The facts on excessive hair loss in women...

Excessive hair loss is a common complaint for female patients, it is distressing to experience and studies show hair loss is a significant source of anxiety and depression.
Read on for the hair facts and 5 common reasons why it happens.

Hair basics

• Between 100,000 and 350,000 hair follicles occupy the human scalp.
• The hair has a growth phase (anagen) and also a resting stage (telogen).
• After this resting stage, the hair bulb migrates out and eventually is sloughed. New hair can then fill the papilla after the original hair is lost.
• Age, state of health, nutritional status and hormonal factors can all influence how your hair regrows. For example, generally after the age of 40 hair growth slows.

 
The five most common causes of hair loss in women:-

• High level of androgen hormones. For instance, in the condition polycystic ovarian syndrome where androgens can be elevated hair loss is a common experience. Managing insulin resistance and antioxidant status helps, and the herbal medicine saw palmetto is useful.
• Drug induced hair loss – a long list of drugs can cause hair loss as a side effect, e.g. DHEA (a pre-androgen drug now used as part of some IVF protocols). However, even if you are taking a drug with the side effect of hair loss other factors should also be investigated.
• Nutritional deficiency – deficiency in zinc, vitamin A, essential fatty acids and iron should be ruled out. Your naturopath will look for tell tale signs of deficiency (for instance do you have white spots on your nails? Or little bumps on the back of your arms?). We will also suggest a blood test to check iron stores (ferritin) and plasma zinc. For instance, when ferritin levels drop below a certain level the result is slowed hair growth and regeneration.
• Under functioning thyroid (hypothyroidism) – a common disorder with an estimated 1-4% of the population having moderate to severe hypothyroidism with another 10-12% having mild hypothyroidism.
• Antibodies to gliadin – the protein gluten and gliadin are found primarily in wheat, barley and rye, antibodies to these can attack the hair follicle, leading to an autoimmune hair loss. It is not just people with celiac disease, but also those with intolerances to gluten who can experience this type of hair loss.

If excessive hair loss is causing you distress, come and visit us at Sydney Health & Fertility, for a naturopathic investigative approach.