What causes hair loss ?

The most common cause of hair loss is your age. Whatever you do, whatever medications or other treatment you may try, your hair will thin and slowly drop out as you are becoming older. Using some kinds of drugs will slow this process but, sooner or later, age will win. That said, the most usual causes for loss not accompanied by any other medical symptoms are poor nutrition, stress, and some hair styles and treatments. If you are taking medication for some other condition, hair loss can be a side-effect. For these, you simply need to apply common sense, be patient and the problem will be resolved. Where drug interactions may be the problem, you need to take the advice of your doctor on whether to change the dosage or try different drugs.

However, because all the required chemical reactions are dependent on the free flow of blood to the capillaries supplying each follicle, anything that interferes with the flow or changes the composition of the blood can cause hair loss. Taking physical interference first, arteriosclerosis is the slow loss of volume through the blood vessels. One of the more common causes is high levels of cholesterol in a poor diet as excess platelets build up as deposits on vessel walls. Heavy smoking has the same effect. This will be accompanied by high blood pressure and possible symptoms suggesting heart problems such as angina. As to the chemical composition of the blood, many conditions can affect the hormone balance. An overactive or underactive thyroid gland may cause hair to fall out. The standard treatments for thyroid disease usually restore hair growth. In women, excess levels estrogens may need to be corrected to stop the hair loss. If oral contraceptives are being used, different dosages or a different method of birth control will often restore growth.

In most serious cases, people may be looking at hair loss as a first symptom of cancer. This may be a malignant tumour or cancer of the blood including lymphoma, leukemia and multiple myeloma. Ironically, the treatments using chemo- and radiotherapy remove the rest of the body hair. In slightly less serious cases, the problems may be liver or kidney disease, skin diseases such as lupus and major infections like syphilis. In all these cases, you must either bear with the hair loss or, in combination with any other medication prescribed by your doctor, take propecia. This will help to maintain the status quo except for the more radical treatments which cause stress and hair loss. Whether you do decide to take this drug depends on how important your physical appearance is while you are sick. In many cases, you may be too sick to care. However, there may be situations in which you feel the need to keep up appearances. In those cases, propecia is for you. It is quite slow acting but its effects are reasonably reliable.

What health insurance to buy when your budget’s cut to the bone

Every time you hear from your insurer, it's usually bad news. The premium is going up again, the percentage of co-payments is increasing, there are new exceptions to coverage on some of the diseases you thought were covered. As a result, there are nearly 48 million uninsured people in the US. Even the middle class is finding it difficult. Although President Obama is making encouraging noises about reform, that's all in the future. He hasn't issued a plan. He's waiting for Capitol Hill to come up with ideas. Like that's going to produce fast results. In the meantime, it's down to you to find affordable cover. Well, you're in the right place. Every insurance company has some kind of presence online and there are increasing numbers of sites like this that let you search multiple insurers. But getting quotes directly and through sites like this is just the first step. You then have to take the time to compare what's on offer. Simply choosing the one with the lowest premium is a recipe for disaster. If you're unlucky and fall ill, you then find out you're not covered for that disease or disorder, or that it comes at the top end of the co-payments scale and it's going to run through your savings rapidly. So what should you do?

Let's start with those low premiums. The majority of companies offer discounts to get you to jump ship. The cheap rates apply for the first twelve months and then the "normal" rates apply. There's a temptation to run from one insurer to another at the end of each year. That way, you get some cover at discounted premiums but all the administrative hassle of changing the network of doctors and care providers. Just when you got to know one set, you're introducing yourself to another. The other problem is there's usually a catch. Some companies have a lead-in period when you pay all the bills or there's a high level of co-payments during the first year. So it's silvered words to get you to sign up and bigger bills for you if you fall ill. Always read the small print before you sign up!

So where can you get good value? Well, you can look at Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Together, they can provide low-cost access to hospitals and physicians. The second option is a limited form of gambling. If you're in reasonably good health, you can opt for a health insurance plan that only covers hospital and surgical treatment. That way, you're covered against accidental injuries and emergencies, and delay paying for coverage on the diseases that tend to affect older people. Hopefully, the economy and your pay will have improved by the time the dangers of the coverage justify extending the policy. Health insurance should not be a gamble but, when the economy is so bad and household budgets are feeling the strain, tailoring the cover is the best way to save dollars.