Tag: Pregnancy Birth

Common Causes of Hair Loss

It is very natural for a person to loss 50 to 100 hairs each day under the bodys hair renewal process. But most of the people at least once in their lifetime suffer with heavy hair loss. There may be various reason behind this; like medication, chemotherapy, exposure to radiations and certain chemicals, nutritional and hormonal factors, thyroid disease, skin disease or stress, etc.

In most of the cases hair loss is temporary but in certain cases it may be permanent depending on the severity of disease. Some of the most common causes of hair loss are explained here.

Hormonal

Hormones are stimulant to hair growth and causes hair loss problems. Hormones affect heavily our hair growth. These affect both male as well as female hair health.

Hair thinning is one of the hormonal problems and affects both men and women. Hair thinning in male is specific and follows a pattern from the front through to the crown. Hair thinning in female does not follow any specific pattern.

Hair thinning is caused by androgen DHT or Dihydrotesterone. Everyone has DHT but only some suffers with hair problem, are you wandering, why? This owes to the hair follicles, which have a greater number of androgen receptors for the DHT to attach with. Till date the most effective treatment for the problems of hair thinning is; anti androgens. Anti androgens are preventive drugs that prevent the creation of DHT. In future we may get genes therapy for hair thinning problems.

Childbirth

Many of the females experience hair loss after labor. In such a situation many of the hair enters the telogen or resting phase. Some of the females experiences hair loss within two to three months after giving childbirth.

Hair problem due to pregnancy is temporary and in many of the cases eradicate within time, say 1 to 6 months. This occurs because of diverse hormonal changes that take place within the body during pregnancy.

Birth control pills

The females who are genetically programmed with Androgenic Alopecia, if takes birth control pills at much younger age encounters hair loss. Androgenic Alopecia is caused due to various hormonal changes.

The females who have history of hair loss in their family must consult doctor before taking any birth control pills. This type of hair loss is temporary and may stop in 1 to 6 months. But in some of the cases, it has been noticed that a female cannot regrow some of her hair that was lost due to Androgenic Alopecia.

Deficient diet

A good balanced diet rich in varied variety of nutrients is equally important to your hair health. The person who eats less of proteins or has irregular eating habits suffers with hair loss. Generally to save protein our body pushes growing hair into resting phase. If your hair can be pulled out by the root very easily, then this may be due to lack of a well balanced diet. This condition can be prevailed by eating a diet rich in proteins and other necessary nutrients.

Low serum iron

If some person either may not have access to iron rich food or his / her body may not absorb enough of iron then this may cause hair problems. Women during menstrual period are more prone to be iron deficient. Low iron in the body can be detected by laboratory test and can be corrected by taking a diet rich in iron and iron pills.

However, hair loss problems of any sort are generally temporary and can be solved by taking good nutritious diet and professional help.

Panic Attacks: Between Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia

For most people, dealing with life stressors job changes, moving, pregnancy, birth of a child, death of a loved one etc. do not result to anxiety and panic attacks. However, to those who are vulnerable to emotional stress, such situations may lead to panic attacks even if these events happened way back in their life. The reason for this is still not fully understood but it is believed that one major cause of panic attacks is extended period of stress (not by a few days of tension but by several months of constant worrying and unprocessed emotions).

The chances of having an attack are even greater when a panic-prone person receives unnecessary stress such as additional tasks at work or additional responsibility at home. Instead of performing normally under regular circumstance, the additional load can put more pressure that can lead to more stress which can be a catalyst for an attack.

What is panic disorder?

It is commonly believed that panic attacks happen out of the blue, without any reason. It can happen to anyone at any point in their life. Many people experience one episode of panic attack. However, others go on to suffer from panic disorder. Panic disorder is characterized by several episodes of panic attacks related to past traumatic experiences, existing stress (mentioned above) or something else.

