Understanding the types of diseases that cause hair loss
Every individual loses around 100 hair each day. But have you noticed days when you are shedding more hair? Have you noticed your hair getting thinner each day? In contrast, some days you won’t even notice any hair fall, whereas on other days you notice excessive amounts of the same.
Why do these fluctuations in hair loss occur?
The reason behind this is the underlying condition. You may have read everywhere that hair loss is promoted due to underlying conditions. But the question is, what are the conditions that lead to hair loss?
This is what we are going to talk about in this article.
Hormonal imbalances a. During pregnancy, women have strong, thick, and lustrous hair. This is because pregnancy increases the number of hair follicles in the anagen phase (growth phase of hair). Pregnancy’s increased levels of estrogen and progesterone are especially nourishing to hair, lengthening the growth phase and reducing shedding. Whereas, after postpartum, women may have excessive hair shedding when hormones try to re-equilibrate to the “new normal”. b. During menopause, the levels of estradiol and progesterone fall, and a woman experiences thinning of hair. c. PCOS, a common female endocrine disorder, also leads to hair loss due to elevated androgens. Women lose hair from the scalp and produce excessive hair on the chest, face, and back. d. The metabolism slows down when the thyroid system is underactive, as it is with hypothyroidism. Sadly, the skin and hair usually deteriorate first. Even brow hair can fall out due to hypothyroidism’s tendency for dry, brittle, dull, and diffusely thinning hair. If the opposite is true and if there is an excess of thyroid hormone (Graves’ illness), hair loss will also occur.
2. Stress Stress is known to be harmful to your health, including your hair. Simply put, stress causes your hair to fall out. This is largely due to the fact that stress shifts your body into survival mode, diverting resources away from healthy skin, blood flow, sufficient digestion, sleep, growth, etc., so the energy may be used instead for fight or flight. And let’s face it, your body doesn’t consider hair to be vital for living. Cortisol and other stress-related molecules can target and harm hair follicles.
3. Hereditary a. Male pattern baldness is another name for male genetic hair loss. It accounts for 99% of male hair loss and has varied rates of occurrence among other populations. Dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a hormone that shortens the development phase of your hair, has an effect on how sensitive your scalp is based on your genetics. DHT also causes your hair follicles to shrink, which causes you to generate fewer, finer hairs. b. Female pattern baldness is the term for female genetic hair loss. It is also believed that heredity and androgen hormones have a role in female hereditary hair loss. Finer, lighter hairs are produced in women with genetic hair loss, and hairs in the dormant (telogen) phase are shed more readily.
4. Autoimmune disease Autoimmune diseases like Alopecia Areata, Lupus, Hashimoto’s Disease, Graves Disease, Psoriasis, Crohn’s disease, etc. lead to hair thinning. This may occur due to the disease itself, side effects of medications ingested, and stress associated with the disease. Being more specific about medications like methotrexate, leflunomide, biologics, etc., as they cause imbalances of cytokines in the body.
A specific kind of scarring known as a discoid lesion can frequently arise from the immune system attacking skin cells and hair follicles. When this happens, the follicles may get plugged, preventing the formation of new hair and resulting in the atrophy of the tissues in the area. Patients must seek treatment in order to regrow their hair because this kind of hair loss is frequently permanent.
5. Other medical conditions Medical conditions like diabetes, iron deficiency, anemia, eating disorders, etc., may cause hair loss. a. Alopecia areata, a disease, is more common in those with type 1 diabetes. The immune system destroys the hair follicles in alopecia areata, causing patches of hair loss on the head and other body areas. b. Your body can’t make hemoglobin for your blood when you don’t have enough iron. The oxygen carried by hemoglobin helps your body’s cells, including those that promote hair development, growth, and repair. c. Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorders, and other varieties of eating disorders are just a few of the many types of eating disorders. Many people who struggle with eating disorders are undernourished, which means that their bodies are not receiving the essential nutrition for their cells to function normally. Keratin depletion is the primary reason eating disorders result in hair loss. Without the protein keratin, which is a component of our hair, hair starts to thin, shed, and eventually fall out.
This is how various diseases cause hair loss in an individual. In my career of over 15 years, I have seen people with the abovementioned and many more diseases that lead to baldness. Using the virtues of Ayurveda, I have reversed their condition and hair loss issues. Hair loss basically starts with the vitiation of doshas and is further due to the accumulation of toxins. The diseases mentioned above are the results of the vitiation of doshas. Once the cause of hair loss is known, the line of treatment is set in place.
I hope that this article helped you understand the causes of hair loss. To find out more about our therapies, you can visit our website, @eliteayurveda.com, and request a consultation call.
