Body Signs

Chapter One Your Hair The Long and the Short of It Hair defines us like no other part of the human body. It conveys to others an enormous amount of information: our age, gender, ethnicity, social status, religious and other group affiliations, personal hygiene habits, andlast but not leastour state of health. Yet the assumptions some people make based on our hair may be as false as their eyelashes. We can cover the gray, making us appear years younger; cut our hair very short or let it grow very long, making it difficult to determine our gender; or straighten curly hair or curl straight hair, making our ethnicity anyone's guess. And by adopting the hairstyles of the rich and famous, we can look like we're to the manor born when we may be struggling to make (split) ends meet. Hair is overflowing with sexual symbolism and cultural significance. People in many parts of the world routinelyif not religiouslycover or remove it. English barristers, for example, wear wigs in court. Muslim and Orthodox Jewish women are required to cover their heads. And not only do Buddhists and some Christian monks shave their heads, but skinheads do as well. While we're busy sending messages to the outside world by covering, cropping, curling, or coloring our hair, we should also pay attention to the messages it's sending us. Our untouched, natural hair can give us a headful of vital information that we should carefully read and heed. Your age, sex, and race, as well as where you live and the hair products you use, all affect your hair's mineral makeup. Hair contains a myriad of minerals, from aluminum to zinc, and for many years hair analysis has been used to confirm mercury and arsenic poisoning. More recently, researchers have been able to diagnose eating disorders from hair samples. Indeed, the quality, quantity, and color of our hair can all be signs of our physical well-being. No wonder hair is said to be a barometer of health. Starting at the top Hair texture changes Hair is made up mostly of dead protein (keratin), but that doesn't mean it's supposed to lie there listlessly. Dry, brittle hair and split ends can all be signs that you're mistreating your hair with excessive washing, brushing, drying, dyeing, or bleaching. However, these hair shaft disorders, as they're called, can also be signs of stress, hormonal changes, nutritional deficiencies, and thyroid disease. If you notice, for example, that your formerly luxuriant locks tangle easily or have become dry, brittle, or coarse, don't be so quick to rush off and buy the latest expensive new hair product. You may, in fact, have the classic signs of hypothyroidisma fairly common but often underdiagnosed condition, especially among women. (See Appendix I.) When the thyroid gland, which regulates metabolism, fails to produce enough thyroid hormone, hair growthas well as other body functionsslows down. Hair texture change can signal iodine deficiency as well, which is also implicated in thyroid disease. (See Chapter 6.) Of course, texture changes may merely be an indicator of the natural hormone changes of pregnancy or menopause. During pregnancy, dry hair may become oilier or shinier, while oily hair can become drier and duller. Previously curly hair may become straighter and straight hair curlier. Hair may even become thicker, but this is due to the slowing down of normal hair loss that typically occurs in pregnancy rather than the thickening of individual hairs. (See Hair Loss in Women, below.) During menopause, when estrogen levels drop, many women notice that their hair lacks softness and luster. The estrogen loss can cause hair shafts to thin and dry out, so new hairs will be duller and less manageable. New hair growth also tapers off . Both hair texture change and hair loss are also common reactions to chemotherapy orLiebmann-Smith, Joan is the author of 'Body Signs', published 2007 under ISBN 9780553805079 and ISBN 055380507X.