“When I cut my hair, the whole sound changed, my style changed.” That was singer Rihanna. If you are not an Anupam Kher or Rakesh Roshan, hair is a cause for concern for most of us. Now Dr. Akshay Batra has come up with “Hair: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know”. The book published by Embassy Books was released by actress Jiah Khan at India Habitat Centre recently.
This book is divided into five chapters. It gives extensive information about hair. Batra says, “This book will help common man to understand about hair. It is not meant for self-treatment. Just read it and know about your hair. And if you feel there is a problem go and consult a trichologist.”
The first chapter is an introduction to hair. You can know the difference between healthy and unhealthy hair in this chapter. Batra says, “In the first chapter sixteen questions are asked to understand whether your hair is healthy or not. Just answer them and know the condition of your hair.”
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What are the signs of healthy hair? He elaborates, “A healthy scalp has natural healthy hair. It has healthy pores and each pore contains multiple hair shafts. A soft texture denotes healthy hair. It can move easily as it has adequate elasticity and tensile strength. Healthy hair has a natural sheen. It doesn’t get tangled when wet. The water content of healthy hair gives it a straight appearance.”
Topics like types of hair, hair loss, greying of hair, dandruff, damaged hair, cause of hair loss, etc are also explained. He says, “This book is based on research, survey and case studies. People come to me with the problem of male pattern hair loss, female pattern hair loss, hair loss in patches, dandruff, hair lice and damaged hair, etc. Male pattern baldness affects 20 percent of men at the age of 20. And it affects 50 percent of men at the age of 50. Ninety percent hair loss is related to male pattern hair loss.”
A particular hormone is responsible for hair loss in men. “Hair growth cycle in men with pattern baldness produces shorter and thinner hair with each advancing cycle. This happens under the influence of the hormone Dihydrotestosterone (DTH). It means each time a man’s hair fall, the new hair that comes up is thinner than earlier strand,” explains Batra.
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He says the causes of female hair loss are hormones, thyroid, menopause and anaemia, etc. “Female pattern hair loss doesn’t quite progress to a state of complete hair loss as male pattern hair loss. About 10 percent of women have hair loss before menopause and 40 percent after menopause.”
Batra also mentions different treatments for hair problems in this book. Information about conventional treatment for hair loss, mesotherapy, homeopathy, hair concealers, laser treatment and hair transplantation can be found in the book. Batra also talks about nutritional food for healthy hair. “Vitamin A, B-vitamin, folic acid, biotin, vitamin C, vitamin E, protein, copper, zinc, iron, selenium, silica, omega-3 and 6 are very important to keep one’s hair healthy and beautiful.”