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  • Kids Health presents, How The Body Works,

  • with Chloe and the Nurb.

  • Chloe, you'll never guess what I got for all of the money

  • in our piggy bank.

  • Magic beans for growing hair.

  • Why do you want to grow hair?

  • Ah, no reason.

  • Nurb, hair doesn't grow from beans.

  • Chloe, I'm pretty sure it does.

  • Come with me.

  • I'll show you how hair grows.

  • Why are we in the middle of a forest?

  • Does hair come from trees?

  • These aren't trees, Nurb.

  • That's a strand of hair.

  • We're in hair.

  • Hair!

  • What is hair doing here?

  • That's the thing, Nurb.

  • Hair grows almost anywhere.

  • When you think of hair, you probably

  • think of the hair that grows on the head,

  • but there's hair on almost every part of the body.

  • Weird!

  • You mean weirdly awesome!

  • Some of the hair on the body is easy to see, like eyebrows.

  • But other hair, like the hair on the cheek

  • is so fine that it's almost invisible.

  • I have hair on my cheek?

  • Why would my body need that?

  • Depending on where hair is, it has different jobs.

  • The hair on top of my head keeps my head warm.

  • My eyelashes protect my eyes from dirt and dust.

  • And your eyebrows--

  • --attract the lady nurbs.

  • And protect your eyes from sweat dripping down into them.

  • Amazing.

  • But if this hair stuff is everywhere,

  • where does it come from?

  • It all starts in the skin.

  • So that's where the magic beans are planted.

  • No beans, Nurb.

  • Ah, you stupid good for nothing beans,

  • I curse the day I bought you.

  • Please continue.

  • There are tube like hair follicles

  • that extend below the surface of the skin.

  • At the base of each follicle is the hair bulb,

  • where cells multiply.

  • As hair begins to grow, it pushes up and out

  • of the follicle, through the skin, where it can be seen.

  • That's amazing.

  • Even more amazing is that once hair is at the skin surface,

  • the cells that make up a strand of hair aren't alive anymore.

  • That's why it doesn't hurt when hair is cut with scissors.

  • Dead cells?

  • Why does it look so pretty and shiny?

  • For that you can thank the oil glands, which are also

  • called sebaceous glands.

  • Fancy word.

  • The sebaceous glands produce the oil that makes hair shiny.

  • Sometimes the sebaceous gland pumps

  • out too much oil and the person's hair may look greasy.

  • Greasy?

  • Oh let me touch!

  • Let me touch!

  • Oh no!

  • What have I done to the beautiful hair?

  • You didn't do anything Nurb.

  • You may not notice it, but hair is always falling out

  • and being replaced by new hair.

  • Each hair grows for an average of about three years, lives

  • for a few months, and then it falls out.

  • A new hair grows out of the same follicle,

  • replacing the old one.

  • Of the 100,000 hairs on a typical person's head,

  • about 50 to 100 hairs fall out each day.

  • That's neat.

  • Why is this one black though?

  • Hair comes in all sorts of different colors.

  • Hair color comes from melanin which is a pigment.

  • The lighter someone's hair is, the less melanin there is.

  • So someone with blond hair has less melanin

  • than someone with black hair.

  • Also, people lose the melanin in their hair as they age.

  • Is that why my grampy, Jebadiah Nurb, has all white hair?

  • Exactly.

  • Hair also comes in different textures,

  • like curly, straight, and wavy.

  • And bald, which is beautiful.

  • Oh my goodness!

  • Chloe look!

  • The beans I threw, they worked!

  • It's a magical, fantastical, hairy bean stock.

  • Woo hoo hoo!

  • Nurb, it's hair.

  • It doesn't need beans to grow.

  • The average hair grows half an inch per month.

  • And some people can grow the hair

  • really long, down their backs, or even longer.

  • Oh yeah?

  • Well, if it doesn't need beans to grow why does it

  • look so healthy and magical?

  • It's not magic, Nurb.

  • Washing hair regularly helps keep it looking great.

  • Wash it and it looks great.

  • Ha!

  • A likely story.

  • Well, it helps to brush and comb it regularly too.

  • And eat healthy food.

  • A nutritious diet keeps your body

  • healthy from the inside out.

  • Well I'll be Nurb.

  • I guess you're right.

  • It is a huge, healthy hair.

  • No beans needed.

  • Glad to see you've come around.

  • Now let's climb it and get a better view.

  • Wow.

  • I can even see my mommy's house.

  • Yo, Ma!

  • What's for lunch?

Kids Health presents, How The Body Works,

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