Main Reason For Hair Loss

Avoiding unnecessary concern and fear about hair loss is easily obtained by simply educating oneself on the possible causes and available follicular replacement therapies (hair replacement treatments) available in this day and age.

The primary cause of up to 90% of balding can be contributed to a condition known as Androgenetic Alopecia. This type of hair loss affects both men and women. Finding extra handfuls of hair falling out can be quite unsettling. Going bald affects not only the outward appearance, as a sign of premature aging, but can also lead to depression and a lack of self-worth.

There are three basic elements that must co-exist in order for this kind of baldness to occur. One is that certain hormones need to be reacting in a particular way, the next is that this needs to be happening for an extended period of time and the third is a genetic susceptibility to baldness.

Sometimes as early as the twenties or thirties, people begin to notice more hair than usual falling out each day. It is normal for 20-100 hairs per day to fall out; when a greater amount begins coming out regularly, this may be an early warning sign of future baldness and a good time to research follicular enhancement technologies and begin treatments.

This can occur in both men and women, since they both produce the hormones that are commonly associated with men: testosterone, androsteinedione, and dihydrotestosterone (DHT). People with a predisposition for baldness produce too much of an enzyme known as 5-alpha-reductase. Then through an interesting process this enzyme changes testosterone into DHT. Sooner or later, the hormone DHT binds with the receptor sites and these vulnerable hair follicles become unstable.

There are many types of drugs that have given cause for positive expectations as follicular replacement therapies for their ability to retard the production of DHT, one such drug is Propecia. According to the studies, when used in the early stages of hair loss, Propecia can be beneficial in slowing, ending or even in some cases, reversing hair loss.
The growth cycle of hair consists of three stages, anagen-the growing phase, catagen-the transitional and resting phase and telogen which is the final phase when the hair falls out and a new hair begins to grow and the cycle starts all over again. For most people this growth cycle can range from 3 to 8 years. However, a person with balding in their genes may find each growth cycle becoming progressively shorter and any new hair that does grow may start to become more and more thin. Going bald takes time, so noticing the subtle clues is important.

A number of factors including nutritional deficiencies, poor thyroid function, aging, nervousness, hormonal imbalances, chemotherapy and the use of various prescription drugs may explain the remaining 10% of people who experience hair loss.

By becoming a knowledgeable consumer you will be able to choose the type of follicular replacement therapies from the many available options that will best suit your hair loss needs. You may choose treatments ranging from drugs to various shampoos or topical lotions, hair replacement systems, natural remedies and several different types of surgery.

Successful Weight Loss with Green Tea Extract

Is Green tea is good for weight loss?
Yes, believe it or not, more and more often you’ll find green tea (or green tea extract) included in the compilations of many of the more popular weight loss supplements today. Tea has been used as an aid for weight loss. Drinking a cup of tea with each meal is a protocol for using tea successfully as a metabolic stimulant. Tea by itself carries only 4 calories per serving, and it’s most healthy when consumed with nothing added. The caffeine in tea increases body function to help burn more calories and the polyphenols seem to aid in the digestion of fat, truly making it a Chinese diet tea.

Green tea is recommended for the diet aid mainly because of its multifaceted effects on health. The major active component that attributes the properties to the green tea are the polyphenols such as catechin, epicatechin, epicatechin gallate, gallaogatechin, epigallocatechin, and apigallocatechin gallate (known as EGCG).

Green tea contains high concentrations of catechin polyphenols. These compounds work with other chemicals to intensify levels of fat oxidation and thermogenesis, where heat is created in the body by burning fuels such as fat. Drinking Japanese green tea regularly will increase your metabolism and help burn fat safely and naturally.

In Thailand, India, Japan and China, green tea has been used as a medicine for a variety of conditions from helping with digestion to healing wounds.

But while many in the medical field proclaim the wonders of this much talked about tea, others are quick to point out that there is little or no evidence to support at least some of the claims.

Glucose Regulator
Green tea also acts as a glucose regulator i.e. it slows the rise in blood sugar following a meal, by slowing the action of a particular digestive enzyme called amylase. This enzyme is pivotal in the breakdown of starches that can cause blood sugar levels to soar following a meal.

Green tea contains Vitamin B, C and thiamine. This will ensure that our brain cells have sufficient energy to protect the nervous system from being over stimulated. A good nourished brain will surely help in achieving your weight loss goals.

