Microelements and hair: what can a strand of hair tell you?

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Svetlana Ryzhova– candidate of medical sciences, dermatovenerologist-cosmetologist, scientific director of the educational center of KEM "Optimed" (Russia, Moscow)

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No one will doubt that nutrition has a direct impact on hair growth and appearance. And to achieve results in improving hair health, the modern beauty industry focuses not only on cosmetic products, but also on the correction of mineral and protein metabolism.

Before we start talking about the microelement composition of hair, I will give a few interesting facts. The first is from the book by B. Bryson "A Short History of Nearly Everything": "Newton was undoubtedly an odd person - an extraordinary thinker, but withdrawn, joyless, irritable to the point of madness, legendarily absent-minded (they said that in the morning, hanging his legs over the side of the bed, he could sit for hours, pondering the ideas that suddenly came to him) ... When a strand of Newton's hair was chemically analyzed in 1970, mercury was discovered - an element of interest to alchemists, hat makers, barometer makers, and perhaps no one else - and the concentration of mercury was forty times higher than the natural level. Therefore, it is not too surprising that in the morning he forgot to get out of bed."

Here is another example from my personal practice. A patient came to see me complaining of weakness, rapid fatigue, dry, brittle hair, and increasing hair loss. After collecting anamnesis and conducting examinations, including various tests, among other things, a high mercury content in her hair was revealed. At a subsequent appointment, I told the patient the results of the hair mineralogram and suggested that she had most likely worked for a certain period of time in a “harmful” production facility and that, in all likelihood, this was the cause of her complaints. The patient turned pale and asked how I knew this? After all, it turned out that she really had to undergo “occupational therapy” in exactly such a facility, although she kept silent about it for certain reasons. This is what a tiny strand of hair can “tell” about.

What is a mineralogram?

Many deviations in health may be associated with a deficiency or, conversely, an excess of certain micro- and macroelements in the body. An imbalance of bioelements can lead to both functional deviations and various diseases. Children and adolescents during periods of intensive growth, pregnant and lactating women, people with chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, endocrine system, those prone to frequent colds, and those with increased emotional and physical stress are primarily susceptible to a deficiency of chemical elements.

There are special tests that allow us to identify bioelemental imbalance. Various biological substrates (blood, urine, and even hair) are suitable for analysis.

Hair is capable of accumulating and storing “information” about a person’s mineral metabolism throughout its entire growth period. A strand of hair can be used to conduct a correlation analysis that reflects the deficiency or excess of micro- and macroelements in the entire body – a spectral analysis of hair for trace element content followed by the construction of a mineralogram, that is, a study of the body’s mineral profile, or trace element “portrait”, based on the presence and concentration of chemical elements in hair. Taking material for analysis is extremely simple: for spectral analysis, it is necessary to take a strand of hair with a total width of 1 cm and a length of 3–4 cm from several areas of the occipital region. Most often, spectral analysis of hair includes the determination of a complex of 25 basic (essential) trace elements, a detailed analysis of 40 (25 basic and 15 additional, including toxic) elements. Based on the results of the spectral analysis, an individual program for correcting mineral metabolism disorders is drawn up.

Hair analysis for microelements is no less informative than other methods, and in many respects has a number of significant advantages.

Firstly, the content of trace elements in the blood and urine may not always correspond to their actual amount in the body. Often the content of trace elements in the blood serum is a consequence of a certain diet or recent physical or emotional stress, taking dietary supplements, multivitamin preparations, medications, etc. Hair shafts do not participate in direct metabolism, its metabolic processes, their chemical composition is not directly affected by environmental and polluting factors, the accumulation of substances in them occurs over a longer period of time.

Secondly, hair, unlike other biological substrates of the body, does not require additional measures for their preservation before the study, is almost not subject to temperature effects, and therefore, their study can be carried out not urgently, but on a planned basis, which allows for examination of a fairly large number of patients without the cost of additional storage measures (reagents, environments, refrigerators, etc.).

Thirdly, This method is absolutely painless, safe and non-invasive, and can be easily repeated if necessary.

«Diet» for hair

Many patients of trichologists mistakenly believe that if they regularly take dietary supplements containing vitamins and minerals necessary for healthy hair, then they can not adhere to a certain diet and sit on very strict diets - everything will still be fine with their hair. Teenage girls are especially susceptible to these myths, often dissatisfied with their appearance and weight. Alas, this is not true. It is no secret that a balanced diet is a key link in the issue of health and beauty of skin and hair. Food (especially in the first half of the day) should contain a sufficient amount of proteins, which, in turn, are a source of amino acids - the "building blocks" of which everything in our body is built, including skin and hair. Fruits are recommended between meals, and vegetarians should definitely take iron supplements and vitamins B and C. Against the background of the popularity of the concept of a healthy lifestyle, it is becoming fashionable in the summer to give preference to fruits and greens, neglecting proteins of animal origin. Without diminishing the usefulness of plant foods, it is worth noting that protein consumption must be maintained at the proper level. Otherwise, in the fall, you will notice that your hair has begun to fall out intensively.

