Vellus

Hair types head/trunk Terminal and vellus Guard, auchene, awl, and zigzag... 

Supplementum Auiei Velleiis, pp.llf., in Aureum Vellus Oder Giildenes Vliess (Frankfurt, 1733). 

According to the preface to Aureum Vellus, Trismosin set out on his wanderings in 1473. The first alchemist he came across was a miner named Flocker, but he was extremely secretive and Trismosin learned nothing from him. "He used a process with common lead," Trismosin recounts, "adding to it a peculiar Sulfur, or Brimstone, he fixed the lead until it became hard, then fluid, and later on soft like Wax. Of this prepared lead he took 20 loth [10 ounces], and 1 mark [about 8 ounces] pure unalloyed silver, cast it in an ingot, when half of it was gold.. . . Shortly thereafter he tumbled down a mine and no one could tell what was the artifice he had used."... 

Mennens, Willem. Aureum vellus, in Theatrum chemicum (Strasbourg Zetzner, 1660), vol. 5, pp. 240-428. 

C. Engraving from the 1708 Hamburg Printed Edition. (Salomon Trismosin, Aureum Vellus, oder Guldin Schatz und Kunstkammer, Hamburg)... 

Translated from the Aurum Vellus, Rohrschach (1598) by Julius Kohn (appended to his translation of the Harley Splendor Solis, London, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner Co., 1920).]... 

The title page of the Aureum Vellus (Rorschach, 1598) makes the claim that the author of the Splendor Solis was Paracelsus teacher, but we have not established the basis of this claim. 

In Aurum Vellus, Rorschach, 1498, and translated in the Splendor Solis, trans. K[ohn], p.88. 

Hirsutism results from the change of hne, vellus hair to visible, thickened, terminal hair under the influence of dihydrotestosterone, a biologically active form of testosterone. This androgen-dependent hair growth develops in deflned patterns. Terminal hair is a normal phenomenon and is often found on the upper lip, the chin, aronnd the nipples and the midline of the lower abdomen. 

As indicated, terminal hairs is normally applied to those long thick hairs that occur on children and adults in contrast to lanugo and vellus hairs. 

Table 1-2. Differences between terminal and vellus hairs. Terminal hairs...

Hair loss is actually the transition of terminal hairs to vellus hairs. This condition occurs gradually and at different rates for different persons. This phenomenon tends to occur in a more diffuse pattern among women than among men. Thus, the term male pattern baldness is used for the patterns... 

Alopecia or hair loss may occur over any body region such as the scalp, face, trunk, or limbs. Obviously, alopecia of the scalp (baldness) has received the most scientific attention. In most forms of baldness, progressive miniaturization of hair follicles results in a transition of terminal hairs to vellus hairs [14] as opposed to the common misconception portrayed by the term hair loss. In a normal healthy scalp, approximately 80 to 90% of the hairs are in anagen, 1 to 2% in catagen, and 10 to 20% in telogen [15]. 

Thus, any agent or process that either enhances or interferes with any of these five steps will lead to either less or greater production of longer more coarse hairs. Interference in the transport process of step 2 may result in terminal hairs produced where vellus hairs are normally produced. For example, the second step involving the transport of testosterone on carrier proteins is the effect seen in most hirsute women [24]. What is observed is a reduction in transport proteins (SHBG) and the concomitant increase in free unbound testosterone level in the blood stream. Thus, the transport mechanism is interfered with, and thick terminal hairs are produced in body regions where they are not normally produced. 

Wool wiil [ME wolle, ft. OE wull akin to OHGr wolla wool, L vellus fleece, lana... 

Nevertheless, it is assumed that treatment with minoxidil lengthens and thickens the small vellus hairs and decreases shedding. Minoxidil is a potassium channel opener that causes vasorelaxation [132] and stimulates cutaneous blood flow to the scalp [133]. Minoxidil sulfate, a metabolite of minoxidil, is a potent vasodilator. Uptake and conversion of minoxidil to minoxidil sulfate occurs within the HE, suggesting a direct action on the follicle [134]. The most probable site of action of minoxidil is the DP [135], and the mechanism of action has been linked to its effects on the Kir6.1/SUR2B potassium channel expressed by the derma papilla [136-138]. 

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