Men, stop losing your mind over hair loss

There is a funny joke about Bald Billy. Bald Billy’s girlfriend decided to break up with him because his baldness often led his girlfriend to see through what was playing on his mind. Imagine if your girlfriend broke up with you over something as silly as you losing your hair. Think about it, it is not just women who stress over the tresses. Even men, tend to tear their hair apart, when it comes to hair loss. The whole experience of losing the shining black strands, leave most men with a heavy sense of frustration. We all know that men pay special attention to their crowning glory. A good mane is where a man gets his confidence from. After all, no man wants to ends up with a ‘popeye head'. Male pattern baldness is a condition that begins with thinning of hair and gradually results in complete baldness. The DNA that men inherit from their parents plays a big role in triggering this condition of baldness.

The X AND Y of hair loss

From money to the color of our eyes, we inherit so much from our parents. Unfortunately, the trait of losing hair is also inheritable. In most cases it is the mothers that lead their sons to the path of baldness. Wondering how? We are all born with 23 pairs of chromosomes, of which, one pair is the so-called sex chromosomes. Males have two sex chromosomes, one X chromosome and one Y chromosome, whereas females have two X chromosomes. Male pattern baldness, in part, is a genetically determined condition, is associated with a genetic variant in the AR gene that resides on the X chromosome. These genetic variations boost the effects of Androgens the ‘male sex hormones’, leading to hair loss. Since sons always inherit their X chromosome from their mothers, they can pass the buck to their moms.

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Like father, like son

But, It is not all mom’s fault. Recent studies suggest that some types of baldness can also be blamed on the Dad. Say your father is on his way to becoming bald as a coot. There are good chances that people might call you a chip off the old block. Two new studies have pointed to variations in the SOX21 gene that are present on the Y chromosome. Since sons inherit this Y chromosome from their fathers, they can get some clues from their father’s hair condition. Be it from moms or from dads, when it comes to hair loss, prevention is the key.

An Ounce of Prevention

A new DNA test can help determine the likelihood of hair loss. This test analyses the genes associated with hair loss to assess the your chances of going bald. A test of this nature, can be extremely helpful in terms of prevention.  Men who are concerned about possible hair loss can learn about their genetic predisposition. The test results can be used by a trichologist- a hair and scalp doctor, to make decisions about the effective course of treatment. Even dietary and lifestyle factors greatly influence the onset of male pattern baldness. For example, a study published in one of the reputed science journals, showed that, low levels of blood vanadium are associated with male pattern baldness and hence, consuming foods like shell fish, parsley that are rich in vanadium can help to a great extent. The same study showed that sleeping for less than six hours a day greatly increases the risk of male pattern baldness. Since prevention is proven to be more successful that trying to regrow hair, making necessary dietary and lifestyle changes are a must. Plus, prevention is cost-effective. Once baldness sets in, procedures like hair transplant and hair weaving can leave burning hole in the pocket.

So guys, stop fretting about hair loss by staring at your receding hair line in front of the mirror. Understand your genes, adapt necessary prevention strategies and fight back the hair loss.   

Virtual Pharmacies

Modern Healthcare systems are developing at a pace, beyond one's imagination. The burgeoning pharmaceuticals, pharmacies, health insurance companies and their operations have largely magnified my curiosity, about this industry. Understanding new dimensions and multiple operational intricacies that exist within the universal healthcare ecosystem is truly exciting.

The kind of drugs that have been introduced in the market in the past years have been exceedingly overwhelming, both in quality and quantity. These drugs are remarkably evolved in their efficacy and pricing. Traditionally, patients who were put on special therapies visited their concerned doctors/hospitals only when they were scheduled for routine check ups or sessions. There were no means by which every patient could be microscopically monitored. Missing a dose, discontinuing therapies, dealing with side effects are common occurrences within most patients. Keeping tabs on how the medicines are treating patients or more importantly, how patients treat their medicines was disturbingly unfeasible.                                                                                              

                                                                                                             

Drugs for cancers, Multiple Sclerosis, Hepatitis to name a few, have always been tightly regulated. These fall into a family of drugs that are shockingly expensive. Patients, to whom these drugs have to be administered need constant monitoring and follow ups. Some drugs are known to cause major side effects, need careful medical attention. Very Often, patients are not compliant to therapies to an expected measure. Every patient is uniquely different, which stems the need to understand every patient, individually. The challenges of remaining persistent and adherent to therapies leave most patients frustrated. Irregularities in managing with the stipulated dose can severely hamper the benefits of the ongoing therapy. Keeping track of every patients medical history, medical insurance and providing customized medical care has resulted a new business in itself.

Pharmacies referred to as "Specialty Pharmacies" employ crucial services towards creating systematic healthcare regimes. These are virtual pharmacies that operate to connect the Pharmaceuticals, Health Insurance providers and Hospitals to the needs of a patient at various stages. The specialty pharmacies function by stocking drugs obtained from pharmaceuticals that develop them. Once the patient is prescribed therapy, the role of these special pharmacies becomes eminent. They build close dynamic associations with patients to ensure steady progress. Patients are closely monitored at every advancing stage of the treatment by regular follow ups and feedback. They act by building customized Patient assistance programs wherein the patients are offered all benefits covered by under their insurance.

The collaboration of all entities associated with patient healthcare, facilitated by specialty pharmacies  has evidently proved be extremely important in managing most therapies.

Too much Information

Image Courtesy Akshay Hegde

I grew up in a family where opinions swiftly flew across the dinner table. Talk about health and everyone would quickly don the doctors hat. As kids we rarely got opportunities to visit doctors or therapists.We had constant remedy recommendations flowing in from our grandparents, aunts and even neighbors. Over the years, there were large additions to this elite club of know it alls.

With every passing year, we are witnessing an increase in the episodes of depression, infertility, heart diseases and diabetes. Cancer-The reigning emperor of maladies has got medical an talk about it incessantly .They say, the earlier you discover the anomalies, easier it is to get rid of this monster. Ever since I remember,I  have come across myriad articles that have described aspects like genetic predisposition, lifestyle problems and late diagnosis as leading causes of this dreaded misfortune.

I as a young woman, often wonder about how I should make sense of this information outburst. For instance,  Excessive media coverage, online portals and celebrity campaigns have implanted talking encyclopedias and pseudo doctors in almost every other house.This information outburst has left a very superficial impression on most women's understanding of the subject. Studies reveal that a large percentage of  women are unsure of what they should look for while doing a self examination for breast cancer. Diverse opinions surrounding the safety of mammograms have been baffling. Moreover, medical information talking about size and nature of lumps has only resulted in confusion and paranoia.Its strange that the residue of the breakthrough in information availability, has guided and often misguided people.

The ease of accessing information has created hurdles and challenges in finding relevant information. In this ever expanding database, one stands a good chance getting misinformed. Filtering relevant information is an obvious predicament in our time.