Posts Tagged ‘Underactive Thyroid’
While hair loss is more harmful to the psyche than anything else, some of the causes of baldness may represent serious health problems. If your hair loss is due to an endocrine condition, like diabetes or thyroid disease, proper treatment and control of the underlying disorder is important to reduce or prevent hair loss. After diabetes, thyroid problems are the most common glandular disorder the world over.
Thyroid Problems
Thyroid problems are among the most common medical conditions but, because their symptoms often appear gradually, they are commonly misdiagnosed. So much evidence suggests that thyroid problems are due to an allergic or environmental cause that it seems sensible to remove those substances known to affect the thyroid to see if this corrects the condition before taking any medication.
Even though the symptoms can be uncomfortable as well as unpleasant, most thyroid problems are not serious if they are properly diagnosed and treated. If a man has a family history of thyroid problems, notices any symptoms, or is getting up in years (thyroid problems are more common as people age), he should have his thyroid gland tested. The good news is, like high cholesterol, doctors can conduct a simple blood test to check the health of your thyroid and many thyroid problems are easily treatable.
Thyroid Disease Can Cause Hair Loss
Both an overactive thyroid and an underactive thyroid can cause hair loss. Patients with an overactive thyroid gland, or hyperthyroidism, may also be symptomatic and require treatment to lower their thyroid hormone levels. Signs and symptoms of thyroid problems can be a result of either an overactive thyroid leading to too much hormone being produced causing symptoms of hyperthyroidism or an under active thyroid leading to symptoms of hypothyroidism. An imbalance in the level of these hormones (which may be brought by underactive or overactive thyroid glands)- may sometimes lead to hair thinning and hair loss. But, an overactive or underactive thyroid is not linked with a higher risk for other heart problems or an increased risk of death, researchers report.
Hypothyroidism should be suspected when you are experiencing some of the following symptoms: fatigue, muscle weakness, weight gain , appetite loss, hair loss, coarse, dry hair, dry/rough skin, recurrent infections, abnormal menses, inability to tolerate cold, decreased sex drive, depression, memory loss, muscle cramps, drooping and/or swollen eyes.
Many people notice rapid hair loss as a symptom of their hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism also known as Hashimoto’s Disease is an autoimmune disease that causes gland inflammation or thyroid sluggishness. Hypothyroidism can cause hair loss, typically frontal, and is particularly associated with thinning of the outer third of the eyebrows (syphilis also can cause loss of the outer third of the eyebrows). Hyperthyroidism can also cause hair loss, which is parietal rather than frontal. Be Patient If you’re experiencing hair loss and are just starting treatment for a hyperthyroid or hypothyroid condition, it’s likely that for most of you, the loss will slow down, and eventually stop, once hormone levels are stabilized and in the normal range.
Treatments
A wide variety of treatments are available, mostly aimed at suppressing or distracting the immune system. Some hair loss sufferers make use of so-called “clinically proven treatments” such as finasteride and topically applied minoxidil (in solution) in an attempt to prevent further loss and regrow hair. As a natural product, Provillus does not cause the side effects that prescription hair loss treatments true.
Many people notice rapid hair loss as a symptom of their hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism. Be Patient If you’re experiencing hair loss and are just starting treatment for a hyperthyroid or hypothyroid condition, it’s likely that for most of you, the loss will slow down, and eventually stop, once hormone levels are stabilized and in the normal range.
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Most hair loss and baldness is hereditary and there really isn’t any way to prevent it. Other things, however, can cause you to lose hair and if you don’t have baldness in your family, you could find yourself getting a little light on top if you don’t prevent it. If you’re one of the lucky ones that don’t have a family history of needing a toupee, then take some simple precautions and be sure to take good care of your hair.
1. Childbirth. When a woman is pregnant, her hair continues to grow. The usual 50 to 100 hairs per day are not shed. However, after she delivers her baby, many hairs enter the resting stage of the hair cycle at once. Within two to three months after delivery, these hairs may all fall out together and be seen as large amounts of hair coming out in their brushes and combs.
2. High fever, severe infection, major surgery, significant life stressor. From four weeks to three months after a person has a high fever, severe infection, major surgery, or significant life stressor such as death in the family, he or she may be shocked to see a lot of hair falling out. This condition usually corrects itself but may require treatment.
3. Thyroid disease. Both an overactive and underactive thyroid can cause hair loss. The hair loss associated with thyroid disease can be reversed with proper treatment.
4. Inadequate protein in diet. Some vegetarians, people who go on crash diets that exclude protein, and those with severely abnormal eating habits, may develop protein malnutrition. When this happens, a person’s body will help to save protein by shifting growing hairs into the resting phase. Massive hair shedding can occur two to three months later. Hair can then be pulled out by the roots. This condition can be reversed by eating the proper amount of protein.
5. Medications. Prescription drugs can cause temporary hair shedding in a small percentage of people. Examples of such drugs are blood thinners, some drugs used to treat gout and arthritis, acne, or psoriasis, and some medications for heart problems.
6. Cancer treatment drugs. Most drugs used in chemotherapy will cause hair cells to stop dividing. Hair shafts become thin and break off as they exit the scalp. This can occur one to three weeks after beginning chemotherapy. The patient may lose all of his hair, but this will usually re-grow after treatment ends.
7. Birth control pills. Women who lose their hair when taking birth control pills usually have an inherited tendency towards hair thinning.
8. Low serum iron. Iron deficiency sometimes produces hair loss. Low iron can be detected by laboratory tests and corrected with iron pills.
9. Alopecia areata. In this type of hair loss, hair usually falls out, resulting in totally smooth, round patches about the size of a coin or larger. This disease may affect children, women or men of any age.
10.Androgenic alopecia. This is the most common type of hair loss and is often called “male- or female-pattern baldness”. The hair usually thins out first in the front of the scalp and moves progressively to the back and top of the head. It tends to be progressive. This type of hair loss also runs in families.
11.Infections. Ringworm, or tinea capitus, is a common fungal infection in children. Patches of hair may be lost and replaced with pink scaly skin.
Most hair loss and baldness is hereditary and there really isn’t any way to prevent it. Other things, however, can cause you to lose hair and if you don’t have baldness in your family, you could find yourself getting a little light on top if you don’t prevent it. If you’re one of the lucky ones that don’t have a family history of needing a toupee, then take some simple precautions and be sure to take good care of your hair.
Information about the Author:
Hair Loss Articles: http://www.article-buzz.com