Chemical absorption myth

First, it is not true that whatever you put on your skin gets absorbed in to you body. Skin is designed to keep things out of your body. It is an excellent barrier to almost all chemicals. This is why doctors still have to give you shots or you have to take pills for most medicines. Some drugs, like those delivered through nicotine patches really work, but overall very few chemicals can penetrate your skin and get into your system!

Naturally Nasty

Second, natural products do not necessarily protect your overall health. I don’t know where this comes from, but “natural” does not make something nice. Consider all the awful natural things in the world like poison ivy, radiation, or cyanide.

In fact, “natural” ingredients are often more dangerous than the synthetic ones. These ingredients can harbor disease and allergy-causing microbes that can send some people to the hospital. Peanut allergies, wheat allergies, and hay fever are all caused by natural plant ingredients. There is nothing inherently good about natural ingredients. Synthetic ingredients are cleaned of bacterial contamination. They are standardized so you know exactly what you are using each time. Overall, synthetic ingredients are safer.

Slamming Natural Products?

I don’t slam all natural products. For example, I gave a mostly positive assessment of the Aveeno Active Natural Product. And in another article that showed some natural ingredients that really work on excema. In another one that showed the benefits of Honey for Hair, and broccoli has shown benefits as a sun screen . I try hard to find and write about natural beauty solutions that really do what they say. I am not inherently anti-natural.

Naturally Harder Than You’d Think

Unfortunately, most of the time you’ll find that “natural” products are no more natural than their “synthetic” counterparts. Typically, a marketer of a “natural” product will take a standard formula, add small amounts of natural sounding ingredients and play up the natural-ness on the label and in advertising.

This is classic cosmetic marketing. But the companies shouldn’t get all the blame. Consumers are mostly frightened by chemically sounding names. Would you rather buy an Aloe based moisturizer or one based on Petrolatum? The Petrolatum is superior in function but the name is not nearly as friendly. People want to buy the story in addition to the functional product.

The Natural Problem

The real problem we have with natural products is that there is an implied superiority that just isn’t deserved. While most companies don’t come right out and say it, they do insinuate that regular products are dangerous and harmful. They use claims like “Paraben-free” or “Sulfate-free” which only makes people wonder why those chemicals aren’t used. A natural conclusion is that they are somehow bad for you when this isn’t proven by any science. These kinds of junk claims border on lying to me.

Then there are some natural companies who come right out and tell you the chemicals you are using are poisoning you. They are so desperate to steal market share from more legitimate companies that they issue skewed press releases designed to scare you. The incredible hypocrisy of this company is that they issue this ridiculous press release about cosmetics containing cancer causing ingredients and then a quick examination of their own products reveals they use the same ingredients they say CAUSE CANCER!

Seriously.

Juice Beauty Cleanser and Toner uses Benzyl Alcohol. This ingredient is listed in the Environmental Working Group’s ingredient database as one that has been linked to cancer.

* Just for the record, there is no proof that Benzyl Alcohol as used in cosmetic products is harmful in any way.

Insidiousness of Natural

Finally, the biggest problem we have with most natural products is that they help spread chemical ignorance and fear. They contribute to the dumbing down of the population. They count on the fact that most people will naturally remember bad things they hear and often won’t follow up to see whether it’s true or not. This scientific ignorance & lack of skepticism is one of the most troubling problems in the world.

For cosmetic products, it’s really not such a big deal. Nearly all products will work and are generally harmless. But when that same fear & lack of skepticism is applied to the areas of medicine it can cause great harm to the entire population. Sadly, there are people like Jenny McCarthy who go on television shows, write books and spout unproven theories about a link between vaccinations and autism. They ignore science and twist data to suit their political agenda. And if enough non-skeptical people listen and believe, one of the greatest medical miracles of human existence could be reversed. Beaten diseases like polio, mumps, and small pox could come back and kill millions of people. It would be tragic.

This is why natural products are so troubling.

What Causes Balding?

Many people experiencing hair loss may wonder what the most common cause is. Androgenetic Alopecia accounts for almost all cases of hair loss in men and women, approximately 95% to be exact. In men, this is more often referred to as Male Pattern Baldness. It is known for causing a receding hair line and overall baldness on the top of the scalp. Women, however, usually don’t go bald from androgenetic alopecia. Their hair loss is characterized by thinning of the hair, spread evenly over the entire scalp.

What causes androgenetic alopecia in the first place? Unfortunately it is not something that can easily be prevented. Androgenetic alopecia is caused by hormones, or more specifically, testosterone. Men and women both produce testosterone, although men produce more than women. This is why balding is not as significant in women. Testosterone is sometimes converted to dihydrotestosterone (commonly abbreviated to DHT), which is a male sex hormone.  DHT shrinks hair follicles which can result in the follicle not receiving the necessary nutrients or blood flow. This can cause the hair follicle to die, and as a result, will stop the growth of any 

 I see many patients that have, or think they have Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). Hair loss can be an early indicator

Do you think you have  PCOS? Here are the signs to look out for.

Period problems: PCOS often comes to light during puberty, as 75 per cent of those with the disease will experience period problems where either their cycle is infrequent, irregular or absent and when it does arrive it may be particularly heavy.

Many teenagers use the contraceptive pill to control their periods and so this can often lead to a delay in the diagnoses of PCOS as it is not until they stop using the pill and find their periods cease or become irregular that they present the symptoms of PCOS.

Excess hairiness and acne: PCOS sufferers often have higher than normal levels of androgens, which are a group of male hormones, such as testosterone usually found in lower levels in women. These can lead to symptoms such as acne and excess body hair, which most often cause excess hairiness and acne.

Weight gain: Around 40 per cent of sufferers are overweight. The latest research has also shown that many women with PCOS are insulin resistant – a condition, which makes weight gain easy and weight loss hard. Not all women with PCOS have weight problems, but those who do are likely to put on weight centrally causing an apple shape opposed to a pear shape.

Infertility: A woman with PCOS doesn’t menstruate regularly because her ovaries don’t release an egg every month. This is caused by a problem with the hormones that trigger ovulation every month, which means some women will have more difficulty getting pregnant. And if you don’t ovulate, you don’t get a surge of progesterone in the second half of your cycle and instead your oestrogen levels stay the same. This may cause hot flushes and dizziness.

Treatment: This can sometimes be difficult and is centred around controlling the symptoms, as opposed to curing the condition. If the symptoms are not severe, treatment is not always necessary. Otherwise, drugs to reduce the amount of androgens (male hormone) are usually prescribed.

New evidence suggests that using medications that lower insulin levels in the blood may be effective in restoring menstruation and reducing some of the health risks associated with PCOS.

Many non-medical approaches can relieve or reduce specific symptoms including: a low-carbohydrate diet designed to lose or maintain weight, electrolysis to reduce unwanted hair or exploring natural, herbal methods of relief from the condition.