January 7, 2010
Alright, so you’ve checked with the doctor and it doesn’t seem like your hair loss is caused by any of things mentioned in the last post: medicines, chronic illness, hormones. Unfortunately, your hair loss could be a new medical condition for you. That condition’s main symptom IS hair loss and that condition is named alopecia. To me this is a scaaarrry word. Who wants to even say this word – alopecia? It sounds like bad news. I’m not trying to scare you, maybe it’s just me that thinks this word is so unfortunate. So what is alopecia?
Our friendly online encyclopedia tells us there are a couple of different kinds of alopecia:
The most common type of alopecia areata involves hair loss in one or more round spots on the scalp.[2][5]
- Hair may also be lost more diffusely over the whole scalp, in which case the condition is called diffuse alopecia areata.[2]
- Alopecia areata monolocularis describes baldness in only one spot. It may occur anywhere on the head.
- Alopecia areata multilocularis refers to multiple areas of hair loss.
- The disease may be limited only to the beard, in which case it is called Alopecia areata barbae.[2]
- If the patient loses all the hair on his/her scalp, the disease is then called Alopecia areata totalis.
- If all body hair, including pubic hair, is lost, the diagnosis then becomes Alopecia areata universalis.[6]
Alopecia areata totalis and universalis are rare.[6]
Alopecia areata (AA) is a condition affecting humans, in which hair is lost from some or all areas of the body, usually from the scalp.[1][2]. Because it causes bald spots on the scalp, especially in the first stages, it is sometimes called spot baldness. In 1%–2% of cases, the condition can spread to the entire scalp (Alopecia totalis) or to the entire epidermis (Alopecia universalis). Conditions resembling AA, and having a similar cause, occur also in other species.[3]
Alopecia seems to be hereditary because you are more likely to have it if you have family members who have it as well. Doctors think that it is an autoimmune disorder where the body attacks itself, in this case it’s hair follicles. However, I’ve seen cases myself, among friends, where emotional stress, or scalp damage has caused a form of alopecia.
The good news is there can be hope if your hair loss is caused by alopecia. We’ll discuss that next.
January 7, 2010
I was going to start this off with some melodramatic line like “I was 25 when I started losing my hair….” but decided against it. I’ll just put it simply. For women, hair loss is no joke. Even *thinking* about losing your hair is no joke. I am sure it’s not exactly a picnic for men either but somehow it seems more acceptable in our current society for a man to shave off his thinning hair in favor of just going bald. Baldness, whether it is by choice or not, is definitely more preferable for a man than it is for woman. So basically, when a woman realizes her hair might be thinning gradually or even completely falling out there is a sense of panic.
First of all you should know that it’s normal for some hair to fall out. Not all the hair on your head grows at the same rate. A percentage of your hair is in the resting stage and thus will fall out as new hair grows in it’s place. Hair has a cycle and grows for a certain period of time. The medical field tells us that hair basically grows one half inch per month. So in a year’s time hair will grow 6 inches. Now, we know that there are exceptions to pretty much everything so some people may be genetically disposed to a faster rate of hair growth but generally speaking, you should expect six inches in a year’s time.
There are a variety of reasons hair starts to fall out. I mean first of all there are so many chronic illnesses that have hair loss listed as a possible side effect. For example, both diabetes and lupus are known to cause hair loss. But it’s not just chronic illness, fungal infections can cause hair loss.
To top it off, it’s not just the illnesses themselves, it’s also the medicine! So many of the medicines we take can interrupt our hair’s growth cycle and eventually just cause it to fall out. Blood thinners, birth control pills, and anti-depressants have been known to cause hair loss. If you have gout or high blood pressure, the medicines you take for your condition can also cause hair loss. The good news is, that if your hair loss is caused by medicine, when you stop taking the medicine, you should stop losing your hair.
We blame a lot of things on hormones and we can add hair loss to the list. Hormones regulate so many bodily functions. If you have any sort of problems with your thyroid and are also experiencing hair loss, your thyroid problems could be contributing to the problem. Like the thyroid, the balance of male and female hormones, androgens and estrogens, can also be linked to hair loss. Correct your thyroid/hormonal imbalance and voila!, the hair loss problem should resolve as well.
So first things first, before you freak out over what to try, do, eat, take, etc to fix your hair loss, stop in and see your doctor to make sure the usual medical suspects are eliminated.
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