Stress can lead to baldness

Stress has been fingered in most health problems confronting people today. Adewale Oshodi reports on how the state of mind can aid balding in men and women, while revealing ways to reduce stress.

WHEN the word ‘baldness’ is mentioned, people’s mind goes to a man whose hair loss has typically resulted in a receding hair line, thereby revealing a head free of hair.

However, baldness is more than this. While the most common type of baldness is the male-pattern or permanent-pattern baldness, there is also the female-pattern baldness whereby the hair can become thin over the entire scalp.

While most men who have permanent-pattern baldness or hair loss may have inherited the trait, there are other causes of hair loss in both men and women, and stress is one of them.

According to the Oxford Dictionary’s definition of stress, “it is a demand upon physical or mental energy.” Familydoctor.org also defines stress in many ways: It says stress is an excessive demand upon our energy, one that we find hard to cope with, which calls on our reserves and which cannot be sustained indefinitely without relief.

Stress is also feeling bad, due to troubles beyond our control or it is the reaction of the mind and body to change. Stress is a modern day problem that can be blamed for all types of illnesses, including hair loss or baldness.

According to Dr. Bayo Kolawole of Grace Hospital, Ibadan, the hair has a way of telling if everything is okay with an individual or not. “If one is physically and emotionally well, it could easily be seen in the hair as it would look radiant and shinning, and the scalp would be pliant and moist, especially for women.

“Also, If one is not well physically, psychologically or emotionally, it could also be detected in the hair, as it becomes dull and begins to fall out, and the hair will become waxy with the overproduction of traumatised sebaceous glands,” Dr. Kolawole explained.

The medical practitioner said the hair loss brought about as a result of stress is called telogen effluvium or diffuse hair loss and with this condition, hair can be shed from any area of the scalp, adding that such can happen either during either the anagen or telogen phase of the hair growth cycle.

Speaking on what actually causes stress, Dr. Kolawole explained that work and thoughts about how to make money were two of the biggest causes of stress.

“People think about money a lot these days, as well as the problems they are facing at the work place and when such things take over their mind, people artiste basic health habits.

“People worry about keeping their jobs because somebody who is more efficient than them has been employed by their company. Stressful situations may be triggered by groundless fears and as a result, the person would no longer be doing what he or she is supposed to do healthwise.

“However, there is little concrete medical evidence that stress contributes to baldness. This statement could be applied to any condition that may be blamed on stress. Although it is not directly the cause of the problem; hair loss does appear to be a side effect of stress,” the medical practitioner concluded.

Since stress gives room for different kinds of ailments to take over the body, familydoctor.org lists ways in which stress can be reduced or even taken away by individuals.

The first is to dissociate. This means putting away all worries out of the head. Some people can do this easier than others but one must try to ignore the problem for as long as possible, and the longer a problem, is ignored, the more the time for the body’s fight and flight reaction to lessen, thereby reducing stress and anxiety.

Having fun is another way to reduce stress: Laughing and cheering oneself up. This can be achieved in the company of lively friends. Another way of reducing stress is through exercise. It is an effective way to relieve stress, as it keeps the body fit. In this case, one must choose an exercise one loves doing and give it full concentration.

Relaxation is another good way of turning off all one’s worries. When one turns one’s mind off everything, there can be a very therapeutic effect. Also, try being a darkened room for half or hour a day with no disturbances, such as sound at all. While lying, think of nothing or think of only good things that have happened to you and with that, stress will be reduced or taken away completely.

For music lovers, staying in a comfortable place while the artiste one loves plays at an average volume. This is known to have a great healing power, if one does it regularly.

Sleeping is another good way to turn off all worries. If stress takes over one, one of the things it would first take away is a good sound sleep. Diet also reduces stress. Just as the residue from drugs and medication and all the other negative things that we put in our bodies show up in our hair, the positive results of nutritional case are evidenced there also. There are no magic pills we can take or miracle foods we can eat to have healthy hair, but we can feed our hair and scalp by eating the foods that promote physical health and well being.

We must achieve a balance among the essential nutrients, protein, fat and carbohydrates, as well as vitamins and minerals, to achieve a healthy and balanced body.

Eating variety of foods in each of these groups for maximum health is recommended. Only one-fifth of our daily protein intake should come from meats, including fish and poultry.

Foods rich in the B vitamins (green vegetables, whole grains, liver, peas and beans, fish, cheese and eggs), Vitamin A (spinach, tomatoes and melons) and Vitamin C (citrus fruits, tomatoes) are vital to the health and well being of the hair and scalp, as are calcium-rich foods.

The chemical content of the hair is so drastically altered by pollutants that the real nutritional effects of the diet can be lost unless we can reach and maintain that wonderful, delicate balance.