• Alopecia areata
• Traction alopecia
• Trichotillomania
• Tinea capitis (fungal infection)
• Telogen effluvium
• Androgenetic alopecia (“male-pattern baldness”, “female-pattern baldness”)

• Minoxidil (Rogaine)
• Finasteride (Propecia)

• Hairpieces
• Hair transplant

What are causes of hair loss?

There are many causes of scalp hair loss. This article will cover the common
ones.

In general, most hair loss is not associated with systemic or internal
disease, nor is poor diet a frequent factor. Thyroid disease can cause hair
loss, but thyroid tests on people who have ordinary hair loss are usually
normal. Although many medications list “hair loss” among their potential
side effects, drugs are also not overall common causes of thinning or lost hair.
On the other hand, with cancer treatments and immune suppression medications,
hair loss is not uncommon.

One useful way to classify hair loss is by whether
the loss is localized and patchy, or whether it affects large areas or the whole
scalp.

Patchy hair loss

Some conditions produce small areas of hair loss, while others affect large
areas of the scalp. Common causes of patchy hair loss are:

• alopecia areata (patches of baldness that usually grow back)
• traction alopecia (thinning from
  tight braids or ponytails)
• trichotillomania (the habit of twisting or pulling
  hair out)
• tinea capitis (fungal infection)

Alopecia areata

A common condition,
alopecia areata usually starts as a single, quarter-sized circle of perfectly
smooth baldness. Alopecia patches usually regrow in three to six months without
treatment. Sometimes, hair grows back in white. In another variant, alopecia can
produce two or three bald patches. When these grow back, they may be replaced by
others. The most extensive form is called alopecia totalis, in which the entire
scalp goes bald. It’s important to emphasize that patients who have localized
hair loss generally don’t go on to lose hair all over the scalp. Alopecia can
affect hair on other parts of the body too– for example, the beard.

Alopecia areata is considered an autoimmune condition, in which the body attacks itself
(in this case its own hair follicles). Most alopecia patients, however, do not
have systemic problems and need no medical tests. Alopecia is also often blamed
on “stress,” but in fact it’s usually the other way around: having alopecia
causes the stress, at least until people find out what it is.

 Treatments for
alopecia areata include injecting steroids into affected patches to stimulate
hair growth. This is not practical for large areas. Other treatments, such as
oral steroids or ultraviolet light therapy, are either toxic or impractical. In
most mild cases, patients can comb over the affected areas. In more severe and
chronic cases, some patients wear hairpieces; nowadays some men shave their whole
scalp, now that this look has become fashionable.

When talking with your doctor about taking lipitor grapefruit and its place in your diet should be a subject that receives consideration. Grapefruit and grapefruit juice may interact with Lipitor, leading to potentially serious complications. Forewarned is forearmed, as the old saying goes—especially in relation to lipitor and grapefruit and what may occur. Grapefruit juice slows activity of the liver enzyme that metabolizes Lipitor. This can lead to high levels of this drug, raising the risk of rhabdomyolysis.

Rhabdomyolysis is a severe muscle reaction that can cause death. Contact your doctor immediately if you experience unexplained muscle pain or weakness—especially if you have flu-like symptoms or a fever or any other unusual signs. These may be early warnings of muscle or liver problems.

When considering using lipitor grapefruit or any drink containing grapefruit juice should be avoided. Information sheets that accompany Lipitor detail this information. Discuss lipitor and grapefruit with your doctor. Do not increase the amount of grapefruit you eat without talking to your practitioner first. You can also obtain additional information from your pharmacist about possible lipitor grapefruit reactions.

Drugs such as Lipitor are used to treat and lower cholesterol but they come with a long list of serious side effects. Because of this, many people seek out natural solutions when trying to manage cholesterol levels. Thankfully, science has come to the rescue with plant compounds that safely and effectively treat cholesterol imbalances.

