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The relationship between your hair, nails and skin and your overall health is underestimated.

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> Description
> Conditions
> Statistics
> Causes
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> Signs and Symptoms
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Description

There are approximately 100,000 strands of hair on the average head, growing an average of ½ inch per month. On medium length hair these strands can remain for anything up to two years.

Hair strands are arranged in three layers, an outer cuticle, a middle cortex and a central medulla. The strand is composed of a protein called keratin. This protein is the building block of each strand. It gives the follicle strength to avoid splitting.

The hair follicle has capillaries supplying oxygen, energy and amino acids to the hair for adequate growth. Hair growth has 3 cycles: 

  • The Anagen cycle - Stage 1 - Active growth
  • The Catagen cycle - Stage 2 - Breakdown and change
  • The Telogen cycle - Stage 3 - Resting before regrowth.
The relationship between your hair, nails and skin and your overall health is underestimated. They share the same nutritional requirements for health. They react to deficiency in similar ways. Their general look and feel alone can even reveal much to the non-professional.

Lack of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes and trace elements show your health status clearly through limp, lifeless, worn out hair.

Deficiency of necessary nutrients through chemical or hormonal imbalance, illness or side effects from medication can result in disease becoming more and more commonplace around the globe due to biological, environmental and genetic causes.

If your body is healthy and nourished your hair will shine.

If you are unwell or lacking vital nutrients your hair may show stress or vulnerability to damage, or even stop growing.

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Conditions

Many negative conditions can result from nutritional deficiency. Some will clear up as soon as your nutritional balance has been restored and will remain as your balance is maintained. Others have more serious connotations, or require underlying medical causes to be treated.

Some common examples of conditions resulting from nutritional or natural body chemical deficiency include:

Dandruff
White flakes or scales in the hair due to excessive shedding of skin from the scalp. Dandruff itself is normal in small amounts, as old skin cells are replaced. Flaking with redness, irritation and itching however results from nutritional, chemical and hormonal neglect.

Baldness (Alopecia)
Loss of hair in increasing patches on the scalp. Baldness is the most common hair problem in the world. It is partly genetic, partly due to the aging process and partly down to long-term nutritional imbalance, causing the immune system to attack the hair follicles.

Alopecia Totalis results in hair loss over the entire scalp.
Alopecia Universalis results in hair loss over the entire body.
Women with Androgenetic Alopecia (a hormonal hereditary condition of female-pattern hair loss) are more sensitive to the hormone testosterone, causing hair to thin.

Folliculitis 
Inflammation of the hair follicles caused by bacterial infection.

Pemphigus Foliaceus 
Hair loss with scaling and possible scalp scabbing.

Hirsutism
Excessive body and facial hair, occurring for women mainly on the chin and upper lip.

Grey hair (Canites)
Hair is lacking in colour due to the lack of pigment - melanin for black or brown hair; pheomelanin for red or yellow hair. Pigment producing cells manufacture pigment (melanin) at specific ages. As we age these cells reduce the amount of pigment they produce. If pigment is lacking the hair becomes grey or white.

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Statistics 
  • The average number of hairs on an adult scalp is 100,000.
  • Blonde people have around 140,000 hairs, redheads have around 90,000.
  • Baldness affects 1.7% of the population, with over 4 million in the US alone.
  • Baldness generally occurs in 2 out of 3 men and 1 out of 5 women.
  • Male pattern baldness is thought to occur in 66% of adult males.
  • 1out of 10 children will develop eczema before they reach their teens.
  • Androgenetic alopecia affects approximately a third of susceptible women, and is most commonly seen after menopause.
  • Nail disorders comprise about 10% of all skin conditions.
  • Onychomycosis makes up approximately 50% of all nail disorders.
  • Around 10-15% of patients with psoriasis develop joint inflammation (psoriatic arthritis).
  • Around 50% of patients with psoriasis have finger and toenail conditions.
  • Around 50% of people with psoriasis, and 80% of people with inflammatory arthritis also have nail problems.
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Causes

There are many causes of poor hair condition. The most common and important causes are the chemical and hormonal imbalances that occur as a result of aging, illness and nutritional deficiency. Nutritional deficiency being the most significant, leading to chemical and hormonal imbalances and illness, and accounts for the majority of all hair disorders.