Many attacks last for not more than 30 minutes but the effects of panic disorder can leave lasting effects. People suffering from panic disorder experience emotional stress and excessive fear due to the memory of past attacks. This negative memory has a negative impact to self-confidence and self-esteem, which can lead to the disruption of everyday activities and normal living. While the causes of panic disorder vary from person to person, all conditions lead to these symptoms:

Anticipatory anxiety or the fear of having future attacks. This can have a detrimental effect to the sufferer since they cannot relax and they always feel anxious and tensed in between attacks.

Phobic avoidance is characterized by avoiding situations or events in the belief that the situation may cause panic attack. Phobic avoidance can also be avoiding places where help is unavailable during emergency situation.

What is agoraphobia?

Agoraphobia is traditionally believed to involve fear of open spaces or public places. Literally means “fear of the marketplace,” agoraphobia is now believed to be a result of panic attacks.

People diagnosed with agoraphobia show different symptoms. But common to all agoraphobics is avoidance either being in public places or being alone. This is actually a character of phobic avoidance (one distinct symptom of panic disorder). The difference, however, is that the effects of agoraphobia can significantly limit the person’s normal activities. Thus, what sets agoraphobia apart from panic disorder is the amount of activities that the person avoids.

People with panic disorder stay generally active, although there are specific situations that they tend to avoid. On the other hand, agoraphobics limit their activities because of fearful thoughts. These fearful thoughts can be very damaging the person’s life as well as his relationship to others.

Either way, both conditions are the result of panic attacks. Hence, it is always best to know the things you can do in order to prevent panic attacks from recurring and worsening. On the first sign of attack, seek for professional help.

Panic Attacks: Between Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia

For most people, dealing with life stressors job changes, moving, pregnancy, birth of a child, death of a loved one etc. do not result to anxiety and panic attacks. However, to those who are vulnerable to emotional stress, such situations may lead to panic attacks even if these events happened way back in their life. The reason for this is still not fully understood but it is believed that one major cause of panic attacks is extended period of stress (not by a few days of tension but by several months of constant worrying and unprocessed emotions).

The chances of having an attack are even greater when a panic-prone person receives unnecessary stress such as additional tasks at work or additional responsibility at home. Instead of performing normally under regular circumstance, the additional load can put more pressure that can lead to more stress which can be a catalyst for an attack.

What is panic disorder?

It is commonly believed that panic attacks happen out of the blue, without any reason. It can happen to anyone at any point in their life. Many people experience one episode of panic attack. However, others go on to suffer from panic disorder. Panic disorder is characterized by several episodes of panic attacks related to past traumatic experiences, existing stress (mentioned above) or something else.

Many attacks last for not more than 30 minutes but the effects of panic disorder can leave lasting effects. People suffering from panic disorder experience emotional stress and excessive fear due to the memory of past attacks. This negative memory has a negative impact to self-confidence and self-esteem, which can lead to the disruption of everyday activities and normal living. While the causes of panic disorder vary from person to person, all conditions lead to these symptoms:

Anticipatory anxiety or the fear of having future attacks. This can have a detrimental effect to the sufferer since they cannot relax and they always feel anxious and tensed in between attacks.

Phobic avoidance is characterized by avoiding situations or events in the belief that the situation may cause panic attack. Phobic avoidance can also be avoiding places where help is unavailable during emergency situation.

What is agoraphobia?

Agoraphobia is traditionally believed to involve fear of open spaces or public places. Literally means “fear of the marketplace,” agoraphobia is now believed to be a result of panic attacks.

People diagnosed with agoraphobia show different symptoms. But common to all agoraphobics is avoidance either being in public places or being alone. This is actually a character of phobic avoidance (one distinct symptom of panic disorder). The difference, however, is that the effects of agoraphobia can significantly limit the person’s normal activities. Thus, what sets agoraphobia apart from panic disorder is the amount of activities that the person avoids.

People with panic disorder stay generally active, although there are specific situations that they tend to avoid. On the other hand, agoraphobics limit their activities because of fearful thoughts. These fearful thoughts can be very damaging the person’s life as well as his relationship to others.

Either way, both conditions are the result of panic attacks. Hence, it is always best to know the things you can do in order to prevent panic attacks from recurring and worsening. On the first sign of attack, seek for professional help.