Health news blog

Most men in our community are destined to develop receding hair lines. This is entirely genetically determined, and is not related to vitamin deficiency. Most people don’t realize that balding generally starts in the late teens or early twenties, rather than in middle age. It is not uncommon to hear boys in late teenage life complaining that their hair is thinning and they may blame this on shampoos, diet and various other irrelevant factors. There are many clinics in Australia promoting cures for baldness. Unfortunately, many naive young men have parted with thousands of dollars for nothing more than wishful thinking. It is advisable to thoroughly investigate the claims of so-called ‘professionals’ before parting with your money, and if possible speak to men who have already undergone the treatments. If such ‘cures’ really work, their promoters should not be averse to you doing this.There is no real preventative measure for this genetic process. Although many hair care products promise thicker hair, there is no special shampoo, tonic or vitamin preparation that will alter the process.A great deal of interest has recently focused around a new preparation called Minoxidil (Rogaine). This product does decrease hair fall and stimulate hair growth, although this usually takes one to two years. It is a very expensive preparation, but at the same time is the only one currently available which at least shows some definite benefit. Minoxidil appears to be safe, with no known side effects.
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To avoid the sun would be to exist without one of the great pleasures in life. However, as with most enjoyable things, overindulgence may result in severe and irreversible damage.

The sun is really a powerful star made up of gases at an incredible surface temperature of 6000° Celsius. Although it is 150 million kilometres away from the earth its vast energy, in the form of electromagnetic radiation, reaches us in one minute. Outside the earth’s atmosphere, direct exposure to sunlight would be fatal, due to the lethal effect on living cells of large doses of X. gamma, and short ultraviolet rays. Fortunately, we are protected by the absorbing or scattering effect of dust particles, moisture droplets, and ozone in the atmosphere.

The electromagnetic energy coming from the sun is comprised of a wide range of radiation which may be arranged according to wavelengths, which are measured in nanometers (nm). This radiation Includes X-rays, which are the shortest, and ranges through gamma rays, ultraviolet rays, visible light and infrared waves to radiowaves, which are the longest. Most of this radiation Is in the form of X, gamma and short ultraviolet rays, which fortunately never reach the Earth.

Ultraviolet rays range between 200 and 400 nm. UVC below 290 nm is filtered out before reaching us, and we are left with the suntan-bequeathing radiation UVB and UVA, which makes up less than 1 per cent of the total solar energy. UVB (290-320 nm) is a slightly shorter wavelength than UVA (320-400 nm), and therefore docs not penetrate the skin as deeply. Visible light, a longer wavelength again, penetrates even more deeply than UVA (its ability to penetrate the skin can be seen by shining a torch light through the skin of the webs between the fingers). Sunlight, as we receive it, consists more of visible light and infra-red radiation than ultraviolet radiation; these affect our skin also.

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