The genetics of losing your hair or keeping it on your head is not as simple as the genetics that Mendel studied in pea plants in the 1850’s, in which he studied whether successive generations of plants would have purple or white flowers.
There are a lot of different genes that affect your hair health, and these genes turn on and off during your lifetime in a complex interplay with the environment.
1. What Things in the Environment Affect Our Genes?
This is a really good question, and there’s no perfect answer because we don’t know for sure.
A) Your diet surely plays a role. Do you get enough of the right nutritents? Are you getting too much of certain nutrients? We’ve talked about this before. For example, a deficiency in zinc can cause hair loss, but too much selenium can cause hair loss, too.
B) Your metabolism and specifically your hormonal profile affects hair loss. For example, we know that too much dihydrotestosterone (DHT) at the hair follicle site contributes to hair loss and blocking DHT helps reverse hair loss, but why some people have so much more DHT than others is not well understood.
C) Other environmental contributors probably play a role, but we don’t know what they are (yet.) For example, there’s a statistically significant relationship between the latitude where you live and grew up and the incidence of multiple sclerosis (northern latitudes have a higher incidence of the disease.)
2. So, What Can I Do to Improve My Environment?
Simple things like getting enough calories and nutrition will go a long way to helping your hair. Especially include some pumpkin and pumpkin seeds in your diet. Making sure you aren’t wearing a hairstyle that is putting constant stress and tension on your hair is another simple fix.
Adding a regular scalp massage is good for your hair and your hair follicles. We also recommend a complete physical and blood work to determine if you are deficient in any vitamins like iron, zinc, and selenium if those tests are available. Tests to check your thyroid hormones are also important.
These are easy things you can do to give yourself the best chance at keeping your hair. When you’re ready to start treatment for hair loss, we’re here for you.
If you have any questions about treatment for hair loss or any of our products, we encourage you to call us directly at (844) 280-4680.