It is also necessary to drink a lot of water – 6-7 glasses a day (especially in summer). Ordinary table or mineral water is the best drink for both skin and hair. By the way, even if the diet that will allow you to bring your skin, hair, and nails into excellent condition is selected adequately, you need to be patient: changes in the diet will affect the condition of your hair no earlier than in three to four months.

Essential micronutrients
In addition to nutrients, which are a source of energy and building material for cells, our body needs a certain dose of microelements every day. Not always do they enter the body in sufficient quantities with food and water, and there are frequent cases of non-absorption of certain substances (for example, with intestinal dysbacteriosis). Both obvious and hidden deficiency of microelements and vitamins affects the condition of the skin and hair.
Iron is a microelement, the deficiency of which affects the condition of the hair first of all. Hair becomes dull and brittle, splits both transversely and longitudinally, diffuse alopecia begins - hair loss without clear zonality, all over the head, exceeding the physiological norm (its severity and duration depends on the degree of iron deficiency). The weaker sex is more susceptible to this disease than men, - the most common causes of iron loss are heavy menstrual bleeding, diets and "cleansing" of the body, increased physical activity, pregnancy and breastfeeding. If a woman adheres to vegetarian diets for quite a long time and also does shaping, - unfortunately, in a very large percentage of cases, anemia develops, obvious or hidden. Obvious iron deficiency anemia - a diagnosis, the main criterion for which (in addition to clinical signs - rapid fatigue, apathy, even depression, pale and dry skin, splitting nails and hair loss) is a laboratory blood test, which shows a decrease in the hemoglobin level. Latent anemia is not so easy to detect: clinical signs may be unclear or absent altogether. Sometimes the leading or only symptom is dehydration of the skin and hair loss. Laboratory diagnostics can confirm or refute the diagnosis - but in this case, they focus not on the hemoglobin level (it may be normal), but on such indicators as transferrin, ferritin and serum iron proteins. In the practice of a trichologist, these indicators are among the most in demand, and, starting work, he must find a suitable laboratory in which these tests are performed.

No less important bioelements are iodine, copper, zinc, selenium, silicon, and sulfur.

Iodine– a structural component of thyroid hormones. Participates in the regulation of protein, fat, water-electrolyte metabolism. Iodine deficiency in the body leads to hypothyroidism and, as a consequence, to symptomatic hair loss. Other signs of hypothyroidism are dry skin, thin, brittle hair and nails, and decreased hair growth rate. With iodine deficiency, focal and even total alopecia, which is autoimmune in nature, can develop.

Copper– important «female» an element that is essential for the normal synthesis of female sex hormones – estrogens. Copper – a coenzyme in many biochemical processes, is of great importance for maintaining the normal structure of elastin and collagen. Copper deficiency can cause hair pigmentation disorders. Early graying can also be a manifestation of this bioelement deficiency.

Zinc – an element necessary for the synthesis of proteins, including collagen. Zinc plays a vital role in the processes of skin regeneration, hair and nail growth, and sebaceous gland secretion. It regulates the activity of the latter and controls the secretion of male sex hormones, the excess of which can lead to hyperandrogenic alopecia.

Selenium – an element that stimulates both general and local immunity. With selenium deficiency, hair growth slows down, and sometimes dystrophic changes in nails can develop.

Silicon – an important biogenic element that helps produce elastin and collagen, which in turn gives the skin and hair elasticity and prevents thinning and brittleness.

Sulfur – participant in collagen synthesis. In addition, the most important chemical bonds in hair shafts are disulfide bonds, which give hair strength.

Many types of hair loss (alopecia) are directly or indirectly related to a deficiency of one or another bioelement.

Hair loss in the form of focal alopecia often associated with deficiencies of iodine, zinc, selenium, some amino acids and vitamins; total or subtotal hair loss – with iodine, zinc, copper, selenium deficiencies or excess thallium; diffuse or androgenetic hair loss – with deficiencies of copper, iron, iodine.

But not always such conditions can be caused by one deficiency: excess of one element against the background of deficiency of another can also cause deterioration of hair quality. Therefore, treatment of hair loss of any form of alopecia cannot be completely successful if the imbalance of bioelements is not corrected. Based on the results of the mineralogram, an experienced doctor can create a specific diet, as well as prescribe individual dosages of microelements and vitamins, select the "correct" multivitamin-mineral preparations.

External replenishment of microelement deficiency
Applying microelements directly to hair shafts in the form of shampoos and masks does not make much sense: the shaft is an already formed structure, minerals simply cannot get inside. Therefore, it is necessary to act differently: deliver them to the roots using both external means and non-invasive and invasive methods. Thus, from minimally invasive methods, various types of mesotherapy (classical, microneedling) with vitamin and mineral preparations are currently used for these purposes.

For hair restoration, absolutely safe non-invasive methods can be used. For example, these can be procedures with the sequential use of peeling serums, special concentrated booster compositions that deliver active ingredients (microencapsulated retinol, L-ascorbic acid, MAF, ceramides, iron, copper, manganese, magnesium, silicon) to the hair follicles. This method allows for painless and safe action on the scalp, on the hair roots, providing enhanced trophism of the hair follicles, supplying them with "building material" to stimulate the growth of thick, shiny, healthy hair.

First published: KOSMETIK international journal, №1/2013