Reasons for Thyroid Hair Loss
by Svetla Bankova
Thyroid hair loss is one of the most terrible symptoms of Graves’ Disease and hyperthyroidism. For centuries, men, women and even children have had to endure the embarrassment and emotional pain caused by hair loss. There are number for reasons for hair loss. Some people experience higher level of hair loss after illness or some weeks after surgery. The other reasons for hair loss are chemotherapy regimens used in cancer therapy and anticoagulants. The hair will return to normal once the medication has been stopped, or if your thyroid levels become normal again.
Other reasons for hair loss include too much vitamin A and anti-depressant therapy. The physical reasons for hair loss are over or under-active thyroids, certain fungal infections and hormonal imbalances. Even underlying problems such as lupus or diabetes may result in excessive hair loss.
The common reasons for hair loss in an individual varies from genetics, pregnancy, diet, improper hair care, cancer treatment and illness. Male pattern baldness is noticeable among many men, which is marked by thinning hair near the forehead and at the crown. If it has not stopped by using suitable medications, it can eventually remove all the hair on opt of the head. Hair loss can be inherited from their mother, their father, or from both parents.
The other essential reasons for hair loss are as follows:
· Toxic substances
· Severe radiation
· Illness and infectious diseases
· Heredity factors
· Ageing
· Hormonal Imbalance
· Injury and impairment
· Nervous disorders
Pregnant women may notice hair loss problems within a period of about 3 months after delivery. This is also attributed as a reason for hair loss. During pregnancy, high levels of particular hormones cause the body to keep hair that would normally fall out. When the hormones return to pre-pregnancy levels, that hair falls out and the normal growth and loss cycle starts again.
Improper hair care can also be one of the causes for hair loss. Excessive combing or brushing, hair styles such a ponytails or braids, which pulls at the hair, and last but not least the over usage of chemicals such as bleaches and dyes. Although these are the reasons for hair loss due to improper hair maintenance, physiological imbalances such excess production of Dihydrotestosterone (DHT).
An excessive level of DHT influences the growth cycle of a hair by preventing the availability of the nutrients to the hair thereby causing excessive hair falling.
Deficiency in Protein and Iron is found to be the major reasons for hair loss. The hair falling is noticed extensively only after the body recognizes the deficiency. This happens after about three months of deficiency. This can easily be achieved by the dietary inclusion of proteins and Iron.
Medications prescribed for blood pressure, arthritis, depression, and birth control pills are also among the reasons of hair loss. Stopping the medicine and select another type of medicine and contraceptive is the best way to treat this condition. However, don’t do that without your doctor’s supervision.
The Role of Nutrition in Thyroid Hair Loss Prevention
Healthy diet maintenance is one of the best things for hair loss prevention, especially when we are talking about Graves’ Disease or Hyperthyroidism. Though there are certain factors influencing the hair loss, maintaining regular exercise and healthy diet will definitely bring fruitful results if you are suffering from hair loss.
The common dietary nutrients which help in hair loss prevention are copper, iron, zinc, iodine, protein, silica, vitamin-A, Vitamin-B complex (vitamins B—6 and B-12), biotin, water and folic acid. In addition to this one must know about certain food, which may cause hair loss.
Maintaining a healthy mineral and vitamin intake doesn’t mean that you should buy a lot of over-the-counter vitamin supplements and fill your cabinet with hair loss prevention supplements. You should be aware that most vitamin supplements available at drugstores or pharmacies are not able to get absorbed by the body, since they are chemically processed. Sometimes over dosage of these vitamins might cause adverse reactions and toxicity. Hair loss prevention can be achieved best by getting the mass of your vitamin needs from food itself.
The first and foremost dietary component that helps best is Vitamin-A. One of the key components of hair is vitamin A. It prevents clogging and drying of the sebaceous glands, which is an essential for hair follicle lubrication. Thus it helps to prevent hair loss. The main source of dietary vitamin A is fish oil, fortified milk, eggs, liver, and orange vegetables. Dark green leafy vegetables are a good source of vitamin A.
Vitamin B is essential for red blood cell metabolism.Your body needs Vitamin B to make hemoglobin. The function of hemoglobin is to transport oxygen from the lungs to the body tissues including hair. For hair loss prevention, it is always advisable to have high hemoglobin level in the blood. The vitamin B complex can be obtained through chicken, pork, kidney, liver, fish, and soybeans. In general, daily inclusion of any one of these items might help in hair loss prevention. Folic acid will get assimilated in the body via cereals, nuts, whole grains, orange juice, wheat gram and liver. Folic acid also plays an important role in hair loss prevention. Another important nutrient that causes hair loss prevention is Biotin. One should be aware that a serious intestinal disorder or malnutrition might affect the absorption of biotin, since biotin is produced by living bacteria in the healthy gut.
It is obvious that Asians consume exactly the food that is enriched with these nutrients that are an important part in hair loss prevention. Particularly rice is an important part of Asian diets and that’s why Asians tend to have strongest and healthiest hair. Although maintaining a healthy diet is the best way for hair loss prevention, consuming these diets in correct form is essential. Moreover the green vegetables and foods should be eaten uncooked, as they may lose trace minerals once they are cooked extensively.