Marion Regional Healthcare System

Health Shorts

Head Lice/Hair

Balding Doesn’t Make You Look Old 

Men who become bald worry that it makes them look old, but a twin study of men in their 70s suggested otherwise. When subjects were asked to view pictures of the men and guess their ages, no correlation was found between degree of balding and overestimation of age.  About 20 percent of men with genetically determined hair loss have noticeable balding by age 20. [SOURCE: Helle Rexbye, et al, “Hair Loss among Elderly Men: Etiology and Impact on Perceived Age,” The Journals of Gerontology, Series, August, 2005; D.R. Nyholt, et al, “The Heritability of Early Onset Male Pattern Baldness,” American Journal of Human Genetics, October 2001]

Balding May Be Marker for Heart Disease  

Male pattern hair loss is not a disease and does not cause any medical disorder, but it may be a marker for cardiovascular disease. According to data from the large Physicians' Health Study, men with severe baldness on the vertex of the head were 36 percent more likely to develop heart disease compared to men with full heads of hair. Mild balding was associated with a 23 percent increased risk; moderate hair loss, with a 32 percent greater risk. No increased risk was associated with frontal baldness.  [SOURCE: "Baldness: Does Appearance Matter?" Harvard Men's Health Watch, November, 2002; P.A. Lotufo, et al, "Male Pattern Baldness and Coronary Heart Disease: The Physicians' Health Study," Archives of Internal Medicine, January 24, 2000]

Don’t Blame Your Dog or Cat 

Head lice require human hair to live and breed. Since they can’t fly or jump, they are passed along primarily by head-to-head contact and sometimes by sharing of hats or hair care products.   Household pets or other animals can’t catch head lice; nor can they transmit them to humans. Body lice, pubic lice and the lice sometimes encountered on plants or birds are different species and do not live in human hair. [SOURCE: Barbara P. Homeier, M.D., “Head Lice,” KidsHealth, reviewed April, 2005; Richard J. Pollack, Anthony Kiszewski and Andrew Spielman, “Head Lice: Information and Frequently Asked Questions,” Harvard School of Public Health]

Don't Sweat the Wrinkles, Gray Hair  

Most Americans associate gray hair, balding and facial wrinkles with aging, but there's no reason to worry if you show any of these signs earlier than expected. The Copenhagen City Heart study, using a random sample of 20,000 men and women, found no association between these signs of aging and a shorter life span. The one exception involved a small subgroup of men with no gray hair and a slight but significant reduced risk of death.  [SOURCE: Peter Schnohr, Jorgen Nyboe, Peter Lange and Gorm Jensen, "Longevity and Gray Hair, Baldness, Facial Wrinkles, and Arcus Senilis in 13,000 Men and Women," The Journals of Gerontology, Series A, September, 1998]

Don’t Use Kerosene or Gasoline 

Home remedies for head lice recommend applying mayonnaise, petroleum jelly, olive oil, vinegar and other substances to the hair to suffocate lice. Reports regarding the effectiveness of these treatments are mixed and have not been proven in clinical studies. Gasoline, kerosene or insecticides–on their own or in combination with other substances–are dangerous and should never be used.  [SOURCE: Kosta Y. Mumcuoglu, et al, “International Guidelines for Effective Control of Head Louse Infestations,” Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, April, 2007]

Effectiveness of Lice Drugs Declines 

Head lice are rapidly developing resistance to many of the most common medications used to treat them. Permethrin 1%, a common over-the-counter treatment, demonstrated 96 percent efficacy after a single application a in study conducted in 1985 but only 45 percent efficacy in a similar study conducted in 2006. [SOURCE: Mark Lebwohl, Lily Clark and Jacob Levitt, “Therapy for Head Lice Based on Life Cycle, Resistance, and Safety Considerations,” Pediatrics, May, 2007]

Head Lice More Prevalent? 

If you think the head lice problem is a bigger issue than it was when you were a child, you’re right. In the United Kingdom, the number of prescriptions written for head lice shampoo increased 37-fold between 1980 and 1995. It’s believed that a similar increase occurred in the United States.  Six to twelve million American children are bothered by head lice each year. Some of the increased prevalence can be attributed to the evolution of strains of lice that are resistant to available medications. [SOURCE: Rachel Nowak, “Hair Wars: They Have Sucked Our Blood for Millenia, Resisting All Efforts To Defeat Them,” New Scientist, December 25, 2004]

Propecia Fattens Hair  

In a four-year study of 66 balding males, aged 22 to 40, those taking finasteride (Propecia) showed a mean 21.6 percent increase in hair weight-which takes into account the number of hairs per unit of scalp, hair thickness and rate of growth. Subjects given placebo had a 24.5 percent decrease in hair weight-a difference of 46.1 percent between the two treatment groups.  [SOURCE: Hawaii Dermatology Seminar, Skin Disease Foundation Meetings, 2003; Bruce Jancin, "Four-Year Data Show Finasteride Fattens Hair," Family Practice News, April 15, 2003]

What To Do about Unwanted Hair?  

About 5 to 15 percent of American women are troubled by hair they don't want-in typically male areas such as the face, chest, back or abdomen. Excess levels of testosterone, a hormone produced by both males and females, is usually to blame-a condition known as hirsutism. Hirsutism may be caused by polycystic ovary syndrome, disorders of the adrenal glands or certain drugs such as danazol (used to treat endometriosis and fibrocystic breast disease). The first step should be a physical examination to determine the cause. Weight loss may help by decreasing production of male hormones in fatty tissue and lessening the effects of polycystic ovary syndrome. In the meantime, unwanted hair can be bleached or shaved (which, contrary to myth, does not increase hair growth). Removing hair with depilatories such as Nair, plucking or waxing is not recommended since these methods can damage skin. Electrolysis and laser removal are effective but costly.  [SOURCE: "Handling Hirsutism: Too Much Hair in All the Wrong Places," Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter, April, 2004]

Who Gets Head Lice? 

Head lice are more commonly found on children than adults because youngsters are more likely to have close physical contact with each other at school or play. Most likely to be infested are white girls, age 3 to 12, not because of their personal hygiene but due to their behavior which is more likely to result in direct contact or sharing of hair care items.  Because of the oval shape of their hair shafts, African Americans are rarely infested with head lice prevalent in the United States. [SOURCE: Gregg M. Kirchofer, James H. Price and Susan K. Telljohann, “Primary Grade Teachers’ Knowledge and Perception of Head Lice,” Journal of School Health, May, 2001]