Hair root characteristics of the human scalp hair in health and disease

Abstract

Morphological data on hair follicles have been available for over a\nhundred years, but only in recent years has a substantial advance been\nmade in our knowledge of types and distribution of hair, its structure,\nmetabolism, biochemistry and clinical patterns, and hormonal influences\non hair growth.\nHair plucking followed by microscopic examination has been used as a\ndiagnostic procedure in the past two decades. Van Scott et al. ( 195 7)\nwere first to standardize the technique of human hair plucking (epilation)\nand to design criteria for assessment of the morphology of the\nvarious phases of the hair growth cycle and of aberrant hair roots.\nSubsequent authors, however, have used modifications of this technique\nand applied varying and conflicting criteria in assessing the morphology\nof the various phases of the hair growth cycle and of aberrant hair roots,\nGeneral acceptance of a reliable uniform technique, and equally strict\ncriteria for different morphological hair root structures, can ensure\nthat comparable data are obtained.\nThe findings presented in this thesis are confined to human scalp hair\nroots. The preparation of a hair root status involves a simple, atraumatic\ntechnique of obtaining material, and the study of the physiology\nand pathology of hair growth in a manner which could be very useful in\nevaluating hair diseases and determining appropriate therapy (PeereboomWynia\n1975; Peereboom-Wynia and Beek 1977).