As well as nutritional deficiency, common causes of hair disease include:
 
  • Hormonal problems, e.g. underactive or overactive thyroid
  • An excessively low protein diet
  • Excess stress
  • Pregnancy or hormonal medication
  • Male or female hormone imbalance
  • Illness or major surgery (or the stress of such events)
  • Prescription medications, e.g. blood thinners (anticoagulants) and antidepressants...
  • Viral or backterial infections
  • Fungal infections - and controversially antifungal medicines
  • Underlying physical disease
  • Zinc deficiency.
The side effects of many medications also cause hair loss or scalp/skin problems, such as those often seen with acne medicines, e.g. Isotretinoin, depression medications, e.g. Lithium and diet pills, e.g. those containing amphetamines.

Poor nutrition 

It is difficult to get full nutrition from our food, meaning deficiency and disease are even ripe in otherwise healthy people. Poor eating and eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia cause the body to lose protein, vitamins and minerals important to sustain hair growth.

Even symptoms of illness such as the symptoms of diabetes and heart disease, which may include sudden weight loss or high fever, can cause nutritional deficiency and affect your hair health.

Drugs that cause hair loss include:
 
  • Chemotherapeutic agents
  • Prolonged use of Aspirin
  • Anticoagulants
  • Amphetamines
  • Retinoids (used for acne and skin problems)
  • Beta-adrenergic blockers (used to control blood pressure)
  • Cortisone
  • Antidepressants.
  • Heavy Metal Toxicity

Environmental contamination can result in the build up of heavy metals such as mercury, copper, zinc, lead, arsenic, cadmium, aluminium and nickel in your system. This places your body at serious risk of long-term disease.

Mercury ingestion has become the most well documented in recent years, with dental fillings containing around 50% mercury, as well as other metals. Contamination can also come from food and our water systems via contaminated soil, rivers and lakes.

Toxins ingested from this heavy metal accumulation collect in the follicles of your hair (amongst other organs, such as the kidneys, liver and brain) and remain there for years, often completely undetected.

Because your hair accumulates heavy metals in concentrations 1000 times more than any other biological tissue, a hair mineral analysis is one of the simple tests to diagnose the levels of heavy metals in your system.

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Diagnosis

Your health professional will ask questions about your diet, medicines you are taking, any recent illnesses, your menstrual cycle, any pregnancies and whether or not you are experiencing menopause and associated symptoms.

A physical examination will take place, possibly including hair and nail analyses or skin biopsy if necessary.

Blood tests may be requested if underlying disorders are suspected. These may include vitamin and mineral analyses to locate any nutritional deficiencies.

If a reaction to medication is thought to be the cause your health professional may suggest an alternative medication or therapy.

Neurological, circulatory and the musculoskeletal systems should all be examined, along with thorough history taking including details of occupation, family history and drug history.

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Signs and Symptoms

Because of their natural relationship and similar build, signs of hair, nail and skin disorders usually intertwine, especially if they are age-related, related to an underlying medical condition, or are down to nutritional deficiencies.

Common symptoms to look for include:
 

Hair  Nails Skin
Finding small patches of hair Slow growth Itching
Thinning of the hair Dull and brittle nails Lesions
Excessively dry hair Discoloration Moles
A flaking scalp Hardening/thickening of nails Rashes/Hives
Red, itchy or oily scalp Splitting at the fingertips Skin color changes
Frequently weak or tired Appearance of ridges or dents Tenderness
  Itching, redness or pain Swelling or bumps
    Leathery (thick) skin
    Hypersensitivity
    Peeling
    Bleeding or bruising

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Treatments

Damaged hair reflects your lack of inner health.

Hair loss, unhealthy hair and infected, brittle or splitting nails should not be ignored. Increasing global stress, pollution, nutritional deficiency and genetic deficiency all ensure poor hair and nail health continues, making prevention and fast treatment imperative for you to avoid serious health issues developing.

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Conventional treatments

There are many prescription medications on the market for the treatment of hair, scalp, skin and nail conditions. Although these medications have a short-term effect they do not address your underlying causes. They also have numerous detrimental side effects that can cause you serious health issues.

Common prescription medicines for hair heal