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Some people have straight hair and want curly hair. Others have curls and straighten them out. But for a few people, their hair actually changes shape and texture on its own — and not just because of the weather. Scientists don't know exactly why this happens, but it probably has to do with a combination of genetics, hormones and body chemistry.
"Every seven to 10 years, my hair tends to change texture, going from straight to wavy to curly," says Kimberly Fasting-Berg, a marketing executive in New York City.
"I can't predict but then it happens and I am like, 'Oh, here we go again,'" she says.
Judy Butler, a midwife in Tucson, Ariz., also has hair that's gone from straight to curly and vice versa, so when she saw changes in the hair of her three kids she wasn't surprised.
"My first two [kids] had very straight hair as infants, I mean stick straight," Butler says. But when her kids hit puberty, she says their hair become "very curly, very wavy and very frizzy."
Curly locks have always sprung from my head, so I wondered, how often does hair change, and could it happen to me? I set off on a quest to find out.
Searching For Hair Clues In Our Genes
First I started with Dr. Barry Starr, a geneticist at Stanford University. He told me most people's hair doesn't change from straight to curly.
"If your mom gives you a curly version of the gene and so does your dad, you end up with curly hair. If both parents give you the straight version you end up with straight hair," Starr says. And if one gives you curly and the other straight, you could wind up with something in between.
But, he couldn't tell me why some people go through a hair transformation. "It is an interesting genetic question, but I don't think there is an answer yet — and there may not be," he says.
What Shapes Our Hair?
The next person I called is Dr. Paradi Mirmirani, a dermatologist in Vallejo, Calif., who specializes in hair. "We do know that curly hair has a different shape than straight hair," says Mirmirani. That shape depends on the shape of the hair follicle. This tiny structure guides the hair fiber up a sort of tube as it grows. The inside of the tube determines if the hair is curly or straight — ovals produce curly hair and circular tubes yield straight hair.
"If you think about gift wrapping ribbon, when you try to make it curly, you take the scissors and you pull it on one side, so you kind of flatten the one side and it curls. So you're changing the shape of one side compared to the other," says Mirmirani. "When it's oval, one side is curved and the other side is flat, which makes it curl."
So if your hair changes from straight to curly it suggests that the follicles must be changing, but Mirmirani couldn't tell me why that would happen, though she thought it could have something to do with hormones.
An Influence From Hormones?
After all, hair changes in other ways during adolescence or after having a baby, two events that generate hormonal changes in the body.
"Hormones are a logical guess but I have no evidence to prove that," says Dr. Val Randall, an endocrinologist at the University of Bradford in England.
Randall is one of the few people doing research on hormones and hair. She says it is difficult to figure something like this out because it doesn't happen very often.
But, says Randall, change is possible because hair is always replacing itself:
"The hair that you have on your head age 10 is not the hair that you have on your head age 2, and it is not the hair you have on your head age 50," Randall says.
If the new follicles grow back a different shape, then your new hair will be different, too.
Hair Care From The Inside-Out
I made at least a dozen more calls but I couldn't find anyone who knew more about the curly-straight question. I did find out that there is an entire industry working on it.
"There are multimillion-dollar research projects going on looking at how to change hair shape because this would be a billion-dollar business," says Dr. Zoe Draelos, a dermatologist in High Point, N.C. Her research is supported by the cosmetics industry, which is looking beyond perms and irons. For the industry, figuring out a simple way to turn hair straight or curly would be a goldmine.
"Wouldn't it be great if you took a pill and your hair turned curly?" says Draelos. "I mean, can you imagine how that would revolutionize hair care, and then you could take another pill, and you could reverse it the next day."
Until then, I think I will stick with my curls.
This article was taken from here.
Until Next Time,
Indulgenceiskey
http://www.naturesindulgence.net/
i been search information about this topic until i found this articel.. very nice work on it thanks
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What's very interesting is how black people's hair changes from birth to the first year or so. Most black people are born with straight or loosely curled hair that changes to tightly coiled by around 9months to 18 months. I've always wondered about this. Could it have something to do with the change of diet from milk, a liquid protein diet to a solid mostly carbohydrate diet?
ReplyDeleteI'm not an expert, the following is stuff I've read over the years.
ReplyDeleteThere are people who have two different kinds of DNA in their body. Blood drawn from their kidneys may have one set of DNA, and blood drawn from their arms, may yield another.
Eye color changes color for some folks over the years as well.
Divasass,
ReplyDeleteThat is a great question about whether or not it could have something to do with the change of diet. What GoldenAh said was very interesting as well.
I am a 60-yr female, and about 5 months ago, my hair suddenly changed from normal, slightly natural curly to frizzy, kinky, wiry hair AND at the same time, also, suddenly started to fall out...it still is. I've had the typical hair loss blood work done with no abnormalities except that I am just on the line with low red blood cell count, low hemoglobin and low hemotocrit readings, which my doctor said he doesn't consider me to be anemic even. I do every few months have my hair high-lighted, but haven't even done that in over three months now. So 2 hair issues at once, at the same congruent time, it seems they are related, but what would then be the cause? I'm assuming from what I've read on line, that my hair follicles have changed shape and are now producing the kinky hair. I can't believe that no one has any idea what can cause this change of texture phenomenon. It also seems strange that I got thru pregnancies and menopause with no hair problems, and now at 60, an unlikely age for hormonal changes, I am suffering with these issues now. I've been to 3 dermatologists who, when I called for an initial appointment, and I asked if they have experience in hair problems/loss...they all said "oh, yes...come on in...blah, blah, and not one has even wanted to do a biopsy to get a clue for themselves to help me. I am convinced they are really not interested in me, but rather in the more lucrative side of their practice with botox and anti-aging skin care, etc. How many doctors, here in Palm Beach county, FL does it take to find a decent dermatologist? I don't think there are any trichologists around, and if so, doubt from what I've read here, that anyone knows a thing about hair changing from one texture to another. I am so, so sad.
ReplyDeleteMy fine, straight hair went to wavy in my 50s and is now curly!! I love it.
ReplyDeleteAt age 65 my fine stick-straight hair has become curly over 3 weeks. Once I get it cut for curly hair I'm going to love it. It happened so quickly I keep thinking I'm going to wake up one mornig and it will again be straight! Would love to know what's happened.
ReplyDeleteI'm 24 and was born with lots of super curly hair. Just a couple of months ago, the ends started turning straight on their own. So now my hair is half curly (at the base) and half straight (at the ends). My hair dresser says it's hormones but that doesn't really help me. I don't know what that means, and it doesn't fix it. I miss my curls! I don't want my hair to suddenly be straight (no offense to girls with straight hair). Also, how could it be hormones if I'm 24? This didn't happen during puberty or during a growth spurt, this happened after I graduated college (not a lot of hormonal changes at that age). I wish I could get some answers and solutions!
ReplyDeleteI just turned sixty,about 3 months ago my hair started falling out like a shedding dog. Right under crown of my hair it started getting wavey. It is so wavey now it pushes my straight hair to the sides,just a stripe all the way down I can not get it to go straight with anything. It always looks as if I don't comb the back of my hair. Anyone have any advise on this.I have sandy blonde hair this has become very upsetting for me.
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