Aside from genetics, female hair loss can result from a
variety of medical reasons. This
blog post
Underlying medical factors
In women, many medical conditions may cause hair loss,
including the following:
o A variety
of autoimmune diseases
o Thyroid
disease
o Weight loss
caused by severe starvation, dieting or eating
disorders
o Iron
deficiency
o Medication
use (especially oral contraceptives, beta blockers,
Vitamin A, thyroid drugs, tranquilizers and sedatives,
Coumadin and prednisone).
As someone experiencing hair loss, I suggest and
evaluation and consultation from a trichologist or dermatologist to make sure
that no underlying skin conditions are contributing to the hair loss.
They may require a different treatment and may require a
biopsy to rule out the presence of certain skin diseases like diffuse alopecia
areata. Your family physician can do
required blood tests for the various diseases that may be present.
Blood tests check the following common contributors to
female hair loss and can help rule out some identifiable medical conditions:
o Antinuclear
Antibody (ANA): Used to test for lupus or other
autoimmune diseases.
This test is either positive or negative and further testing may be
required if the initial screening tests are positive.
o Iron:
Levels serum iron, total iron binding capacity (TIBC),
and ferritin deficiencies in iron.
o Estradiol:
This sex hormone indicates the status of ovarian
output. This
hormone reflects the status of a woman's ability to ovulate.
o Luteinizing
Hormone (LH): This sex hormone indicates the
status of ovarian output a woman may be in her overall
aging process. When she ovulates, this
hormone stimulates the production of eggs.
o Free
testosterone: May help the doctor understand a
woman's ability to convert testosterone into
estrogen. Most testosterone is bound to
proteins in the blood and the free testosterone is easily converted into
estrogen.
o Sex Hormone
Binding Globulin (SHBG): Level indicates
the
status of male hormones.
o
Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone (TSH): Level indicates the
presence of hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism.
o Total
testosterone: Largely bound to proteins
in the blood.
It is imperative to understand that even after a medical
condition has been corrected, hair loss may still persist possibly because of a
"change" in your genetic makeup that occurred when the medical insult
happened. After the hair loss starts, it
may be difficult to remedy this. The
hope is that your hair loss will slow down after the medical condition is
treated or cured and any deficiency of overall hormone balance is corrected.
Earlier, I mentioned that we would cover the general to
the more specific, including postpartum and menopausal hair loss. Check out the continuation of this article
next week. Until then, have a blessed
week!
Wishing You the Best in Health and Life!
Stephanie Anderson
Trichologist/Natural Health Professional
