DEA used in shampoo may affect brain development

AbookamongstthemanyAbookamongstthemany Posts: 8,209
edited August 2006 in A Moving Train
http://www.newlifemovement.net/articles/a-shampoo-memory.php

Ingredient In Shampoo May Affect Memory; Animal Research Shows DEA Slows Memory Cell Development


POSTED: 12:33 pm EDT May 7, 2004
UPDATED: 11:08 am EDT May 10, 2004
http://www.nbc17.com/health/3280244/detail.html

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Washing your hair might make you lose your mind. It sounds like a line from the cover of a tabloid magazine, but it's the focus of government research.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have uncovered evidence that suggests an ingredient found in some soaps and shampoos might affect memory.

The research in animals centers around diethanolamine (DEA), a chemical 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, but there's also some research that shows it may rob the brain of its ability to make memory cells.

"Depending on the treatment, some mice are stupid, some are not," said researcher Dr. Steven Zeisel.

Zeisel has uncovered evidence in mice that suggests DEA and a similar ingredient, triethanolamine (TEA), seep through the skin and block the brain's ability to absorb choline -- a nutrient that plays a crucial role in the memory cell-making process in the developing brain.

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

Earlier research by 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.

"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," Zeisel said.

Zeisel says if the DEA hypothesis holds true, the memory impact would probably be minimal in adults, but it 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 putting together a team and getting funding from NIH to try to find out for sure for people," Zeisel said.

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.

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, and high doses are found in eggs and peanuts.

For more information on products that contain DEA and TEA, log onto the National Institute of Health's household product database at http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/index.htm.

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If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
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Comments

  • Damn another thing to add to my list....so far I have removed common deodorant/anti-persparant (for aluminum is in the products and is potential cause of Alzheimers) for natural deodorant (although slightly more expensive is better)...and I have removed fluoride toothpaste to natural toothpaste (although more foamy does not make me gag every time I use it)....as well I do not eat margarine after reading a study someone performed with butter and margarine....they took both and placed both outside in the same environemtn after a few days insects were ravenging the butter, however not one species of anything touched the margarine....something to think about...I now only use butter....
  • even flow?even flow? Posts: 8,066
    I really glad I only wash my hair twice a week. I am really, really, glad I am not bald.
    You've changed your place in this world!
  • Damn another thing to add to my list....so far I have removed common deodorant/anti-persparant (for aluminum is in the products and is potential cause of Alzheimers) for natural deodorant (although slightly more expensive is better)...and I have removed fluoride toothpaste to natural toothpaste (although more foamy does not make me gag every time I use it)....as well I do not eat margarine after reading a study someone performed with butter and margarine....they took both and placed both outside in the same environemtn after a few days insects were ravenging the butter, however not one species of anything touched the margarine....something to think about...I now only use butter....

    Don't forget to only buy organic milk. ;)
    If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

    Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
    -Oscar Wilde
  • Don't forget to only buy organic milk. ;)

    I try to avoid milk...did not some study show feces and other wonderful things in milk.....?
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