Chillies. The Key to longer life

There is a consensus of opinions with studies suggesting that chili peppers and hot food reduce overall mortality and cardiovascular disease.

This is also a conclusion arrived at after a 5 year study was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Other studies have achieved similar results; a study in China stated that capsaicin increased HDL levels (the "good" cholesterol) that protects against cardiovascular disease, mainly because of its anti-inframammary effects. Chili peppers belong to the family of foods bearing the Latin name “Capsicum”. European countries consume far less spicy food by comparison to Mexico, China, Korea or even the United States, although there is a tendency that this is on the increase. This simple fact could explain the reason for the known longevity in those countries.

The hottest chilies are habanero, Scotch bonnet and Jalapenos for their higher content of capsaicin most of the others are somewhat milder, however the heat is well worth the benefits.

Inflammation reduction: Capsaicin is a potent inhibitor of substance P, a neuropeptide associated with inflammatory processes.

Pain Relief: Capsaicin is now a recognized treatment option for osteoarthritis pain. It is also being studied for the reduction of pain associated with arthritis, psoriasis, and diabetic neuropathy.

Cardiovascular Benefits: Cayenne has been shown to reduce blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

DERMOCAPILLARY UNIT

HAIR TRANSPLANTATION IS A PERMANENT SOLUTION, PROVIDES A NATURAL RESULT AND IS UNDETECTABLE

The medical team of the dermocapillary unit of HC Marbella, formed by dermatologists with extensive experience and specialized in trichology and hair transplants, will analyze your case carefully, making a correct clinical diagnosis of your type of alopecia and advising you on the most appropriate solutions for your case.

Dr. Tesera Meyer Hair Transplant Specialist

Dr. Antonio Alcaide Hair Transplant Specialist

Dr. Ana Motar Hair Transplant Specialist

Hair loss & Cure Techniques The loss is caused by the action of male hormones affecting young men and women after adolescence, although female are mostly affected after the menopause.

Medical treatment. Finasteride and Dutasteride are scientifically proven to be the treatment against baldness blocking the enzyme that makes testosterone. Although safe they need to be taken continuously. The popular Minoxidil also needs to be rubbed into the scalp daily.

Hair transplants: This is the other effective method to combat baldness. The FUE technique, as summarized by Dr Alcaide, a specialist at the HC Marbella, consists of extracting micro-grafts hair from a healthy area to implant in the affected area under anaesthesia.

This needs to be done just once, but you need to look after the rest of your hair to prevent a possible imbalance. It is important to either wait until your hair stabilises or apply one of the above mentioned methods.

Dr. Meyer, also a specialist at HC Marbella states that the FUE technique is a well proven solution and also for others with other type of implants operations that have deteriorated because the FUE technique allows the area that donates implants to be larger. The technique can also deal with advanced alopecia but patients should possess an area with an above average density of hair.

The donating area must be completely shaved, for then the surgeon to see the direction and angle of the follicular units (FUs) so as to reduce the number of transections of follicles, each can then be extracted one at the time.

Dr. Alcaide confesses that, unfortunately, hair transplant operations carried out cheaply in Turkey to encourage foreign visitors, makes “his hair stand on end” when watching images that look like “wartime field hospitals”, with patients lying on mattresses on the floor attended by too many technicians supervised by just one doctor.

Stem cells, plasma and lasers: The above described methods are the most adopted for their high rate of success, however new treatments have been tried with further gain of ongoing experience, sometimes successfully, other times not so.

Plasma rich in platelets is an alternative. Dr. Alcaide explains: “It is extracted from the patient’s blood, processed to concentrate the growth factors and then injected into the scalp”.

Its application on the tissue encourages the formation of collagen and the appearance of new blood vessels, vital for stimulating growth of new hair. This is advised for those who still have their hair follicles. The sooner this is done the greater is the result.

Vitamins, shampoos and other mambo jumbo: According to so called experts, there is a long list of miracle solutions, unfortunately they do not stop alopecia or improve the hair density. Vitamins are just cosmetics with no cure, Shampoos clean the scalp and hair but cannot penetrate to the roots. Too many patients spend thousands in heavily advertised treatments with no logical or scientific evidence”.

It should be remembered that androgenetic alopecia is genetic and has no cure. As soon as testosterone starts to be generated during adolescence, the process is activated. It is like diabetes, familial hypercholesterolemia or essential arterial hypertension: as long as we are unable to modify the genes involved, the treatment merely slows down the problem. Therefore the drugs mentioned earlier should be taken indefinitely. What is important is that the sooner the treatment is started, the better, once stopped 50% of the gain is lost. The minimum period of treatment is a couple of years. Many users of Minoxidil, stop after a couple of months thinking it does not work, just because it shows no noticeable effect for six months.

The last option: baldness: Both doctors advise that androgenetic alopecia is an aesthetic matter and does not affect one’s health. Some people assume that they are going to go bald, just like their father, this is more difficult to accept by women. Perhaps the key lies in accepting yourself with a sense of humour, like the Roman philosopher Seneca who said “I do not consider myself bald, it is just that I am taller than my hair”.

Let us study your case. Our specialists in hair transplant at HC Marbella will evaluate your case and will tell you if you can benefit from any of our treatments, with or without a hair transplant.