What Kind of Illnesses Can Cause Hair Loss?

Common Illnesses that Cause Hair Loss

• Hormonal Conditions
• Autoimmune Conditions
• Nutritional Deficiencies
• Certain Infections
• Miscellaneous Conditions

Hair loss is often a distressing condition that can significantly affect the patient’s quality of life, especially with busy professionals who do not get any time to look after their hair health and their physical health too.

The pattern of hair loss may be obvious, such as the bald patches that occur in alopecia areata, or subtler, such as the diffuse or patterned hair loss that occurs in telogen effluvium and androgenetic alopecia. One of the important points in hair loss diagnosis is to detect whether the hair loss is reversible or it is permanent. This article will discuss the illnesses that cause hair loss. 

Most people lose about 50 to 100 head hairs a day. These hairs are replaced in the normal course, and they grow back in the same follicle on your head. This amount of hair loss is completely normal and is no cause for worry. If you’re losing more than that, though, this might be a cause for worry.

Common Illnesses that Cause Hair Loss

There can be many reasons why one experiences hair loss. It could either be hereditary or an outcome of some ongoing medical treatments or can even be due to an underlying disease. While losing hair in itself is not something to be worried about, if it is extreme and leads to baldness, you must address it and find out the source of your problem.

Following are some of the illnesses and health conditions that can lead to major hair loss or thinning of hair and may need medical intervention.

Hormonal Conditions

• Thyroid Problems

Hair loss can be a result of hormonal imbalance. Hormones help regulate body functions and have a crucial role to play, even when it comes to hair growth. The thyroid is what controls our body’s ability to absorb essential nutrients like calcium, iron, zinc etc., that are responsible for hair growth. Therefore, hypothyroidism can be a cause of scattered hair loss. Hair loss associated with thyroid disease can be turned around with proper treatment and allows your hair to grow back.

• Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome

This hormonal disorder, commonly seen in young females, can also cause problems with hair growth, leading to loss and thinning of hair over the scalp. This is mostly due to the excess of androgenic hormones like testosterone and dihydrotestosterone in PCOS. This can lead to the progressive shrinking of hair follicles, causing hair thinning and baldness along with other signs like acne, obesity, irregular menses etc. Medically, this hair loss is referred to as female pattern baldness, and hormonal treatment is required for the correction. 

Autoimmune Conditions

• Alopecia Areata

Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease associated with patchy or total hair loss and balding affecting only the scalp or all of the body. It occurs when the body’s immune system affects your hair follicles, resulting in thinning hair, patches of hair loss, some balding, or total baldness. You may also notice hair from the scalp, as well as eyebrows and eyelashes, falling out in small patches. However,  alopecia hair loss can be treated. 

• Lupus

Lupus is one of the other autoimmune diseases that can lead to hair loss. In Lupus, the hair tends to become brittle and fall out in patches. Short, broken hairs, also called lupus hairs, commonly appear on the front area of our scalp.. Lupus can cause widespread inflammation of the skin, and apart from the hair on your head, you can also lose hair from any part of your body, including eyelashes, eyebrows, beard, etc. Certain medications may ease the recovery process, but this condition can be permanent too. Make sure to speak with your hair doctor about this.

• Lichen Planus

It is a skin condition which can affect hair follicles, causing scarring and a permanent type of hair loss. This leads to hair loss affecting the scalp 

Nutritional Deficiencies

Nutritional deficiencies may be a significant cause of hair loss. Research has suggested that a lack of certain nutrients can lead to hair loss, which is why many hair experts recommend a varied and well-balanced diet to restore your hair growth and strength. Iron, zinc, proteins, fatty acids and various vitamins are all important nutrients you must add to your diet so as to prevent the risk of hair loss. While a lack of iron in the body can hinder the flow of oxygen to the body, zinc plays a key role in immune function and protein synthesis, which is crucial for hair growth. Fatty acids help reduce inflammation, and Vitamin B3 ensures lustrous hair growth. 

Certain Infections

A number of infections and illnesses can also result in hair loss. Infections of the scalp, including fungal infections like ringworm and dandruff or bacterial infections like syphilis and folliculitis, can all be responsible for the loss of hair from the scalp. 

Any infection which causes high fever, like dengue, malaria, or COVID, all lead to hair loss. 

Treating the underlying infection can restore hair growth and prevent further hair loss or patching. So you should seek medical attention for the primary health problem first.

Miscellaneous Conditions

Sudden loss of weight, crash dieting, chronic diseases requiring long-term hospitalisation, psychological conditions including stress, depression, anxiety etc., and certain medications lead to excessive hair loss. 

Another type of baldness that goes with hair styling is wearing your hair in a style that pulls too tightly, causing something called traction alopecia. Traction alopecia can permanently damage the hair follicles.

While it isn’t possible to completely avoid hair fall, there are minor lifestyle changes that can eventually help in hair fall control. Hormonal problems, certain medications and other reasons often make it difficult for one to avoid hair fall. Following a balanced diet, doing regular exercises and meditation, and, most importantly, using the right product can highly benefit when it comes to taking control of hair fall. Watch out for signs that suggest your hair loss could be more serious. 

There are many treatments for hair loss; some can even help reverse it. The right treatment for you depends on the cause of your hair loss, which is why it’s important to see a doctor and get diagnosed. The sooner you address hair loss symptoms, the more likely you are to prevent irreversible damage. 

Speak to an expert dermatologist at HairMD Clinics, Pune today to begin your journey to a fuller head of hair.