|
||
Illnesses or medical conditions: Endocrine (hormonal) conditions, such as uncontrolled diabetes or thyroid disease, can interfere with hair production and cause hair loss. People with lupus can also lose hair. The hormone imbalance that occurs in polycystic ovary syndrome can cause hair loss in teen girls as well as adult women.
Excess hair loss can have many different causes. Hair will regrow spontaneously in some forms of hair loss. Other forms can be treated successfully by a dermatologist. For the several forms of hair loss for which there is no cure at present, there is research in progress that holds promise for the future. Talk to your dermatologist about the best options for you.
Hormonal problems may cause hair loss. If your thyroid gland is overactive or underactive, your hair may fall out. This hair loss usually can be helped by treatment thyroid disease. Hair loss may occur if male or female hormones, known as androgens and estrogens, are out of balance. Correcting the hormone imbalance may stop your hair loss.
Alopecia areata: This is classified as an autoimmune disease, but the cause is unknown. People who develop alopecia areata are generally in good health. A few people may have other autoimmune disorders including thyroid disease. Some scientists believe that some people are genetically predisposed to develop alopecia areata and that a trigger, such as a virus or something else in the environment, sets off the condition. A family history of alopecia areata makes you more likely to develop it. With alopecia areata, your hair generally grows back, but you may lose and regrow your hair a number of times.
The main cause of female and male hair loss is due to the effects of a hormone byproduct called DHT (Di Hydrotestosterone) on the hair follicle. DHT is created indirectly from the hormone Testosterone, which is converted to DHT by certain enzymes in the body naturally.
Hair loss is a natural daily phenomenon, re-growth is generally a given. But this shedding of hair cannot be the main cause of hair loss. Every strand of hair on a human head is genetically programmed to a cycle that includes growth, stabilization, aging and shedding. On the average, a human head sheds about 50 - 125 (depending on gender) but most of them will come back after the resting stage as the follicle itself is not destroyed. Trouble begins when the loss exceeds re-growth, or the re-growth is weak and unhealthy. These are the main causes of hair loss.
This myth has been used to sell hair loss products as bizarre as a device that allows you hang upside down in your closet overnight in order to restore blood flow. But as Paul McAndrews, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and hair restoration surgeon and a clinical professor at the University of California School of Medicine, explains, "Blood supply is excellent in the balding region, which is why hair transplant works so well."
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.
Hair loss can be embarrassing, and it can be alarming if it happens overnight. This condition is often known as alopecia areata, and commonly, some doctors will treat it as an autoimmune disease of the skin. This condition occurs when your body's white blood cells launch a coordinated attack on your hair follicles, treating them as foreign bodies that have to be removed. This results in your hair falling out following the death of your hair follicles. What triggers this condition is unknown, but studies have shown that there may be several causes that directly or indirectly result in this condition.
Aside from the autoimmune disease itself, there may be a genetic connection: some members of your family can suffer from different allergies or autoimmune diseases, or may have eczema or asthma. These conditions can actually lead to overnight hair loss, and studies have shown that about half of all people who suffer from overnight hair loss also tend to suffer from these diseases. About a fifth of those who suffer from overnight hair loss may also have a fellow family member with the condition. Some babies might even be born with the condition, and this can be due to something that has happened to their mother while they were being carried in the womb.
An imbalance in the body's hormones can also lead to autoimmune diseases, and it can indirectly lead to overnight hair loss. This may lead to the disease that causes the hair loss, or to direct hair loss itself. There are actually overlaps among the different autoimmune diseases, so it can be hard to pin down the cause of the disease to a certain hormone.
Overnight hair loss may actually occur as the result of another disease, or even as a symptom! About half of all women who give birth also experience hair loss and some women may even develop bald patches. This may be due to the fact that some hormones are imbalanced during pregnancy and can cause baldness. Another way for overnight hair loss to occur is through disorders of the thyroid gland, where the thyroid gland's overproduction or underproduction of some hormones can also cause other hormones in the body to be imbalanced. In this case, both men and women are affected by the imbalance.
There are some conditions that co-occur with overnight hair loss. This may include an overproduction of Langerhans cells in the body. Stress also contributes to a lot of disorders, and one of them is alopecia areata. This may be due to the fact that stress can cause the narrow capillaries that supply blood to different parts of the body to constrict and close. Chemical imbalances such as those associated with lack of vitamins and minerals can also cause your body to lose hair. Lastly, you may also be undergoing an infection due to a viral or bacterial, even a fungal agent, and you may experience overnight hair loss as a result.
These are only a few causes of overnight hair loss. Although this condition can be quite disconcerting, to say the least, you should not panic. Instead, you need to go see your doctor and ask for advice on how you can have your condition treated. Moreover, you need to ask for help on how you can get your hair to start growing again. You don't have to worry as long as you don't self-medicate and as long as you keep your cool.