Thyroid Gland Conditions
and the Impact on Hair Loss
Thyroid
gland diseases
Diseases
of the thyroid affects the growth of your hair. It is
a small gland that resides on the front of your neck.
The thyroid regulates how the body makes proteins and
burns energy. The hormone produced by the thyroid gland
regulates the body's metabolic rate. Too much or too
little of this hormone, affected by diseases, has an
impact on hair growth. The following thyroid gland diseases
can be detected through a blood test:
- Hyperthyroidism:
This occurs when the body produces too much thyroid
hormone. The symptoms include rapid heart beat, weight
loss, heat intloerance and nervousness. The hair becomes
very thin and sparse. A common cause of hyperthyroidism
is Grave's disease which is an autoimmune disease.
- Hypothyroidism:
This occurs when too little thyroid hormone is produced
by the body. The symptoms include fatigue, cold intolerance,
lack of energy, puffiness of the face, and dry skin.
The hair becomes dry, brittle, course and sparse.
A common cause of hypothyroidism is Hashimoto's thyroiditis,
an autoimmune disease. In developing countries, this
is often caused by the lack of iodine in the diet;
not common in the US because iodine is added to table
salt.
How
hair growth is affected by thyroid conditions
Scientists
are not entirely sure how thyroid diseases cause hair
loss. It could be because the thyroid hormone by affecting
metabolism, slows the growth of the hair follicles,
resulting in slower growth, thinner and more brittle
hair, with the loss of hair bulk and split ends.
Acute
thyroid condition also causes stress, which in turn
causes telogen
effluvium, in which hair rapidly falls out after prematurely
entering the resting phase of the hair growth cycle.
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Telogen
effluvium |
Medications
given to treat thyroid dysfunction can also cause hair
loss. The most common medicine used to treat hyperthyroidism
propylthioracil, has the side effect of potentially
causing hair loss. The most common drug used to replace
thyroid hormone synthroid (levothyroxin) also may cause
hair loss.
Coping
with a thyroid condition and hair loss
If
you suffer from a thyroid disease and experience hair
loss, you should see an endocrinologist, who can who
can diagnose and treat your thyroid condition, and a
dermatologist who can determine the exact cause of your
hair loss and determine if it is related to a thyroid
problem.
Proper
medication can treat the thyroid problem, and hence
the hair loss. Allow time for the body to adjust to
the medication and then allow time for the hair to go
through the full cycle of shedding the old hair and
growing new ones. It may take up to 3 years for your
hair to return to normal. The other treatments for thyroid
conditions include surgery to remove the thyroid gland,
or destroying the thyroid gland in combination with
radioactive iodine.
If
you continue to lose hair several months after your
thyroid hormones have returned to normal, it may be
caused by another condition. There
is often no one cause for hair loss. Try what I
do: use low
level laser therapy device.
The
links related to this page on hair loss diseases are:
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