The most common form of diffuse hair loss is telogen effluvium which occurs during the telogen or resting phase. Stress can cause hair loss, it is not a myth . Any type of physical, mental, or emotional stress can cause hair to fall out.
post updated March 13, 2021
My Sister’s Keeper– a novel
I enjoyed reading My Sister’s Keeper ,a novel by Jodi Picoult, which touched on several medical themes – cancer, genetic engineering, organ donation ethics, and medical autonomy.
Kate, an adolescent who as a toddler developed a rare form of leukemia, has spent the majority of her life either in the hospital getting treatment or recovering from them. After yet another chemotherapy regimen, she lost her hair.
One day her mother, Sara, offers to take Kate and her younger sister Anna to the mall for a day out. Kate refuses.
“Don’t say it. Don’t tell me that nobody’s going to stare at me, because they will. Don’t tell me it doesn’t matter because it does. And don’t tell me I look fine because that’s a lie.” Her eyes, lash-bare, fill with tears. “I’m a freak, Mom. Look at me.”
Sara looks at her and says, “Well, we can fix this.”
“She walks out of the room followed by Kate and Anna. She finds a pair of ancient electric grooming clippers, plugs them in, and cuts a swath right down the middle of her own scalp.
“Mom”, Kate gasps.
With another swipe of the razor, Kate starts to smile. She points out a spot Sara missed. Anna crawls onto Sara’s lap. “Me next,” she begs.”
As Sara later remembers:
“An hour later, we walk through the mall holding hands, a trio of bald girls. We stay for hours. Everywhere we go, heads turn and voices whisper. We are beautiful, times three.”
Also a movie
My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult was also made into a major motion picture starring Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin, and Joan Cusack.
(These, and other links in this post are affiliate links, used to generate revenue to fund this blog. )
Alopecia- hair loss
You’ve known people who lost their hair due to cancer chemotherapy-you may even be that person. The medical term is anagen effluvium, which means hair loss during the anagen, or active phase of hair growth. 65% of people who receive chemotherapy will lose their hair.
Fortunately, anagen effluvium is reversible; the hair usually grows back in 1-6 months. While waiting, sometimes women wear wigs, while others wear colorful scarves and turbans on their heads. And some simply do as Kate, her mother and sister did- show their heads proudly.
Stress and hair loss
The most common form of diffuse hair loss is telogen effluvium which occurs during the telogen or resting phase. Stress can cause hair loss, it is not a myth . Any type of physical, mental, or emotional stress can cause hair to fall out. Probably the most common stress that precipitates this is pregnancy. Others include
major surgery
serious illness
disorders of the thyroid, kidneys, or liver
Vitamin D deficiency
anemia due to iron deficiency
malnutrition or rapid weight loss
This hair loss is also reversible with the hair usually growing back within 2-6 months after the condition resolves or is treated.
Hair loss can occur at any age and with any type of hair. (Lightstock)
Genes and gender
The most common type of hair loss in both men and women is considered a “normal physiologic variant”- that being androgenetic alopecia. It tends to run in families, hence the “genetic” connotation. As many as 50% of men and 30%-40% of women may experience hair loss with increasing age.
There are two forms. (click on the links to see an illustration.)
Minoxidil- a topical solution applied daily to the scalp, causing increased hair growth within 6-12 months, and is used indefinitely. This is effective for both men and women.
Finasteride is a pill approved for use in men only, if minoxidil does not work. It can have undesirable side effects which limit its use.
Trichotillomania results from repeatedly pulling, twisting, or twirling the hair. Treatment is difficult.
Trichorrhexis nodosa results from trauma to the hair, including excessive brushing, tight hairstyles, and use of heat and chemical products on the hair.
What to do if you are losing hair
If you experience unexplained hair loss, see your doctor for an evaluation. It’s best not to assume that it is just a hair issue.
It is especially important to determine if there is some underlying condition, such as a thyroid disorder, that needs treatment.
Consider your family history. Have your grandparents, parents, or siblings experienced hair loss?
Evaluate your lifestyle to see if there are nutritional, traumatic, or stress factors that may contribute to hair loss. Remember, these may have happened as long as 6 months ago.
Tightly braiding hair can lead to damage if done often enough. (Lightstock)
Consider the way you care for, style, and wear your hair; do these traumatize your hair frequently or excessively?
The new President’s success in confronting and solving problems depends on his choice of capable leaders to assist and guide him.
An incoming President always faces serious challenges. Some years they take on wars, economic downturns, civil unrest, corruption, terrorist acts, natural disasters, unstable foreign affairs, or environmental accidents.
But 2020 beat all expectations with a viral pandemic that the world has not faced for over a hundred years. Add to that
a contentious presidential election
peaceful protests and raucous riots
racism confrontations and reconciliation attempts
health inequities battles and health reform initiatives
post updated January 25, 2021
The Biden-Harris Administration
The Electoral College met and voted on December 14, 2020, affirming the election of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. They were inaugurated on January 20, 2021.
