Misplaced Pages

Hair analysis: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editNext edit →Content deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 20:55, 7 December 2006 editValjean (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, IP block exemptions, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers95,275 editsm →External links: oops!; rmv too non-RS commercial sites← Previous edit Revision as of 08:50, 9 December 2006 edit undoTheNautilus (talk | contribs)1,377 edits →Controversy: improve encyclopedic presentation of basic stmts in Controversy; move a minor sampling point to Talk for nowNext edit →
Line 20: Line 20:


== Controversy == == Controversy ==
⚫ A 1985 paper noted several then existant commercial hair analysis services as inconsistent.<ref>] '']'' 254:1041-1045, 1985.</ref> Wennig has also questioned its viability for use in forensics.<ref name="wennig">Wennig, R. ''Forensic Science International'' 107.1-3 (Jan 10, 2000): 5-12.</ref> Tests have shown that levels of heavy metal in the body may not be reflected by the levels in the hair.<ref name="teresa">Teresa M, Vasconcelos SD, Tavares HM. Sci Total Environ. 1997 Oct 20;205(2-3):189-99.</ref> When the same sample are sent to different laboratories offering the service results differ from ] to laboratory.<ref name="seidel">Seidel S, Kreutzer R, Smith D, McNeel S, Gilliss D. Journal of the American Medical Association, 2001 Jan 3;285(1):67-72.</ref> The latter authors concluded:

] of ] published a 1985 paper in the '']'' that noted several then existant commercial hair analysis services as inconsistent.<ref>Barrett S. ''JAMA'' 254:1041-1045, 1985.</ref> Wennig has also questioned its viability for use in forensics.<ref name="wennig">Wennig, R. ''Forensic Science International'' 107.1-3 (Jan 10, 2000): 5-12.</ref>

⚫ Tests have shown that levels of heavy metal in the body may not be reflected by the levels in the hair.<ref name="teresa">Teresa M, Vasconcelos SD, Tavares HM. Sci Total Environ. 1997 Oct 20;205(2-3):189-99.</ref> When the same sample are sent to different laboratories offering the service results differ from ] to laboratory.<ref name="seidel">Seidel S, Kreutzer R, Smith D, McNeel S, Gilliss D. Journal of the American Medical Association, 2001 Jan 3;285(1):67-72.</ref> The authors concluded:


: "Hair mineral analysis from these laboratories was unreliable, and we recommend that health care practitioners refrain from using such analyses to assess individual nutritional status or suspected environmental exposures. Problems with the regulation and certification of these laboratories also should be addressed."<ref name="seidel">Seidel S, Kreutzer R, Smith D, McNeel S, Gilliss D. Journal of the American Medical Association, 2001 Jan 3;285(1):67-72.</ref> : "Hair mineral analysis from these laboratories was unreliable, and we recommend that health care practitioners refrain from using such analyses to assess individual nutritional status or suspected environmental exposures. Problems with the regulation and certification of these laboratories also should be addressed."<ref name="seidel">Seidel S, Kreutzer R, Smith D, McNeel S, Gilliss D. Journal of the American Medical Association, 2001 Jan 3;285(1):67-72.</ref>


Tamari wrote in a letter to the editor that this may be the result of lack of standardization in the analysis protocols, rather than a flaw in the concept. In addition, he stated that "any analytical laboratory, whether analyzing hair, blood or urine, has no valid rationale for recommending a supplementation program based solely on the specific analysis. Only a qualified health practitioner, who has all the necessary and appropriate information about the patient, is in the position to make proper interpretation and appropriate recommendations."<ref>George Tamari. Letter to the editor: ''Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients'', May, 2004</ref> Finally there is the problem that hair will be up to two weeks old meaning that the data obtained may not reflect the current state of the person the hair was taken from. Tamari wrote in a letter to the editor that this may be the result of lack of standardization in the analysis protocols, rather than a flaw in the concept. In addition, he stated that "any analytical laboratory, whether analyzing hair, blood or urine, has no valid rationale for recommending a supplementation program based solely on the specific analysis. Only a qualified health practitioner, who has all the necessary and appropriate information about the patient, is in the position to make proper interpretation and appropriate recommendations."<ref>George Tamari. Letter to the editor: ''Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients'', May, 2004</ref>


== References == == References ==

Revision as of 08:50, 9 December 2006

Hair analysis is the chemical analysis of a hair sample. Its most widely accepted use is in the fields of forensics and toxicology. It is also used in alternative medicine, but this use is controversial.

