Is age the reason

QI am a 57-year-old woman and my hair is thinning quite a lot. I have noticed that more hair than usual comes out when I brush and wash it. People tell me it’s a result of getting older but it feels extreme as I’m in good health. What can I do to stop it?

AIT is normal to lose about 100 hairs a day and this can look quite a lot on your brush or in the plughole, especially if you have long hair. What matters more is the appearance of the hair on your head and whether it seems to be a lot thinner.

Hair does become a little thinner with age but this is a very gradual process and though just being older could reasonably be blamed for a woman of 80 having thinner hair, age alone is unlikely to be the cause for someone in their 50s.

One of the most common causes of thinning hair is low iron levels, especially in people who eat very little red meat.

To check this you need a blood test and though a level above 20 micrograms per litre is considered adequate, for good hair growth the level should be above 50. Thinning hair can also be caused by an underactive thyroid gland, so you should see your GP who can arrange blood tests.

A stressful event or major surgery can also interrupt the hair growth cycle and lead to thinning hair, though this may not be apparent until three months later.

my great-grandson has just been diagnosed with autism. although I’ve heard of it I’m not really familiar with the condition apart from knowing development is often slower than usual.

Can you explain in a simple way what it is and what family members like me can do to help?

AAUTISM affects the way a person communicates with and relates to people. This can lead to difficulties with social interaction, for example not understanding others’ emotions and preferring to be alone.

They may not be able to express themselves very well and say odd things, or use many words when one would do. Many prefer a set routine and get very distressed if this is changed and children with autism often have very poor imagination.

There can be a variation in the severity and type of symptoms so it’s usually referred to as autistic spectrum disorder, or ASD, rather than autism.

Though some children with ASD have learning difficulties, others who have fewer language