They inherit a country divided in many ways-politically, economically, racially, and even in regards to health and medical care. The new President’s success in confronting and solving problems depends on his choice of capable leaders to assist and guide him.
Our health team will be ready on day one to combat our most pressing health challenges. They will lead with science, expertise, and integrity.
President-elect Joe Biden
In this post I review some of the key government positions that manage the “health and welfare” of the United States and will be critical to getting us through the pandemic and beyond. As more positions are filled, I will update this information.
a replica of the White House Oval Office at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library , by Dr. Aletha
Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP)
The US Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) assists the President on science and technology issues and coordinates science initiatives among other government agencies. Its leader serves as science adviser to the president but President Biden elevated this position to cabinet level.
He appointed Eric Lander, a geneticist, to this job. Mr. Lander studied and earned degrees in mathematics, economics, and molecular biology and participated in the Human Genome Project.
Addressing the COVID-19 CRISIS
President-elect Biden named Jeff Zients as the White House coordinator of the coronavirus reponse. In this role, Mr. Zients will oversee vaccine distribution and direct and troubleshoot supply chain issues.
In a new position, Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith will direct a task force to identify and address disparities in preventing, diagnosing, and treating COVID-19.
David Kessler, M.D. , Chief Science Officer of COVID Response, serves as a co-chair of the COVID-19 Task Force. He was the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration from 1990 to 1997.Mr. Biden wants Dr. Kessler to lead efforts to develop and distribute Covid-19 drugs and vaccines.
Department of Health and Human Services
Most of the health care activities of the federal government fall under the agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services or HHS. The Secretary of HHS serves in the President’s Cabinet.
President-elect Biden has chosen Xavier Becerra, currently the Attorney General of California, as the head of HHS.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve heard more about the HHS in the news than usual; maybe you’ve never heard of these agencies. Generally, management of a pandemic or other public health emergency falls within the work of the CDC, a sub-agency of HHS.
For fiscal year 2020, HHS budgeted $ 1.293 trillion for its services.
public health service
The Public Health Service, PHS, is a division of HHS concerned with, public health, obviously. Within the PHS is the Commissioned Corps, which is one of the uniformed services, like the military. Thus it’s head is known as the Surgeon General.
Assuming this role will be Dr. Vivek Murthy who previously served as Surgeon General under President Obama. Prior to the pandemic, Dr.Murthy authored a book on loneliness and the value of human connection, little imagining how important a topic it would be this year.
The lessons in Together have immediate relevance and application. These four key strategies will help us not only to weather this crisis, but also to heal our social world far into the future. They are
The goal of public health is to avoid or prevent health threats from becoming public health emergencies, like the COVID-19 pandemic. If they accomplish the mission, we hardly notice. But when an outbreak occurs, their work suddenly becomes visible, scrutinized, and debated.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky will take over as Director of the CDC. She is chief of Infectious Disease at Massachusetts General Hospital and teaches at Harvard Medical School.
The National Institutes of Health, part of the Public Health Service,
supports biomedical and behavioral research with the United States and abroad,
conducts research in its own laboratories and clinics,
trains promising young researchers, and
promotes collecting and sharing medical knowledge.
And within the NIH is the NIAID– the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which has been an invaluable source of guidance as the United States and the world works to understand and manage this new infectious disease.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has worked at the NIAID for 50 years and directs it now, will serve the new President as Chief Medical Adviser.
Written and narrated by New Yorker staff writer Michael Specter, Fauci combines Specter’s unparalleled reporting with exclusive new interviews and archival audio of Dr. Fauci; his wife, Christine Grady, RN, PhD; key colleagues; and peers. Listeners will hear Dr. Fauci speak firsthand about the harassment and death threats he has received as a result of his leadership and about the stress of simultaneously combating the COVID-19 pandemic and an information war waged by his boss, the president of the United States.
Specter has covered Dr. Fauci – and global public health – for more than three decades. In Fauci, Specter traces the doctor’s life from his childhood as a basketball-loving kid in Brooklyn through his leadership during the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s to today, when the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the future of viral research are shaping humanity. With its chorus of voices, archival recordings, and original score, Fauci brings the immediacy and energy of the best documentary podcasts to the audiobook format.(review from Amazon for this affiliate link)
This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (orange)—also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19—isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells (green) cultured in the lab.
Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases-Rocky Mountain Laboratories, NIH
Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the NIH, will serve on President Biden’s Science team.
NIH director Dr. Francis Collins speaks with Dr. Idowu Aimola of Nigeria, one of 10 fellows participating in a new program, the African Postdoctoral Training Initiative (APTI). Fellows spend 2 years in the lab of an NIH senior investigator, learning cutting-edge science while working on a research project of mutual interest. The immersion is intended to give the fellows the expertise to become research leaders when they return home and to foster collaborations between NIH scientists and institutions in Africa.
