Hair Skin

overall masculinity associated with a full head of flowing hair is understandably something that many men would do anything to hold on to . . . and the inse­curity associated with losing your hair is the reason so many hair loss prod­ucts have been so successful.

But in reality, we’re all losing our hair—all the time. On average, you lose 50 to 150 hairs a day. The difference between Fabio and your bald Uncle Frank is that people with full heads of hair are constantly regrowing new ones to fill in the empty spaces. With hereditary baldness, known medically as androgenetic alopecia, though, about one-third of men will someday notice that new hair is not growing back, sometimes as early as their teens. And they have nobody to blame but their family—specifically their mother’s side of the family.

When it comes down to it, baldness is just something most men have to learn to live with. A couple of drugs, Rogaine (minoxidil) and Propecia (fin­asteride), can help some men regrow hair or prevent the loss of what they have. But the results are mixed, and the effects of the drugs stop as soon as people stop taking them.

And unfortunately for men, the fountain of youth cannot be found through nutrition. (Sorry, guys. Except in cases of extreme malnutrition, no amount of vitamins or minerals will regrow hair.) But for some women who have experienced hair loss related to physical trauma, crash dieting, or heavy menstrual flow, certain nutrients can help.

Depression isn’t the same as being sad or discouraged.  Those feelings are just part of being alive. Depression is an illness, one that can be controlled with proper treatment or that can ruin your life if you don’t get the help you need.

Are You In Depression?

Depression may look and sound likes the blues, but it lasts longer and has a more profound impact on a person’s life. If you’re clinically depressed, you live in a state of sadness and hopelessness so severe that it makes normal activi­ties seem impossible. You may lose interest in friends or hobbies, have suicidal thoughts, or feel overwhelming guilt because you can’t “snap out of it.” Depression can kill your appetite or make you want to eat all the time. Sleep­ing more or less than usual and having problems concentrating can also be warning signs.

Depression can happen to anyone. Sometimes it’s triggered by an emo­tional blow such as a divorce or the death of a loved one, but it can also appear out of nowhere.

A family history of depression can also put you at risk. We see depres­sion running in families just as diabetes and high blood pressure run in fam­ilies. That doesn’t mean there aren’t other causes, but a family history of depression makes a person more prone to it.

Depression often surfaces during times of transition, such as the teenage years, midlife, and retirement. The elderly are particularly vulnerable: doctor estimates that people over age 60 are four times as likely to be depressed as younger people.

Hormones can also play a role. Some women who take birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy may experience depression as an effect of their pills and should see their doctors for guidance. Premenstrual and post­partum depressions are also common.

Not much has changed in our understanding of depression over the last decade except for this: Its incidence is rising. The National Institute of Men­tal Health estimates that depression is the leading cause of disability among Americans ages 15 to 44. In any given year, about 15 million Americans—or nearly 7 percent of the population—suffer from depression. But what’s most frightening is that children are the fastest-growing group that suffers from clinical depression—already, 23 percent of American children are considered depressed.

Bedsore Skin

ulcers, because it ensures that they get the appropriate nutrient intake every day.

A multivitamin/mineral supplement is especially important for older people who are confined to bed or to wheelchairs. They are frequently defi­cient in a wide array of vitamins.

Vitamin C Plays a Major Role

One of the most common single vitamin deficiencies among the elderly is vitamin C. Too little of this vitamin opens the door to

Vitamin C

thinning skin, capil­lary fragility, and, consequently, bedsores.

Some studies even indicate that vitamin C deficiency may be the key nutritional factor in bedsore development. Brazilian researchers found that hospital patients with bedsores had lower levels of ascorbic acid, or vitamin C, than those patients without bedsores. Fortunately, studies have also shown that supplements of vitamin C can significantly aid in the healing of bedsores. Doctors discovered that patients with bed­sores who took a regimen of vitamin C, along with zinc and arginine, healed faster than those who took supplements without these nutrients.

Vitamin C deficiency can double your healing time, doctor routinely put their patients who are being treated for or who are at risk for pressure ulcers on 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C a day. Vitamin C won’t help if there is no deficiency, but the extra vitamin won’t hurt, either.

Zinc Speeds Healing

Like vitamin C, zinc has been linked in studies to preventing bedsores and helping them heal.

Zinc Food Source

If there is a zinc deficiency, healing time is retarded by 50 percent. Like vitamin C, supplemental zinc won’t do any good if there is no deficiency. But zinc deficiency is so common that I routinely supplement it as well.

The Daily Value for zinc is 15 milligrams, an amount that you can get from either foods or supplements. To add some superior food sources of zinc to your diet, try eating more seafood and shellfish, wheat germ, and whole- grain breads and cereals.