If so, how?
What's the explanation for that?
2007-09-14 10:06:54 · 22 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Medicine
In fact, the same service is done with bird feathers to analyze health and detect the sex for Ostrich farms. like hair, its just another protein structure and protein structures will bind to chemicals and heavy metals in the blood stream.
The "root" of your hair plucked from your scalp has traceable chemicals or drugs from the past 24 hours.
The shaft of the hair records past metals, chemicals and drugs.
Forensics do it all the time who are investigating homicides.
My clients children are tested who have ADD/ADHD and full spectrum autism with hair analysis.
Most end up with a reading of very high levels of heavy mercury (off the charts), which we then cleanse the congested lever with a non toxic course of action.
The results are an improvement in behavior. Its only one piece of the puzzle, but it does remove what is making them very sick... Which is swimming in their own toxins.
2007-09-14 10:14:45 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
Absorption
Distribution<- The part that matters :)
Metabolism
Excretion
I'd say no though I'd suspect it could vary drug to drug, length of morbidity...
If you die quickly from the overdose how much distribution could there really be? If you are in the hospital for a week as your body dissolves- sure why not. For an overdose though I agree with previous posters- they aren't going to bother collecting your hair.
Collecting hair is a tool of field toxicologists looking for an exposure/dose. People in case studies out in the boonies are more willing to part with hair or urine, less so blood, and I'm told asking for mothers milk or baby teeth would be a mistake. But if you overdose you'll be in a hospital and they'll do what they want.
2007-09-14 11:28:33 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I doubt that you can tell about an overdose from a hair sample. Hair grows slowly. It takes time for a chemical in the body to find its way into the hair. If an overdose killed the person, then odds are the person died before the chemical could make its way into the hair.
A doctor would have to test other things to find out. Blood sample, liver sample, spinal fluid sample, and things like that could provide the evidence.
2007-09-14 10:15:16 · answer #3 · answered by A.Mercer 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Probably not.
You could tell if the person had been taking certain kinds of pills for a long time, but if the person took the pills immediately before he died, the toxins would not have had time to become part of the hair (hair grows relatively slowly).
Hair is a great way to track down long term poisoning, but when the poison is given all at once, you're more likely to detect it by looking in critical organs, typically the kidneys, liver etc.
2007-09-14 10:11:12 · answer #4 · answered by Elana 7 · 6⤊ 1⤋
Hair analysis is not good for short-term OD cases, but could tell whether the person had a history of drug use...basically an enzyme is added to the hair to break it down to, in essence, "hair soup." They analyze the metabolites in the hair and tell you what the person used.
If the person was a cocaine addict, benzoylecognine (BZE) will be in the hair. If the person OD'd on their first use, the body wouldn't really have a chance to metabolize it into the hair...so no BZE. Instead, you'd do a tox screen of the urine and look for BZE (or even cocaine or morphine) there.
2007-09-14 10:16:21 · answer #5 · answered by Bill 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I hardly think that this would 'kill' an individual. They may have the trots for several days. They may even wish they were dead. It may make their hiney really sore, but they will make it through. You may want to call the poison control hot-line or get on line and research this. When I was a teen, we gave out Feenament to a bunch of unsuspecting kids. (Laxative gum). They chewed several pieces. They stayed close to the bathroom but, they did not suffer more than diarrhea. We sure caught he!! for it though!
2016-05-19 21:29:38 · answer #6 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not really sure about an overdose but I know you can do a drug test by taking a sample of hair.
2007-09-14 10:10:35 · answer #7 · answered by Median 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
No. The amount of time necessary for the drug to ''appear'' in hair or nail growth to a detectable level is not available in a ''fatal overdose'' event. In other words, the person won't be alive long enough for his or her hair to grow.
2007-09-14 10:13:28 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
Examination of the hair follicles can tell how much of a certain drug is in a persons system. The coroner could tell if an overdose is what killed that person.
2007-09-14 10:13:30 · answer #9 · answered by justaxme 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
I doubt it. The pills would need time to be absorbed into the body, and into the hair, and overdosing is usually pretty sudden.
2007-09-14 10:13:34 · answer #10 · answered by Sarah 5 · 3⤊ 1⤋