Dr. Himmatrao Bawaskar, a padma shri awardee, has established that wheat with very high selenium levels is connected to an enigmatic hair loss pandemic in Maharashtra's Buldhana area. The tainted wheat was supplied through local ration stores and originated in punjab and Haryana. Between december 2024 and january 2025, 279 persons in 18 communities were impacted by the pandemic.
 
Who Was Affected and How?
Teens, college students, and young ladies made up the majority of the victims.  Before their hair came out quickly, they had symptoms including loose movements, headache, fever, tingling, vomiting, and itchy scalp.  Many people lost all of their hair in three to four days, which caused social humiliation and psychological misery.
 
To escape the shame of having patchy baldness, women even shaved their hair.  Due to their condition, scheduled weddings were called off, and many college students stopped going to courses.
 
"After visiting the impacted areas and gathering samples, we discovered that the main cause of the outbreak was wheat imported from punjab and haryana, which had a significantly higher selenium content than locally produced wheat," stated Dr. Bawaskar, MD of the Bawaskar Hospital and Research Centre in Raigad.

What Did the Tests Reveal?
Researchers and medical professionals discovered concerning selenium levels in blood, urine, and hair samples taken from afflicted people:
 
Compared to local wheat, the wheat had 600 times higher selenium.
The amount of selenium in the blood was 35 times more than usual.
Selenium levels in urine were 60 times more than usual.
The amount of selenium in hair was 150 times higher than what was considered safe.
According to Dr. Bawaskar, "Our team also found that zinc levels were very low in the affected people, which may have worsened the problem caused by too much selenium."

Why Was The Wheat Dangerous?
The wheat cultivated in punjab and haryana naturally contained selenium, which was not the result of pollution.
Because of these regions' high selenium bioavailability, more selenium is absorbed by the crops grown there.
This wheat was unintentionally given by Buldhana's ration stores, which resulted in a large number of cases of hair loss.
 
What Is the government Doing?
Authorities ordered consumers to cease eating the wheat after specialists verified the reason.  A partial regrowth of hair has been recorded by some afflicted persons within 5–6 weeks of ceasing to consume.
 
 Dr. Bawaskar emphasized the importance of improved food quality inspections, particularly in regions where residents rely on government handouts.
 
What Is Selenium?
Soil, water, and some foods contain the mineral selenium.
 Only a small quantity of selenium is required by the human body for metabolism.
 Hair loss, nausea, weakness, and other health issues can result from an excess of selenium.
 
Now, what should people do?
 
If at all feasible, use wheat that is farmed nearby and steer clear of wheat from unidentified sources.
Consume a zinc-rich, well-balanced diet to lessen the negative effects of too much selenium.
People should see a doctor right once if they are having symptoms like hair loss.
 
Authorities Act, Reports of Hair Growth
 
Some homeowners had partial hair regrowth after 5–6 weeks after authorities urged them to cease eating the wheat.  Stricter quality standards for government food supply were demanded by experts in order to avert future health emergencies.
 
In order to stop such occurrences in the future, authorities are expected to establish new food safety standards while they continue their investigation.
 
 
 
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SIBY JEYYA

25/02/2025 07:48 AM