Credit: National Institutes of Health, public domain
This sub-agency of HHS administers three government healthcare programs- Medicare , Medicaid , and the Health Insurance Exchanges. President Biden will appoint a new CMS administrator.
Medicaid provides insurance coverage for adults and children who are unemployed or low-income.
Medicare covers disabled children,adults, and persons 65 years and older.
The Health Insurance Exchanges work with the states to provide health insurance as established by the Affordable Care Act.
reviewing and approving diagnostic tests for the coronavirus
protecting consumers from fraudulent products for COVID-19.
issuing Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs) for ventilators
sampling and testing of respirators for importation
The FDA’S current challenge is to review, and ultimately approve a safe and effective SARS-CoV-2 vaccine to the American people.
Mr. Biden will name a new FDA Commissioner to replace Dr. Stephen Hahn; the Senate must approve his choice.
‘We are committed to expediting the development of COVID-19 vaccines, but not at the expense of sound science and decision making. We will not jeopardize the public’s trust in our science-based, independent review of these or any vaccines. There’s too much at stake.”
Stephen M. Hahn, M.D., FDA Commissioner, and Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research
FDA Commissioned Corps officer RADM Estella Jones, DVM, OCET Deputy Director and Co-Chair of the FDA Animal Welfare Council, oversees Commissioned Corps officers as they practice proper fitting of protective items. Healthcare workers testing patients for COVID-19 novel coronavirus infection must wear specific protective gowns, gloves, ventilation masks, and full facial shields as shown, and must replace these items after each patient is tested. credit FDA, public domain
investing in healthy communities
Besides the ones I’ve already mentioned, other executive departments’ roles contribute to our health and welfare-Education, Homeland Security, Energy, and Transportation.
Social determinants of health are conditions in the places where people live, learn, work, and play that affect a wide range of health and quality-of risks and outcomes. We broadly characterize these as
The President-elect has selected one of his opponents for the Democratic presidential nomination to be Secretary of Transportation. Former mayor of South Bend, Indiana Pete Buttigieg, a veteran, made infrastructure and internet access a focus during his campaign for the nomination.
Mr. Biden plans to appoint Ohio Representative Marcia Fudge as Secretary of HUD. She was elected to Congress in 2008 and has served on several committees focusing on agriculture, education, nutrition, civil rights, health, and employment.
US government photo
Biden’s choice for Energy Secretary is former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm. She served two terms as the first female governor of Michigan.
For Agriculture Secretary, Biden’s choice is Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack. Mr. Vilsack served as Agriculture Secretary from 2009-2017.
Keep an appliance thermometer in your refrigerator to check the temperature. The temperature in the refrigerator should be set at 40 °F or below. USDA Photo. public domain
The President-elect will name Miguel Cardona as Secretary of Education. Mr. Cardona became the top education official in Connecticut in 2019 after being an assistant superintendent in Meriden, Conn., which serves nearly 9,000 students. Cardona attended school and taught elementary education there. Serving as a principal for 10 years, he was named the state’s principal of the year in 2012.
ensure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance.
For the pandemic response, OSHA offers guidance on
returning to work
preparing workplaces for COVID-19
worker exposure risk to COVID-19
for specific industries including airlines, farms, retail, corrections
Military healthcare serves more than 9.6 million active-duty personnel, military retirees, and their families. The VA is responsible for caring for some 9 million veterans nationwide, including some 800,000 aging Vietnam War veterans, as well as some dependents.
Mr. Biden intends to nominate retired general Lloyd Austin to head the DOD and Denis McDonough for the VA position.
at a VA medical clinic, photo by Dr. Aletha
The other Cabinet positions, though less directly involved with health issues, can impact health through policies and actions. The appointees are
State-Anthony Blinken
Treasury-Janet Yellen
Commerce- Gina Raimondo
Justice (Attorney General)- Merrick Garland
Homeland Security-Alejando Mayorkas
Interior- Deb Haaland
Energy -Jennifer Granholm
Read more about the Biden-Harris healthcare team at this link
The United States government invests heavily in its citizens’ health, both directly and indirectly. Congress, the legislative branch, makes laws and approves funding for the services delivered by the executive branch. Here is a link to help you understand exactly the responsibilities of the executive departments.
The United States’ healthcare system combines public health efforts with mostly private delivery of health care. Usually, they coexist side by side with some but infrequent interaction.
The public health emergency created by the pandemic forced them into a “union” that quickly became politicized, and unfortunately diminished the effectiveness of the response.
But despite the lack of coordination and cooperation between all levels of government and private citizens, our healthcare professionals, in both public health and private medical practice stayed true to their calling.
Many risked their own lives to care for COVID-19 victims. Others sacrificed time and finances to lead the pandemic response in their communities and on social media- maybe not perfectly, but definitely UNITED in resolve to lead, help, and heal their fellow citizens through this unprecedented health emergency.
exploring the HEART of healthcare
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