Hair in the news...

[WaitingSoLong]

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/08/18/teen-with-rare-condition-could-die-from-brushing-hair/?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl5%7Csec1_lnk3%7C87663

Saw this today, a girl could die by brushing her hair.

[halo_tightens]

I saw that too!

I think the CG method is called for here. :)

[Sweet Beat]

That must be so hard for her. Static electricity is almost everywhere, is it?

[littlenvy]

WOW!
Its kind of strange, I never knew that static could even get anywhere near your brain.

On a side note, cones give me static from hell. Since I quit cones I notice very little in winter to no static other times of the year. Bonus! :)

[pepperminttea]

Ouch. That has to be the best reason to love a pixie cut I've ever read.

[freckles]

Oh my. That's really quite scary. The poor girl!

[Nae]

Wow, that is really odd. Poor thing, I would hate to have to worry about that all the time.

[Yozhik]

Wow, that's really distressing. I bet wooden or bone combs would help prevent static.

[newbeginning]

Very sad all the health issues her and her mother had to go through.

[Rusticular]

Poor girl; even hopping in and out of a car would imaginably be a problem. :{

[PJ-Sander]

Holy cow, I've never heard of that condition. Very scary!

[Coffeebug]

Good grief, that's terrifying!! The amount of things that cause static, it's a minefield for her isn't it.

[islandboo]

I am prone to very strong static shocks (I cringe a bit when I turn on faucets, etc) but that is nothing compared to what that poor girl has. How terrifying :(

[Anje]

Wow, that's weird and scary.

They really need to get her some wooden combs, though.

[Arya]

Guys.
It's not a real condition.

Here's the jezebel article, and a post someone wrote below it which actually makes sense.
it's not the static that's bad for her, it's the way her heart functions when she raises her arms.

http://jezebel.com/5832081/when-a-hairbrush-is-dangerous
commenter on jez (NOT ME! I wish I was this hilarious)

If you're like me, you read this and thought, "Wow! The Daily Mail is an entirely untrustworthy institution, is morally bankrupt and is staffed by people who lie somewhere between fruit flies and the victims of transporter accidents, so I'm surprised that this kind of is based somewhat in reality!"

There is no such thing as Hair-Brushing Syndrome. There is, however, Hair-Grooming Syncope (I'm nitpicking, but I'm allowed to, because it's the Daily Mail).

1. Static electricity has nothing to do with it. Zero. Nothing. There is no reason she can't brush her hair while it's dry as she shuffles across shag carpet in a lightning storm while making out with a balloon in wintertime.

2. It's not incredibly uncommon. The autonomic system - the part of the nervous system that regulates things like heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure, among other things - in children is still developing. Some of the sensors that tell the heart "Blood pressure is dropping! Speed up and pump more blood!" or "Blood pressure is too high! Slow it down, Captain Heart!" are in the head and neck. When kids rapidly change their body's position, particularly with respect to the head and neck, the heart may get a message messages to speed up.
There are also, however, receptors in the heart, and sometimes when the heart speeds up suddenly because of the head-and-neck-signals, these heart receptors can erroneously try to slow the heart back down again. This conflict in signals from the sensors in the neck and the sensors in the heart result in a sudden drop in blood pressure - which, in turn, means that there isn't enough blood pressure to perfuse (drive blood, and thus oxygen, through) the brain.

3. When the brain isn't perfused, you pass out.

4. Sometimes, when the brain isn't perfused, you have a seizure.

5. There are many ways that people can faint because of heart rate and blood pressure reflex dysfunction. There's a whole class of them - what we call "neurogenic syncope."

6. There is no such thing as "static electricity syncope."

7. I mean, really.

References

1. Evans WN, Acherman R, Kip K, Restrepo H. Hair-grooming syncope in children.
Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2009 Oct;48(8):834-6.

2. Britton JW, Benarroch E. Seizures and syncope: anatomic basis and diagnostic
considerations. Clin Auton Res. 2006 Feb;16(1):18-28.

[Bianca]

Poor girl :bigeyes:

[Kathie]

References

1. Evans WN, Acherman R, Kip K, Restrepo H. Hair-grooming syncope in children.
Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2009 Oct;48(8):834-6.

2. Britton JW, Benarroch E. Seizures and syncope: anatomic basis and diagnostic
considerations. Clin Auton Res. 2006 Feb;16(1):18-28.



Teehee- I've never seen a reference with an emoticon in it, I hope to see more :P

[Chetanlaiho]

There is no reason she can't brush her hair while it's dry as she shuffles across shag carpet in a lightning storm while making out with a balloon in wintertime.

You made me picture this xD

[Neneka]

Whatever it it, it must be scary.

[Arya]

You made me picture this xD

Haha, I wish I wrote it, but it was a clever jezzie commenter, I quoted the whole thing...guess I did it wrong?

And Kathie: MLA is VERY SPECIFIC about emoticons in references. It only accepts internationally recognized side-read emoticons like : ) and ; ) not crazy japanese ones like <(^_^)> and >_>;;

[WaitingSoLong]

Wow now I am just confused.

[Melon Collie]

Thank you, Arya, for a few minutes I was thinking that I had heard everything.