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INHERENT METABOLIC INFLUENCE ON HAIR GROWTH
AN ELECTROLOGIST TALKS ABOUT HAIR GROWTH
by SHELBY OWENS, CME

FEMALE HIRSUTISM

Perhaps the most ignored hair problem is female hirsutism of the inherent type. Most women with facial hair are classified in this familial or idiopathic category because no disease or underlying hormone imbalance is evident. This hair growth may start with one or two long hairs on the chin or upper lip, and if left alone, the number of heavier hairs increases at a consistent rate throughout the life of the individual. This familial hair growth may accelerate with hormonal changes of pregnancy, childbirth and menopause or during periods of emotional stress.

woman Idiopathic hirsutism is usually considered just a "cosmetic" problem that females who experience it have to deal with. Often it is only when the problem has accelerated into a full facial beard or this hirsutism extends to the mid-line chest or abdomen that this problem is associated with other health problems that may also be occurring.

Familial hirsutism occurs in the same manner and in the same frequency as male pattern baldness, since both conditions are attributed to excess androgens, or male type hormones, in the human body. Much has been written about cosmetic cures for baldness and hirsutism but there has never been a major effort by legitimate researchers to look further into the underlying health aspects of genetic baldness and hirsutism.

man Baldness has always seemed to be more important than hirsutism, probably because it is the more obvious of the two conditions. Females usually hide their hirsutism, so there is no accurate count of those affected. Educated guesses of just how many women experience hirsutism range from 1.25 million to 60 million women in the U.S. alone. Logic should indicate that there are at least as many cases of hirsutism in females as of baldness in males.

The argument for this research may stem from logic. If excess androgen levels in the genetically affected individual are not considered a product of glandular disorder, then it is only logical to assume they come from deviations in other metabolic processes in the body, including digestion. The liver and digestive system are very active in hormone production, and enzymes are produced in all body cells. These enzymes, which are complex proteins that are capable of inducing chemical changes in other substances without changing themselves, are an integral part of all body functions.

DOCUMENTATION

Doctor The first book about hair removal that documented case histories of hirsute females was by a dermatologist, Dr. George Fox, in 1886. Dr. Charles Michel, a St. Louis Missouri opthamologist, had developed the electrolysis procedure in 1875, and used it to ablate ingrown eyelashes. Dr. Michel shared the results of his experiments with his colleagues at medical meetings and dermatologists, seeing the need for an effective means of hair removal began to use the procedure in their own practices. Since these events occurred and were presented long before medical practice required formal education and licensing, much of this information was not included when the beauty trades adopted electrolysis in the early 1900's. To include female hirsutism and baldness in current medical research may advance genetic knowledge to provide a better quality of life.

RESEARCH

Heart attacks are the leading cause of death from disease in the U.S. The published research of aspirin use and the fish oil studies have both become controversial because the results were generalized and made no allowances for the difference in genetic qualities between DNA Strand sexes or nationalities. The study of hair growth and hair loss patterns and their androgen influence could provide a diverse approach in the study of genetic disease by establishing a new and different genetic typing of individuals and their predisposition to certain diseases.

Dr. Robert Greenblatt, M.D., Professor of Endocrinology at the Medical College of Georgia first published differences in ethnic typing in his book, The Hirsute Female. In Chapter 2, Interdependence of Genetic, Aging, and Endocrine Factors in Hirsutism, it states 40 percent of white women by the time of menopause acquire some coarse facial hairs. This is in sharp contrast to the complete absence of hirsutism in 200 randomly selected Japanese women sixty or more years of age. Greenblatt also noted that in men of older age, hairs on the ears were more pronounced in the Caucasian as compared with the Asian males of the same age. In the Caucasian males, male pattern baldness occurred earlier, more commonly, and more extensively. There was no African or any subtypes in Greenblatt's published studies.

Another interesting contrast is the fact that Dr. Fox stated that many of his patients claimed that no female relatives experienced this hair. Dr. Fox believed that inherent hair came from the paternal ancestry, the father's mother, e.g. It is commonly acknowledged that male-pattern baldness is inherited from the mother's family in most cases.

There have been other studies such as the one published in Reader's Digest a few years ago that also indicate some diseases follow the same pattern. The Reader's Digest Article noted that in a Swedish study of strokes, it was noted that a large percentage of men who had strokes, also had mothers who had suffered strokes.

Dr. Fox wrote of his wondering and pondering of this cause of hirsutism in females. He admitted that he knew very little about it, and had not found a common thread among his patients. He states that some were in fine physical condition, while others were debilitated. Some were extremely nervous, while others were not. Some were stout and some thin. Some are dark and others of light complexion. They ranged from 20 to 50 years of age; while of others who are married, some had children, some had none. What was most profound in his writings was the fact that he emphasized that female hirsutism is not associated with masculine traits since most of his patients presented the very highest type of feminine refinement. He also stated that he was doubtful that facial hirsutism depended on a malformation or imperfect development of the reproductive organs as some had claimed.

Dr. Fox mentioned the depressed mental condition that existed in many of his patients, which he believed was a symptom of nervous disease. He also mentioned that some aberrations could be due to perverted nutrition. He then proceeded to cite 12 of his more memorable cases. Careful study of these cases would indicate that they parallel those that present-day hair removal specialists deal with.