether other possible hair loss causes can be ruled out. He may also go for a skin biopsy or other procedures to diagnose the medical disorders.

Treatment

The diagnosis of female pattern baldness should be followed by a proper treatment. The patient is usually administered Rogaine. Another medicine is Aldactone, which is useful especially for the women experiencing hair fall after menopause. A modern and popular method used in the case of female pattern baldness is hair transplantation.

Acne Get The Lowdown On This Four Letter Word

Acne Get The Lowdown On This Four Letter Word

Acne is considered pimples, zits, blackheads, and whiteheads. These are all part of the same irritating ailment that affects so many, especially teenagers. In fact, many people consider acne the most irritating thing about puberty. At a time when teenagers tend to be very self conscious and are going through physical changes, cracking voices, menstrual cycles, facial hair, and hair growing in strange places, these darn pimples come along to make things even more complex.

Common acne is officially known as acne vulgaris. This blemish producing blight is caused by multiple factors. During puberty the body produces an excess of the male hormone testosterone. Also, female menstrual cycles cause changes in the body that throw the hormone balance a bit out of whack.

For many years people thought that acne was caused by poor hygiene, and kids would scrub their faces raw in an effort to open up pores and get rid of pimples and blackheads. That actually may make the problem worse by damaging the skin. Also for many years people thought that certain foods would make some people more prone to acne.

Teenagers often eat candy bars and other chocolate foods. Also teenagers tend to be fans of fried foods, such as hamburgers, French fries, tator tots, fish and chips, and fried chicken. Many people associated oily skin with greasy foods, but there is no medical or scientific connection. Acne is a nasty, but natural part of growing up.

Most people outgrow acne as their bodies change and puberty ends. In fact, by the time most people reach their twenties they are through with the ravages of acne. For a few people it may hang on longer, but for the vast majority of people it is a temporary and passing thing. Time will cure most cases as a person passes into adulthood.

The types of acne blemishes are divided into two different categories, inflamed and non-inflamed. Non-inflamed blemishes are called blackheads or whiteheads. The whitehead is a clogged follicle that plugs the skin pore. The mass is made up of dead skin cells. The blackhead is in essence the same thing, but it has opened up and become oxidized, creating the darker tint. Many people think that blackheads come from dirt, but that is not the case.

Inflamed blemishes are those that are commonly call pimples or zits. These blemishes are usually reddish and look inflamed. The red pimple is classic. A bit more troublesome is the larger cyst. Pimples develop when a whitehead does not turn into a blackhead and plugs the pore so that it can be expelled. Instead the pore wall breaks down and becomes a repository for oil, dead skin cells, bacteria and other debris of the body. White blood cells congregate in the blemish to fight the infection, and form a puss substance, that can become painful.

There are many misconceptions about acne. Some people think that the sun will cure acne and seek a suntan as a cure all. However, this has no positive effect, simply darkening the skin just makes pimples harder to see, and the side effects can be wrinkles and skin cancer in later life. However, there are many treatments available for acne that can lessen the impact it has on the lives of the sufferer.