Policosanol is an exciting natural substance that has been widely tested. It has outperformed statin drugs in trials. It reduces harmful LDL while raising beneficial HDL. Green tea lowers total cholesterol levels and improves the ratio of good (HDL) to bad (LDL). Vitamin E can ward off heart disease.

Other substances such as beta-sitosterol are anticholesteraemic. They reduce blood cholesterol levels and are used for treating hypercholesterolemia and coronary heart disease. Oryzanol rice bran oil contains important compounds that reduce total cholesterol and triglycerides. A substance found in orange peel oil, d-limonene, acts as a natural solvent, dissolving cholesterol gallstones.

It can be seen that there are alternatives to using statin drugs. If you are concerned about lipitor and grapefruit or other unforeseen interactions that may arise with use of this drug, it may be helpful to consult with a naturopathic practitioner for insights about workable alternatives.

Lipitor grapefruit complications do not have to be part of your cholesterol treatment scenario. Dangerous interactions can be avoided by making informed choices about your health—now, and in the future. If you have experienced complications related to use of lipitor and grapefruit, you may be looking for other solutions. Natural substances can aid in the process of lowering cholesterol.

People familiar with the ongoing testing process for Mac OS X 10.5.1 Update say the new build, labeled Mac OS X 10.5.1 build 9B16, was accompanied by a note to developers that specifically mentions a Finder-related fix affecting files that are moved between directories.

It was widely reported earlier this month that Leopard’s Finder is affected by a glaring bug in its directory-moving code, which could lead to horrendous data loss if a destination volume disappears while a move operation is in progress.

Those people familiar with pre-release builds of Mac OS X 10.5.1 also added that the software update will deliver an enhancement to Leopard that will allow Apple’s Software Update and installer applications to make revisions to application files which may have been moved outside their designated “Applications” directory on Leopard volumes.

As was the case with build 9B13, which was released for private testing last Monday, Apple is reportedly asking that its developers test the latest build broadly, paying particular attention to Time Machine, Mail, iCal, Back To My Mac, Bonjour, AirPort, gaming graphics, networking and the Finder.

Mac OS X 10.5.1 is expected to be released as a free update within a few weeks’ time.

I usually answer, “It’s crazy.” There perhaps has never been a more interesting time to write about Apple and its growing impact on the computer, telecommunications, and music worlds. Unfortunately, it also means that I have to witness (and sometimes join) a daily descent into a pit of mudslinging. Their size and degree of organization can be debated, and it’s usually overstated. But there is no question that Macintosh users are by far the most passionate advocates for their products in the technology industry. And while such passion is remarkable and even moving, it can also be terribly disturbing.

Take a recent story I wrote, “Problems with the Mac promised land.” The story was about how Apple sells the Mac as a computer that “just works” in its ubiquitous ad campaign comparing the Mac and the PC. But the Mac, like anything, is not immune to problems from time to time. Anyone who has followed Apple over the last couple of months knows that Leopard early adopters have run into a few issues, which we covered here and here.

Nothing in the article suggested that Mac users are revolting against Leopard, or that serious Leopard glitches have knocked the Mac user base offline, or anything even close to that effect. The majority of the discussion in the Talkback section, however, descended into the usual Mac vs. PC flame war. In addition to attacking each other, several people took me to task, saying that since they had never had a problem with their Mac or with their Leopard installation, I was clearly manufacturing problems as part of a sinister plan to either attack the Mac and put Apple out of business at the bidding of Microsoft, or through some naked self-interest of both myself and CNET to generate page views.

This happens just about every time I write about Apple. In fairness, that aggressive behavior is not indicative of Mac users as a whole. But that very noisy, hardcore crowd distorts the issues and inflames the discussion, to the point where a rational look at Apple and its products becomes a quest to decide The World’s One True Religion, which never seems to work out so well in the real world.

