Beware of health misinformation!

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Remember the good old days when most of the time only confirmed and reliable health information used to reach you. Your source of this information was through academic journals, books, newspapers, brochures, booklets, pamphlets, or your doctor's and health organizations.  But the growing social media platforms has created hurdles in the reach of genuine information to the masses. Instead what reaches them is health misinformation through social media posts created by people who have no knowledge about health. These are quacks operating. And social media helps spread this misinformation like fire. This is dangerous. It is playing with the lives of people.  Read here: Politicians vs doctors: believe whom? Most of this information is false and not accurate. It can be misleading. Sadly, even governments assist in spread of this misinformation. Most politicians these days are illiterate and shameless who boast about past and have no vision for the present or the future. Moreover, s...

Henna hair dye: safety, usefulness, and limitations.

 Henna is a natural temporary coloring agent obtained from leaves and tender stems of the plant,  Lawsonia imtermis. Used on skin and hair, it gives a typical brownish orange hue to the part. 

Henna and hair color

Henna gives a typical color to the hair. It hides whites but does not blacken it unfortunately. Hence it is not a versatile hair dye. It also takes many hours to produce effect. The color though natural is not permanent. But how safe is it?


Henna for hair and its safety

Since henna is natural, it is a natural tendency to think that it is a safe option to the chemical dyes for hair. But is it so really?

Henna does not penetrate into hair shaft and only remains on the hair surface. Hence it sits there preventing any hair conditioner to reach the hair cuticle. Hence hair could become lifeless and brittle with repeated use. Henna per se does not condition the hair. 

Though predominantly non-allergic, henna does have a low allergic tendency. But some cases of allergy could be due to the other components mixed in the henna-based hair dye mixture including contaminants such as nickel and cobalt. 

Henna does have some action against Malassezia furfur, the fungus causing dandruff. 

Remember 'black henna' has PPD in it in high concentrations. Hence for people allergic to it or looking for PPD free hair dyes, it is best avoided. 

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