The
Chemistry of Hair !
The main constituent of hair is
the protein Keratin. Keratin is a remarkable protein, which is
resistant to wear and tear. It is the protein that makes up feathers,
claws, nails and hoofs, as well as hair. Like other proteins, keratin
has very large molecules made up of smaller units called amino acids,
joined together in chains like beads on a string.
Hair also
contains fats, pigment (melanin), small amounts of vitamins, and traces
of zinc and other metals. Hair also contains water which, although it
makes up only 10-13% of the hair, is extremely important for its
physical and chemical properties.
How Hair Grows
The
portion of the hair that we can see is called the shaft. Each shaft of
hair protrudes from its follicle, which is a tube-like pouch just below
the surface of the skin. The hair is attached to the base of the
follicle by the hair root, which is where the hair actually grows and
where it is nourished by blood capillaries. Like the rest of the body,
hairs are made of cells. As new cells form at its root, the hair is
gradually pushed further and further out of the follicle. The cells at
the base of each hair are close to the blood capillaries, and are
living.
As they get pushed further away from the base of
the follicle they no longer have any nourishment, and so they die. As
they die, they are transformed into a hard protein called keratin. So,
each hair we see above the skin is dead protein. It is the follicle,
which lies deep in the skin, that is essential in growing hair. Also,
the thickness of each hair depends on the size of the follicle from
which it is growing.
Hair growth is not a
continuous process: it has several stages.
-
ANAGEN
PHASE :The first phase is the growing stage. Hair grows at
about 1 cm each month, and this phase lasts for anything between 2 and
5 years.
-
CATAGEN PHASE : As this phase begins
the bulb detaches from the blood supply and the hair shaft is pushed
up.
-
THE
TELOGEN PHASE :This is followed by a resting stage, during
which there is no growth. This phase lasts about 5
months.
-
At the end of the resting
phase, the hair is shed, and the follicle starts to grow a new
one.
-
At any moment, about 80% of
the hair follicles of the scalp are growing hairs in the first phase;
only about 20% are in the resting phase.
-
If a follicle is destroyed
for any reason, no new hair will grow from it.
Hair Loss
Factoid
-
It is normal to lose 50-100
hairs from the head each day
-
Each hair on the head grows for
about 3-5 years before being shed
-
40 million men and 20 million
women suffer from hair loss
-
Scalp hair grows at a rate of
about 1 cm (just under 1/2 an inch) a month
-
We each have about 100,000 hairs
on the scalp
Hair loss: true or
false?
If your father has a full head of hair, you
won't go bald.
False
A
tendency to baldness is inherited and probably involves a combination of
genes. So you are not automatically in the clear even if your father has
a full head of hair. It is not true, as sometimes claimed, that only
genes from the mother's side are involved.
Brushing the hair
100 times a day will stimulate the circulation and prevent hair
loss
False
Vigorous brushing is
more likely to injure the hairs and make the problem
worse.
Some hairstyles, can cause hair loss
True
Styles that pull or put tension on the
hairs - such as tight ponytails or corn-rows - can cause hair
loss.
Hats encourage hair loss because the hair can't
breathe
False
Hair does not
need to breathe. Only the root of the hair is alive, and this gets its
oxygen from the blood in the scalp.
Frequent shampooing makes
hair fall out
False
The 50-100
hairs we lose each day often become tangled with the rest of the hair,
but are washed out when we shampoo. So we see what seems like a lot of
hair in the shower after shampooing, but in reality these hairs have
been shed earlier.
Blow-drying can worsen hair
loss
True
The reason is that
extreme heat damages the proteins in the hairs, making them fragile and
liable to break off. Brushing the hair during blow-drying causes more
damage. If you use a hair dryer it should be set on the coolest
setting.
Hair coloring, perm solutions and hairsprays worsen
hair loss
False
Hair dyes,
perms and hairsprays do not affect thinning hair. Perms and hairsprays
can help to disguise the problem. Remember, it is the follicle, which is
located beneath the skin, that produces the hair. Chemical treatments
can damage the hair strands but can't affect the follicle.
Causes of Hair
Fall :
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