In November 1999, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published the results of a study at the University of Geneva in Switzerland, in which researchers found that men who were given a combination of caffeine and green tea extract burned more calories than those given only caffeine or a placebo.

The study conducted by the University of Geneva on the weight loss benefit of green tea extract implicated that green tea extract can also help thyroid patients. According to dietitian Lynn Moss, M.S., R.D., green tea extract is a healthier choice for people with thyroid who may be too sensitive to stimulants. Green tea extract can promote weight loss by increasing metabolism without over stimulating the adrenal glands.

Bottom Line: Green tea helps you with weight loss by boosting your metabolic rate, regulating your blood sugar, suppressing your appetite and giving you something else besides that high calorie, high sugar coffee beverage to drink in the morning. While it’s not the magic bullet, it can definitely give you a boost in weight loss and in your overall health

Obesity Problems with Acomplia and Battle Chronic Weight

More and more people are turning to pharmaceutical solutions to help them battle chronic weight and obesity problems. While we would all like to be able to control our weight through diet and exercise, many in our society find that they just can’t do it without a helping hand. The pace of our lives means we have to grab whatever food is available to us when we have a free moment and to eat it as fast as we can. We don’t even take the time to stop and think about whether or not we are full. We just eat until it is gone.

We eat without conscience, and we are paying the price. Drug companies are beginning to move closer to an answer. A series of slimming pills have, and are being, developed which work to help your brain know when your body has had enough. These drugs work with the nervous system, turning on certain switches and blocking transmission to others. When the drugs block your body’s neuro- transmissions in the right sequence, they can control your appetite.

Though Acomplia has yet to gain approval from the FDA, it has already given birth to several competitors. Pharmaceutical giants Merck and Pfizer have both entered the marketplace with their own clinical trials of diet pills.

Acomplia, and the newcomers, are having a hard time finding FDA approval as a new kind of drug. They work by blocking receptors in the brain. Called a cannabinoid-1 (CB-1) receptor antagonist, the developers of these drugs are seeking ways to keep you from being hungry. Some block the body’s desire for fatty foods, while other’s block the body’s desire to overeat. In both cases, the drugs are working to combat one of the most destructive problems facing our society; people who use food as a drug.

When people talk about needing comfort food, it is a mental or emotional need that they are meeting. There is no thought to eating for nutritional value. People eat because of the way that it makes them feel. This is destructive behavior, and these weight loss pills work to beat back those cravings.

Merck is currently testing a drug called Taranabant. In extensive Phase II and Phase III clinical trials this drug has proven effective may have demonstrated fewer side effects than Acomplia. Likewise, Pfizer has been testing its own drug that blocks brain receptors. As yet un-named, this drug seems to be following closely in Taranabant’s footsteps of success.

As both drugs near the end of their trials and go before the Food and Drug Administration for approval, their developers are closely watching what is happening with Acomplia’s efforts to get FDA approval. Acomplia, made from the base drug rimonabant, is supposed to be marketed in the US under the name Zimulti. Both Merck and Pfizer are curious to see how well it fares in the eyes of FDA regulators. If Zimulti doesn’t pass, then the two giants may have the market cornered with their own products which might display fewer side effects.

Merck has not yet reported on Phase III of its trial, but interviews with participants leads analysts to believe the drug is being well received. This dramatic reduction in side effects from Acomplia/Zimulti could catapult Taranabant through the FDA process and make it the new household name in weight loss drugs. If this were to happen, it is likely that Pfizer’s product, which seems to be a little bit behind Merck’s in development, will be playing catch up. Initial reports say that both drugs could go before the FDA as soon as next year.

This all spells bad news for the makers of Acomplia/Zimulti. In their most recent attempt at approval, the FDA denied the sale of the drug within the United States citing the need for additional testing and a better understanding of long term side effects. This denial has left some saying that Acomplia won’t be passed by the FDA until at least 2010. If Merck and Pfizer are able to get their own products passed before then, then they will undoubtedly have earned the dominant market share by that time.

The very thing that makes Acomplia work, its ability to alter the operation of neuro- sensors, is what makes it so dangerous. Stories of suicidally severe depression are rampant on the internet and from consumer watchdog groups. Whether or not Acomplia helps people to lose weight is not in question. The questions all circle around how healthy it is for you overall, and the question of mental health is as important in this discussion as is physical. Until these questions are addressed, the future isn’t shining very brightly for Acomplia in the United States.