I think the roots of this zealotry go back to a time when Apple was on the ropes financially and someone who worked on a Mac was ridiculed by other computer users. Ten years ago, Mac users in the corporate world were viewed as rubes playing with “toys” not suitable for getting real work done, and there were plenty of people ready to remind the Mac community in not-so-subtle ways that the revolution promised in the 1980s by the original Macintosh was being fulfilled by Microsoft software. Apple’s response was to change the tone of the conversation, and it deliberately chose a spiritual motif for its message with the work started by Guy Kawasaki in the mid-1990s. Kawasaki originally worked at Apple in the mid-1980s in marketing, and was part of the team that introduced the Macintosh to the world before leaving in 1987.

When Kawasaki rejoined Apple in 1995, the company was probably at its lowest point. On his Web site, Kawasaki describes his role at Apple in the mid-1990s by saying, “My job on this tour of duty was to maintain and rejuvenate the Macintosh cult.” There was a dedicated group out there who still believed in the Mac and its promise as an alternative to Windows, but they weren’t organized, and their morale was low.

In an inteview this week, Kawasaki recalled signing up 44,000 hardcore Mac users in 1995 on a listserv named, quite appropriately, “EvangeList.” “All I would do is disseminate good news,” Kawasaki said. He wanted his listserv to be a counterpoint to the torrents of bad news about the Mac, exemplified by a 1996 BusinessWeek cover story about Apple titled, “The Fall of an American Icon.” For its cover art, the magazine placed an Apple icon in front of a black, funereal background.

Kawasaki’s idea was to give Mac users hope, that they were not alone, and that they were on the right side of history. Hope is a powerful thing to someone at the end of their rope, and while that’s perhaps overstating it a bit, that’s how many Mac users felt in those years. “It’s almost like a religious experience in that you feel like you have to tell everyone you know in an effort to ‘save them.’ It’s crazy, and I never understood those people but now I am one,” said Doug Otto, a News.com reader, vice president of systems engineering for Govstar and a Sacramento, Calif., resident.

The trouble is that most people don’t like cults; they associate them with Charles Manson or Red Sox fans. Sure, you may believe you have all the answers. But there are a lot of people who automatically tune out the incessant preaching of a zealot. With the rise of the Internet, it became much easier to preach that gospel far and wide and anonymously. “Like anything people are passionate about–sports, politics, religion–there are going to be some people who are goofy about it and don’t have that thing in their brain that tells them they’ve stepped over the edge from ‘fan’ to ‘fanatic’,” said John Moltz, the editor of Crazy Apple Rumors Site and perhaps the best source of comic relief in the Apple universe.

Since it’s a two-party world, however, many of those evangelists combined their love for the Mac with their hatred of Microsoft, much like Republicans attack Democrats when Democrats are in charge, only to find themselves on the defensive when the sides switch. Windows users, who had almost forgotten about the Mac, initially laughed at Mac users and their intense love for a plastic cube of electronics. But then, as Apple starting gaining market share and increasing respect for its design chops, they started to fight back.

Last year, Moltz created the “Artie MacStrawman” character as a symbol of those counterattacks on Mac users, as an allegory for the “strawman” theory of debate that intentionally exaggerates an opponent’s position to make it look more ridiculous. Many of those who criticize Mac users often come back to the whole “those crazy Apple cult people” thing, in that just because one Apple fan “mindlessly worships Steve Jobs” and “blindly buys anything Apple releases no matter how dumb and stupid and dumb it is,” they all do.

But let’s be honest: we’ve all seen that person in action in discussion forums on this site and many others. “Windows users aren’t put off by the ‘depth of passion’ that Mac users have. They are put off by the sheer futility of trying to make a rational argument with someone devoid of rational thought,” said Ken Webber, another News.com reader.

This “debate” has been polluting the Internet for more than a decade, but Apple is no longer a company to be laughed at. It’s selling more and more Macs to first-time Mac users. College campuses and hipster coffee shops are bastions of backlit Apple logos. Even businesses, long the last line of defense against the encroachment of the Mac, are changing their mind as programs like Boot Camp give Mac users a way to gain access to corporate applications developed for Windows. And as we start doing more and more work over the Internet, rather than on our desktop software, the compatibility issue becomes less and less relevant.

Yet the desire to be separate continues. Hank Stuever of The Washington Post bemoaned the trendy Apple user in a December 9 story about the Apple retail experience. “The demi-privacy of it, the clubby feeling–I know that you know that I know that we know and love Macs like nobody else does–is fading away.” Tuesday morning, I posted a short item to my blog asking for contributions for this story. I received about 50 e-mails in about 50 minutes before I had to plead for a halt. The basic question I sent to those who wrote in was, “Why are Mac users so passionate about Apple?”

The responses were similar. Mac users feel an affinity to both their machines and their fellow users that the rest of the world simply doesn’t share. For some, it’s the emphasis on design, both in hardware and software. For others, it’s the way Apple focuses on applications that make it easier for them to be creative. “It’s hard to put my own feelings into words on this, but that’s just it: I have feelings for my Apple computer. Not in the creepy obsessive way or anything, but I genuinely love my iBook,” said Ryan Spilken, a News.com reader.

Many see Apple’s devotion to quality as a symbol of a bygone era for American business, and believe they have to support that kind of thinking. At some point, according to several readers, American industry became so bottom-line obsessed that it gambled that people would probably buy their products anyway if, little by little, they stripped out the costs, which would lower prices but in a fashion that also guaranteed more profit. We’ve seen this happen time after time in the automobile, consumer electronics, and computer industries, just to name a few, and while it works in the short-term, it doesn’t end well.

But still others see the basic Mac vs. PC debate as the computer industry’s version of Ford vs. Chevrolet, or Bud vs. Miller, or Michigan vs. Ohio State: people like to identify with groups and subcultures, and they do all sorts of ridiculous things in arbitrary support of whichever group they’ve chosen. Computers are no longer a novelty. Style and usefulness count for so much more these days, since people have had a computer and know what they like and what they hate. And no company does style better than Apple.

Now that Apple has momentum on its side, does this finally mean we’re nearing a day when we can have a coherent discussion of the pros and cons of Apple’s approach to the computing world? Probably not. After all, the Mac community has all the momentum on its side, and is unlikely to lift its foot off the gas now that more people are starting to come around to its point of view. And Apple hasn’t stopped making Mac vs. PC ads.

But here’s a challenge: if Mac users care about quality and excellent design, and Windows users are adamant about openness and ubiquity, let’s apply those same standards to the discussion of the computer industry. There are going to be Macs, and there are going to be PCs. This religious argument is very 1995; it’s time to move on.

Intel and other companies have formed a group to promote the USB 3.0, which should deliver more than ten times the speed of the existing USB 2.0 standard.

The third-generation Universal Serial Bus interconnect will transfer data at speeds up to 4.8Gbit/s, ten times faster than USB 2.0′s 480MBit/s. It will be backwards-compatible with USB 2.0, which is backwards-compatible with the first USB 1.1 definition.

Intel stated that the USB 3.0 specification would be optimized for low power and improved protocol efficiency. The USB 3.0 ports and cabling will be designed with both copper and optical cable capabilities, meaning even higher speeds will be possible in the future.

The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) will act as the trade association for the USB 3.0 specification. There is also a Wireless USB (WUSB) transfer format and this operates at 480Mbit/s, the same as USB 2.0, in its 1.0 incarnation. Intel also revealed a WUSB 1.1 interconnect format, operating at a speed of up to 1Gbit/s.

Jeff Ravencraft, Intel’s technology strategist, said: “The digital era requires high-speed performance and reliable connectivity to move the enormous amounts of digital content now present in everyday life. USB 3.0 will meet this challenge while maintaining (USB 2.0′s) ease-of-use experience.”