Recetario médico-farmacológicos para el cuidado y el embellecimiento del cabello: fuentes árabes medievales / [Medical-pharmacological recipes for hair care and beautification: medieval Arabic sources]

El cuidado y el embellecimiento del cabello forman parte de la tradición de todas las culturas y, a lo largo de la historia, los hombres y las mujeres se han preocupado por su aspecto, no solo desde el punto de vista estético sino también desde el punto de vista terapéutico. Un cabello sano indica una piel sana y, por lo tanto, un cuerpo sano. El trabajo que aquí presentamos recoge una colección de recetas de carácter médico-farmacológico destinadas al cuidado y el embellecimiento del cabello. Para ello, y partiendo de la Materia Médica de Dioscórides, obra de cabecera de la ciencia árabe, se han seleccionado una serie de fuentes árabes medievales de las que se han extraído dichas recetas. Los autores elegidos son: Al-Idrīsī, Abū l-Qāsim al-Zahrāwī, Abū l-ʿAlā’ Zuhr, Ibn Zuhr e Ibn al-Bayttār (AU)

Medicina y masculinidad: el cuidado de la barba en los recetarios domésticos castellanos del siglo XVI / [Medicine and masculinity: beard care in 16th century Castilian domestic recipe books]

En la Europa bajomedieval y durante la primera Edad Moderna, en paralelo al desarrollo de profesiones sanitarias como la cirugía y la barbería, emergen nuevos géneros de literatura médica en lenguas vernáculas pensados para un uso doméstico. Una parte sig-nificativa de estos textos estaba dedicada al cuidado de la apariencia estética, una esfera de intervención en el cuerpo humano tradicionalmente vinculada a las mujeres. Sin embargo, en este trabajo mostramos cómo los recetarios domésticos también incluyeron tratamientos destinados a los hombres, concretamente para la conservación y embellecimiento de la barba. Con ello, señalamos la importancia de estos textos para documentar prácticas de construc-ción de la identidad masculina a través de la imagen corporal. En este trabajo se analizan los tratamientos propuestos para el cuidado de la barba en dos recetarios castellanos del siglo XVI, el Vergel de señores y el Regalo de la vida humana, específicamente para su limpieza y teñido, así como para la prevención de la alopecia. Se estudian los procedimientos técnicos y las sustancias utilizadas para la confección de los productos finales, así como los consejos y advertencias para su aplicación correcta y efectiva. El estudio contextualizado de las recetas en sus testimonios manuscritos permite documentar la contribución de las tradiciones médicas domésticas a la construcción de la masculinidad. (AU)

Burnett's "Cocaine" for dandruff.

Joseph Burnett manufactured the diethyl ether used for William T.G. Morton's public demonstration of inhaled surgical anesthesia on October 16, 1846 (Ether Day). A later Burnett product was a hairdressing oil claimed to prevent baldness and dandruff. It contained cocoa-nut oil and was called Cocoaine. In 1902 and 1903, it was sometimes advertised as Burnett's Cocaine (rather than Cocoaine), possibly to emulate the economic success of coca-based beverages such as Vin Mariani and Coca-Cola. Coca leaves are now decocainized before use in preparation of Coca-Cola, and the recovered cocaine is used for scientific and dwindling medical purposes.

The use of multizone models to estimate an airborne chemical contaminant generation and decay profile: occupational exposures of hairdressers to vinyl chloride in hairspray during the 1960s and 1970s.

Vinyl chloride (VC) was used as a propellant in a limited percentage of aerosol hairspray products in the United States from approximately 1967 to 1973. The question has arisen whether occupational exposures of hairdressers to VC-containing hairsprays in hair salons were sufficient to increase the risk for developing hepatic angiosarcoma (HAS). Transient two-zone and steady-state three-zone models were used to estimate the historical airborne concentration of VC for individual hairdressers using hairspray as well as estimated contributions from other hairdressers in the same salon. Concentrations of VC were modeled for small, medium, and large salons, as well as a representative home salon. Model inputs were determined using published literature, and variability in these inputs was also considered using Monte Carlo techniques. The 95th percentile for the daily time-weighted average exposure for small, medium, and large salons, assuming a market-share fraction of VC-containing hairspray use from the Monte Carlo analysis, was about 0.3 ppm, and for the home salon scenario was 0.1 ppm. The 95th percentile value for the cumulative lifetime exposure of the hairdressers was 2.8 ppm-years for the home salon scenario and 2.0 ppm-years for the small, medium, and large salon scenarios. If using the assumption that all hairsprays used in a salon contained VC, the 95th percentile of the theoretical lifetime cumulative dose was estimated to be 52-79 ppm-years. Estimated lifetime doses were all below the threshold dose for HAS of about 300 to 500 ppm-years reported in the published epidemiology literature.

The value of hair cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

As early as can be traced, written documents testify endeavors shown by humanity to please by means of the hair. Hair care, color and style play an important role in people's physical appearance and self-perception. Dermatologists should be knowledgeable about the procedures people follow to look their best and should have the competence to provide patients with information on the benefits and hazards of hair cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Shampooing is the most common form of cosmetic hair treatment. The diversity of qualities expected from a shampoo by today's consumer surpass the primary function of cleansing. Current shampoo formulations are adapted to the variations associated with hair quality, hair care habit and specific problems related to the superficial condition of the scalp. Hand in hand, test methods are developed to evaluate the efficacy of hair care products so that consumers are offered products that perform as claimed. Through the development of cosmetics with pharmaceutically active compounds, products are evolving that are becoming more similar to topical therapeutic agents (cosmeceuticals). The efficacy of cosmeceuticals that claim to act as hair growth stimulants should be measured by the standards set by the drugs minoxidil and, more recently, oral finasteride. Finally, health hazards associated with the use of hair care products, especially rinse-off products, have been overemphasized by the media and need careful correction by opinion leaders.

Hair mercury levels of Japanese women during the period 1881 to 1968.

The hair samples of Japanese females during the period from 1881 to 1968 were obtained from various localities of the central area of Japan. Inorganic mercury levels were elevated in unwashed hair samples from prewar periods, especially during 1920s , while elevation of organic mercury levels was conspicuous during 1960s. The increase of inorganic mercury levels in samples from the 1920s is suspected to be due to mercury contamination of hair cosmetics, and increased organic mercury levels in the hair from the 1960s can be explained by active fish consumption.