4.1 Lesson 1: Chemicals, Elements, and Compounds

Chemicals and chemistry constitute an important part of Trichological learning. – chemicals help make up the human body, are often deficient in certain hair loss or scalp conditions, and are sometimes needed in either supplement or topical form during treatment. – many organic (carbon-based) and inorganic (non carbon-based) substances are necessary to permit life-sustaining chemical reactions to take place in the cell.
An example of chemical reactions important for the trichologist is: – large food molecules, such as proteins, must initially be broken down into small amino acids in order to enter cells that produce hair and skin (this breaking-down process is called hydrolysis). Once these amino acids have entered, the cell will use them as building blocks to produce the hair fiber or skin cells (this building-up process is called synthesis). Many enzymes and other chemicals are needed for these processes.

An element is a substance that cannot be broken down to other substances by chemical reactions. – There are 92 naturally-occurring elements. – Each element has a unique symbol, usually taken from its name which was originally written in Latin, Greek, or German (example: Iron was originally called Ferrum (Latin) and is symbolized with the letters “Fe”.
About 25 of the 92 natural elements are known to be essential for life. – Four elements - carbon (C), oxygen (O), hydrogen (H), and nitrogen (N) - make up approximately 96% of the human body. – Most of the remaining 4% of a human’s weight consists of phosphorus (P), sulfur (S), calcium (Ca), and potassium (K).
Trace elements are required by humans but only in minute quantities. For example a daily intake of 0.15 milligrams of iodine is required for normal activity of the human thyroid gland.
A compound is a substance consisting of two or more elementsin a fixed ratio. – Table salt (sodium chloride or NaCl)is a compound with equal numbersof chlorine and sodium atoms.