Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-22
SMALL HOPE FOR BALD HEADS
Bad to Wear a Hat, Bad to Go Bare
headed.

From the Medical Record.
The cause of badness and a satisfactory
treatment for this condition are both still
more or less puzzles to the medical pro-
fession
The question of badness and of the
chances of its successful treatment is
naturally one of absorbing interest In
all parts of the civilized world the tend
ency of hair to depart i'm an untimely
manner from the heads of members of
the rising generation is becoming more
and more evident. The sight of a bald
young man is SO frequent as to give rise
to no comment. and when a man reaches
middle age he is almost expected to be
bald to some extent
Gottheil in Progressive Medicine deals
with the matter at some length. He
deprecates the tendency to treat the SUBJ
Ject as a joke, and discusses the ordinary
forms of premature Or senile alopecia,
commonly associated with Or following
prevalent scalp affections known as Sc
borrhea or eczema seborrhoicum. In re-
cent years the custom of discarding head
gear in the belief that thereby the growth
of the hair will be stimulated or that it's
loss will be stayed has been widely
adopted.
The fact is, however, pointed out that
the skin and it's appendages are peculiar
ly susceptible to the action of the sun's
rays. Overindulgence in sun baths is
preJud1c1al to the human organism. cauS-
ing lrritability and nervousness, cardiac
and circulatory disturbances and dermal
LESSONS, sometimes of serious nature
Wen known authorities on skin diseases
state their belief. founded on long ex-
perience, that extended exposure to the
rays of the sun finally causes marked
badness. Indeed, the effect of the X
rays Is similar to that of the actinic rays
of the sun in this respect
Yet the hatleSS habit must not be wholly
condemned offhand. Undoubtedly it has
its advantages, and it must be noted
that savages in tropical climates, who
wear little or no protection for the head,
in the great majority of cases possess an
is a moot question as to whether inter
ference with the circulation caused by
our modern tisht-ftting hatbands is not
as harmful to the growth of the hair
as prolonged exposure to the actinic rays
or the SUM-. Badness is without doubt a
disease of civilization, and Isl one of the
penalties attached to being an inhabitant
OF progressive and cultured country.
Perhaps the more civilized the country
the more prevalent will badness be, for
extreme civilization infers a mode of life
farthest removed from that of nature
Indeed, lack of hair is almost synony-
nous with the acme of civilization, and
Is one Of the most annoying of the white
mans burdens.
AS for the treatment of badness, few
dermatolog1sts are agreed on uniform
plan. 1t would seem that the most ra-
tional and most common sense remedial
and preventive means-that is, when no
definite disease is PRESENTS to stimulate
the tissues OF the scalp and to increase
the blood supply of the hair follicles
This may be best done by a second per-
son. Brushing should be proceeded with
vigorously and persistently for months.
supplemented with the application of a
suitable lotion. Even then no certain re-
suits can be guaranteed. Some check
the loss of hair by these methods, others
do not attain this much-desired end. and
some apparently thereby hasten the de-
fuvium capillorium.