Use in forensics

Hair analysis can refer to the forensic technique of assessing a number of different characteristics of hairs in order to determine whether they have a common source; for example, compairing hairs found at the scene of the crime with hair samples taken from a suspect.

Use in toxicology

Hair analysis can be used for the detection of many therapeutic drugs and recreational drugs, including cocaine, heroin, benzodiazepines (Valium-type drugs) and amphetamines. In this context, it has been reliably used to determine compliance with therapeutic drug regimes or to check the accuracy of a witness statement that an illicit drug has not been taken. Hair testing is an increasingly common method of assessment in substance misuse, particularly in legal proceedings, or in any situation where a subject may have decided not to tell the entire truth about his or her substance-using history.

Use in detection of long term elemental effects

There appears to be genuine validity to the use of hair analysis in the measurement of life-long, or long-term heavy metal burden, if not the measurement of general elemental analysis. Several interesting studies including the analysis of Ludwig van Beethoven's hair have been conducted in conjunction with the National Institutes of Health, and CDC to name a few.

A 1999 study on hair concentrations of calcium, iron, and zinc in pregnant women and effects of supplementation, it was concluded that "From the analyses, it was clear that hair concentrations of Ca, Fe, and Zn could reflect the effects of supplementation...Finally, it could be concluded that mineral element deficiencies might be convalesced by adequate compensations of mineral element nutrients."

Use in alternative medicine

Hair analysis is used in some branches of alternative medicine as a method of investigation to assist diagnosis. The hair is analyzed, looking at the levels of mineral and metals in the hair sample and using the results, as part of a proper examination, advocates claim that they can diagnose mineral deficiencies, heavy metal poisoning and even conditions like autism.

Controversy

A 1985 paper noted several then existant commercial hair analysis services as inconsistent. Wennig has also questioned its viability for use in forensics. Tests have shown that levels of heavy metal in the body may not be reflected by the levels in the hair. When the same sample are sent to different laboratories offering the service results differ from laboratory to laboratory. The latter authors concluded:

"Hair mineral analysis from these laboratories was unreliable, and we recommend that health care practitioners refrain from using such analyses to assess individual nutritional status or suspected environmental exposures. Problems with the regulation and certification of these laboratories also should be addressed."

Tamari wrote in a letter to the editor that this may be the result of lack of standardization in the analysis protocols, rather than a flaw in the concept. In addition, he stated that "any analytical laboratory, whether analyzing hair, blood or urine, has no valid rationale for recommending a supplementation program based solely on the specific analysis. Only a qualified health practitioner, who has all the necessary and appropriate information about the patient, is in the position to make proper interpretation and appropriate recommendations."

References

  1. Welch, M.J., Sniegoski, L.T., Allgood, C.C., and Habram, M. Hair analysis for drugs of abuse: Evaluation of analytical methods, environmental issues, and development of reference materials. J Anal Toxicol 17(7):389-398, 1993.
  2. PMID: 10468164 Hair concentrations of calcium, iron, and zinc in pregnant women and effects of supplementation. Leung PL, Huang HM, Sun DZ, Zhu MG. Biol Trace Elem Res. 1999 Sep;69(3):269-82.
  3. Lathe, Richard, and Michael Le Page. "Toxic metal clue to autism: a study has revealed startling differences in mercury levels in the hair of autistic and normal children. (This Week)." New Scientist 178.2400 (June 21, 2003): 4(2).
  4. Barrett S. Commercial hair analysis: Science or scam? JAMA 254:1041-1045, 1985.
  5. Wennig, R. "Potential problems with the interpretation of hair analysis results.(Selected Papers from the 2d International Meeting of the Society of Hair Testing)."Forensic Science International 107.1-3 (Jan 10, 2000): 5-12.
  6. Teresa M, Vasconcelos SD, Tavares HM. Trace element concentrations in blood and hair of young apprentices of a technical-professional school. Sci Total Environ. 1997 Oct 20;205(2-3):189-99.
  7. ^ Seidel S, Kreutzer R, Smith D, McNeel S, Gilliss D. Assessment of commercial laboratories performing hair mineral analysis. Journal of the American Medical Association, 2001 Jan 3;285(1):67-72.
  8. George Tamari. Unreliability of hair analysis. Letter to the editor: Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, May, 2004

External links

Categories: