Medical Causes Of Womens Hair Loss

It is important to rule out the common medical causes of womens hair loss.

Aside from genetics, female hair loss can derive from a variety of medical causes, from the general to the more specific, including postpartum and menopausal hair loss. Many medical conditions may cause hair loss and can include thyroid disease, anemia, iron deficiency, weight loss induced by severe dieting or eating disorders, medication use, and a variety of autoimmune diseases.

As a woman who may be experiencing hair loss, you should initially be evaluated by a dermatologist to ensure that there are no underlying skin conditions which may be contributing to the hair loss. These may require a different type of treatment and a biopsy may be needed to rule out the presence of certain skin diseases such as alopecia areata.

Your local GP will be able to carry out the tests required, and a dermatologist could hone in on a diagnosis. Blood tests can be crucial in ruling out some identifiable medical conditions, and can check the following contributors to female hair loss:

• ANA - antinuclear antibody - used to test for lupus or other autoimmune diseases. The test will be either negative or positive, and further testing will be necessary if the result is positive.
• Iron - check on serum iron levels, TIBC (total iron binding capacity) and ferritin deficiencies in iron.
• Estradiol - a sex hormone which indicates the status of ovarian output. FSH - follicle-stimulating hormone. This indicates the status of ovarian output and will reflect the woman’s ability to ovulate.
• LH - utilizing hormone - a sex hormone which indicates the status of ovarian output a woman may have in her overall aging process, when she ovulates, this hormone stimulates the production of eggs.
• Free testosterone - could help the doctor to determine the woman’s ability to convert testosterone into estrogen.
• SHBG - sex hormone binding globulin - the level will indicate the status of male hormones.
• TSH - thyroid-stimulating hormone - the level will show the presence of hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism.
• Total testosterone - will be largely bound to proteins in the blood.

It is necessary to remember that even after a medical condition has been corrected, your hair loss may persist due to a switch in your genetic makeup that has been turned on when the medical condition occurs. Once the hair loss starts it could be hard to turn this switch off. It would be hoped that following treatment for the medical condition that the hair loss would slow down and that any deficiency in you overall hormone balance is corrected.