Hair fall

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Usually, as a doctor, I respect patient privacy and assure 100 per cent confidentiality in consultation. Sometimes, some patients may ask whether I have ever cured any such similar, difficult case. Some may go further and ask for testimonials/proof and patients’ address/phone number to get clarifications and gain reliability about the treatment. For them, I used to explain that nowadays testimonials are often cooked up and posted as advertisements to attract patients. Even then, they would not be satisfied until they see improvement in their treatment. According to me, patients should have confidence in the doctor with their qualification and experience. Anyhow, since most of my patients come through referrals from cured patients and they speak for the doctor. Even though result of treatment, course of treatment and nature of treatment differs from patient to patient, patient-referred patients follow the medicines sincerely and get benefitted more than those who just come for treatment as an alternative trial. Here patient’s hope and confidence also supports the treatment. Here I wish to share some clinical experiences (respecting patient privacy) for the sake of suffering humanity: To provide hope for the hopeless To gain confidence about Homeopathy To be aware of do’s and don’ts during the suffering/treatment To be aware of risk(s) of wrong medication and treatment To be aware about complications of disease with delay in treatment or improper treatment To help me in my endeavour, some patients have offered me clippings, photos pre- and post-treatment to illustrate the strength of Homeopathy. I wish to extend thanks for their interest in me, Homeopathy and the suffering humanity. Here, I would explain how I untied the knots of disease or patient sufferings at a crucial time. Sufferers/readers should not follow the same pattern or use the same medicines since diagnosis, treatment (depending upon the stage of the disease) and medicine often differ from patient to patient and time to time. Let us start with my clinical experience starting from the top i.e. HAIR Gaining Minor – losing Major Here’s a real story that reveals how unnecessary or improper treatment can worsen the status than the disease itself. Recently, one fine evening, Mr S, aged 29 years, approached me for treatment of his anxiety and suicidal mania. He is a software engineer from a reputed institution and newly-married - just 2 months. He complained that he developed fear and aversion towards life after marriage. On probing, he revealed that he did not have erection to satisfy his partner. Because of that, he felt ashamed and even thought of suicide but fear of death stopped him. As he loathed life, he had even resigned his high-profile job. I started enquiring whether he had any other health issue. He replied that he was perfectly healthy and always maintained his good health with regular workouts for at least 45 minutes a day. Probing further, I enquired whether he was getting morning erection. He replied that he used to get good morning erection previously i.e. before four months, but not recently. He also felt that his penis was shrinking due to lack of erection. Then I enquired whether he was stressful recently – during the problem period. He denied being stressful and said, instead, he had returned from America four months ago in a happy mood for the marriage. He added that he got back here only after completing a challenging project very successfully. I tried to find out whether he was interest in his partner and sex. He immediately replied that even though his was an arranged marriage, he loves the girl and has good interest in sex. He added that in spite of her cooperation, he could not succeed to satisfy her and feels ashamed. He even tried to get Viagra tablets from nearby medical shops twice, but was too bashful to do so. So he would end up buying some other common medicines. Though he finally succeeded in buying it online, now he was worried about its reliability, quality and side-effects. He concluded by saying he wanted some powerful medicines to cure him immediately or else he might go crazy or commit suicide. Analysing his anxiety, fear and sexual complaints, I prescribed two weeks medicines and advised him to be confident. By then he asked whether Homeopathic medicines can be taken along with his hair medicine and supplement spirulina. That lit a spark in my brain. I started enquiring again about his hair treatment and medicines. The medicine was prescribed by a dermatologist for hair loss after he returned from USA. As hair fall stopped immediately, he wished to continue the medication. Somehow I convinced him to stop all (hair medicines and supplement) for some time and told him that I will be changing my prescription to stop hair fall and give him his nutritional requirement too. I gave him two types of medicines which needed to be taken twice a day and asked him to come for a review after 15 days. After 15 days, it was a joyous young man who came for the review. He told me that he now has an active sex life and had enjoyed a good honeymoon. Further, he has no fear or anxiety now and would be moving again to America in a better position soon. But he had a complaint: homeopathic medicine given to check hair fall was not working and so he wished to start his previous hair medicine again! Now I had to explain: Discussion The wonder drugs what have prescribed are Agnus castus 30c and placebo. Agnus Castus works well for sexual melancholy and depression. Placebo is nothing but sugar pills (I did not consider his hair complaints). People should recognise that the main thing which helped medicine to act so fast to bring confidence and sexual health is removal of obstacle/cause, i.e. the allopathic medicines prescribed for his hair fall. Facts – For men, for Androgenic alopecia/receding of hair/hair fall/thinning of hair, the commonest prescription in Allopathy is a combination of finasteride. It usually reduces conversion of testosterone to potent DiHydroTestosterone (DHT – male sex hormone, i.e. more potent Androgen) which is related to hair fall. Common adverse reaction of this drug is erectile dysfunction, low libido, low semen volume, testicular pain and gynaecomastia (breast enlargement in males). Same things can happen when it is prescribed for benign prostate enlargement or prostatomegaly. (This drug is not usually prescribed for females, since it can cause serious congenital defects and ovarian failure/dysfunction). No one can digest hair loss – Anyhow, in reality, for cosmetic reasons, Mr S had taken the risk without being aware of the side-effects. Is that necessary? Hair loss is one of the commonest symptoms about ageing. Being a genetic carrier, one needs to blame one’s parents and grandparents for not having those treasures. But should we allow Mr S to go bald? No, we need to change the plan of treatment and control it with other, safer drugs. I have also made the same with a few other drugs in a course of three months. One needs to be aware that - for men who have a family history of baldness, treatment can only arrest hair fall and cannot revive hair growth. So, early treatment is the best. But this is not the case for women, i.e. proper treatment can show good results, with hair growth too. for new hope Dr S.CHIDAMBARANATHAN. M.D (Hom) Website - www.drcheena.in Email - drcheena@yahoo.com  (Disclaimer - The contents of this column are for informational purpose only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional healthcare advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of healthcare professional for any health problem or medical condition.)