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Posts Tagged ‘Heredity’

May
16

When you are young, it’s easy to walk around as if nothing can ever go wrong in your life. Although you had acne for a few months as a teen, you got through that. Now the rest of your life is going to be smooth sailing. So what if there are a few extra hairs in your comb or caught in the drain after you finish your shower. This is nothing to worry about. Except the sad reality is that anyone, no matter what their age or gender, can lose their hair. It can be heredity, caused by some underlying medical condition, a side effect of a drug you are taking. The list goes on. Unless you are taking preventative measures to reduce the risk of hair loss, you need guidance on when to seek a formal diagnosis. Too early and you wasted your money because your doctor could find nothing wrong. Too late and there’s little chance of any treatment helping the hair to regrow. For the record, male pattern baldness can begin during your teens and this is permanent hair loss. Why permanent? Because the growth cycle shortens and every time you shed your hair, it grows back thinner and more likely to fall out. As this speeds up, your hair stops regrowing and there’s no cure.

This is what to think about. At some point, you will notice more hair than usual is falling out. Make a note of the date. If possible, get someone in the family or a friend to take pictures of your head so you can monitor any changes to the shape of the hair. Then watch what happens. Is the loss only occasional or is it continuous? If you have good days and bad days, think about what you eat and what you did. Is there a cause and effect at work? In particular, look for anything that might make the loss worse. Now look around the family. If you are cut off from most of your relatives, ask if there is any history of hair loss on either side of the family.

This gives you enough information about the emerging physical pattern and the rate of loss to share with your doctor. There will be a physical examination of your scalp to judge the appearance of your hair, e.g. whether any hairs are broken off. There is usually a pull test to see how many come out, and skin samples taken to eliminate the possibility of an infection. There will also be a review of your medical history and general wellness to identify any underlying problems such as thyroid disease that may be causing the loss. If this is simple male pattern baldness, the standard treatment is generic propecia. This is taken once-daily and, over time, slows loss and encourages some regrowth. The benefits are lost and hair loss will resume if you stop taking propecia. Some commitment to continuing treatment is necessary. More generally, there are preventative measures in changing the way you handle your hair and modifying your diet. Your doctor or dermatologist will advise on how to minimize the effects of hair loss.

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May
24
allergies in children


Many people do not think that young children can have allergies as doctors at one time believed since the nasal cavities are not completely developed then allergy problems should not exist.

Today, we now know allergic rhinitis is one of the most chronic childhood diseases. The main reason some children have allergies and some do not, comes down to heredity. If only one parent has allergies their children have a 30% to 50% percent chance of developing allergies and if cases where both parents have allergies the percentage goes up to 60% to 80%.

The most common allergy seen in both infants and children is an allergy to cows milk protein. This usually happens during the first year. Before a child can develop an allergy, he or she must first be exposed to a substance that may later be considered an allergen.

Besides food, some allergies that children may have include indoor allergens such as molds, household dust mites, and pets, outdoor allergens include weeds, tree pollen, and grasses.

If you think that your child may have allergies, then there are some physical symptoms that might help you make an educated decision prior to visiting your doctor.

Symptoms of food allergies in infants can cause your little one to be colicky, vomit, have diarrhea, rashes, eczema, cry more than they should, and have cold like respiratory congestion.

Physical symptoms that may show that your child has an allergy include bluish/brownish discoloration around both eyes, puffiness under the eyes and the eyes may look red and irritated, and the ears and cheeks may appear flushed. Your little one may not be able to explain to you how they feel but you may notice them breathing through their mouth, rubbing their noise, sniffling, sneezing, and have congestion that may make it hard for them to breath.

If you notice that your child is always complaining of a sore throat, has nasal congestion quite a bit and has had to be treated for chronic ear infections you may want to ask your doctor is your little one could be suffering from allergies since these also accompany allergies.

Remember, allergies can cause excess mucus secretions, this causes swelling of the nasal cavity and breathing can be difficult when your child lies down. It can be so bad that he or she may gasp for breath, cough or awaken in the middle of the night unable to breathe properly. If disturbed sleep does occur from allergies, it can result in sleep apnea.



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