Researchers Studying if Washing Your Hair Can Adversely Affect Intelligence

WAVY ^

[esryle]

Washing your hair might make you lose your mind! While that sounds like a line from the cover of a tabloid magazine - it's the focus of real government research!

Researchers have uncovered evidence that suggests an ingredient found in some soaps and shampoos might affect memory.

The research centers around an ingredient found in shampoos, soaps, and a lot of other products we use to keep clean, it's called DEA. It's the stuff that helps makes soap and shampoo soft and bubbly - but there's also some research that shows DEA may rob the brains ability to make memory cells.

Researcher Dr. Steven Zeisel of the University of North Carolina has uncovered evidence in mice that suggests DEA, and a similar ingredient TEA, seep through the skin and block the brain's ability to absorb choline, a key nutrient that plays a crucial role in the memory cell making process in the developing brain.

"And what we found for example," says Dr. Zeisel, "is that low choline causes half as many cells to be divided as when you give extra choline, sot that's a huge change."

Earlier research by Dr. Zeisel showed that mice that were deprived of choline in the womb weren't as sharp as the animals whose mothers were fed a choline rich diet.

Now they want to see if the choline blocking effect found in DEA and TEA will have the same memory robbing impact.

"And our hypothesis is that they will, and we'll be able to show that doses of this compound administered frequently will cause abnormal brain development in the baby and they'll perform as if their mothers were eating too little choline in the diet," says Dr. Zeisel.

In layman's terms, the animals won't be as smart.

But what could all this mouse research mean for people? Dr. Zeisel says if the DEA-hypothesis holds true, the memory impact would probably be minimal in adults....but could have a bigger effect on the developing brain - during pregnancy and the first few years of life.

"I would never have thought that washing my hair could harm my baby - and again our research might not show that, but that's the reason we're putting the effort in put together a team funding from NIH try to find out for sure for people," says Zeisel.

The UNC research is using the same amounts of DEA as most of us would get if we shampooed our hair a couple of times a week.

Dr. Zeisel and his team of researchers are also testing to see if adding extra choline to the diet can make up for the brain cell deficiency caused by DEA.

Choline is a nutrient that is found in many of the foods we eat. High doses of choline are found in eggs and peanuts.

DEA stands for diethanolamine, a chemical that is used in shampoos, lotions, creams and other cosmetics. DEA is used widely because it provides a rich lather in shampoos and keeps a favorable consistency in lotions and creams. TEA, the other ingredient being tested, is similar and stands for triethanolamine.

[esryle]

[Tijeras_Slim]

This does not explain why James Carville is a screaming idiot.

[dirtboy]

Well, I guess I'll just have to go back to taking a bath once a year whether I need one or not.

[FrankR]

"Scientists have found that wallowing saliva in small amounts over a long period of time, could cause cancer."-George Carlin

[TomServo]

Well, I guess I'll just have to go back to taking a bath once a year whether I need one or not.

And you wonder why people call you dirtboy. ;-)

[FirstFlaBn]

Let's see, where did I leave that darn cap for the shampoo?

[dirtboy]

And you wonder why people call you dirtboy. ;-)

Actually, they're more prone to just dry heave in my presence without saying anything...

[dirtboy]

Let's see, where did I leave that darn cap for the shampoo?

Hey, try pouring some shampoo into a plastic bag and then inhaling the vapors. Makes for a truly liberal kind of buzz...

[iceskater]

LOL!!

[American_Centurion]

Then Hippies and Grunge fans should be the smartest people on earth!

[dirtboy]

This does not explain why James Carville is a screaming idiot.

The bowling ball wax Carville uses on his head contains PCBs.

[TomServo]

LOL!!!!

[John Thornton]

So what's the excuse of the French?

[JZoback]

There's a blond joke in there somewhere!

[Tall_Texan]

Yeah, my first response was "That explains women". I'd figured we'd already have reached that point of the discussion by now.

I shampoo my hair every day and it never

[just me]

So that explains why Hillary is the smartest woman in the world...

"ummm" maybe not because she can't remember anything..

[Thebaddog]

Is there DEA in beer?

[GMMAC]

Just an observation but ....

... aren't the overwhelming majority of hair care products on the market aimed primarily at one specific gender?

[Redcloak]

I wonder what expensive hair care combined with Botox injections will do to one's intelligence.

[PersonalLiberties]

Yikes, I guess this explains it :-)