Top Factors Leading to Hair Loss

Stress and Divorce

A stressful situation such as a divorce is often accompanied by a huge amount of emotional problems, heartache and tears. According to the results of a new study, in addition to all these hardships, a woman undergoing divorce is likely to have hair loss occurring as a result of all the added emotional pressures.

A group of specialists carried out a research and found out that divorce or losing a husband as a result of accident or a sudden death are definitely the second strongest causes women’s hair loss. The stresses linked to the mentioned problems are very strong and hard to cope with for many women.

“Most likely, stress is the aspect of a troubling divorce that appears to lead to hair loss among women,” stated Dr. Bahman Guyuron, MD and the chairman of the department of plastic surgery at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine. He carried out two studies on 84 pairs of identical female twins, monitoring their lifestyle, medical statistics and the condition of their hair. Using identical twins in the study helped to rule out possible genetic factors because twins have the same set of genes.

Life Style, Smoking, Alcohol Abuse

Dr. Doris Day, a leading dermatology specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City found in a study that  factors such as smoking and alcohol abuse can substantially contribute to hair loss, both in men and women. Another important issue that was identified as a risk-factor is a lack of physical activities. Furthermore “What we can say is that we identified factors that appear to both raise risk and lower risk, for both men and women, independent of genetic disposition.”

Menopause

Hormonal changes and imbalances that occur during menopause are one of the leading causes of temporary and premature hair loss in women. This occurs because the level of estrogens (the female hormone) begin to fluctuate and start dropping, while the level of androgens (the male hormone) remain constant, at the start of menopause. Since estrogens extend the life cycle of hair, and androgens reduce it, the levels of androgens become higher in menopause causing the life cycle of hair to get shorter. As a result hair gets thinner and starts to fall out. this affects up to 50% of menopausal women.

Menopause can also give rise to other dermatological problems and lower the thyroid function, these can stimulate hair loss to occur as well. The start of hair loss can make woemn very worried and stressed, however those who start to notice their thinning hair should not feel depressed and ejected. Menopause is a natural process that everyone must go through at some point, and there there are natural , medical and surgical treatments that are available. Stress and worry will only exasperate the hair loss.

Trichotillomania

This is an impulse control disorder, and is quite common among young people. Sufferers often pull on or pull out their hair, and have little control over their actions. The causes of the disorder an unknown, and up to 5% of people may suffer from it. Men are more likely to suffer from the disorder than women.

Improper nutrition

Nutrition deficiencies are among the main reasons for hair loss. The most common types of nutrition deficiencies which lead to hair loss include iron deficiency, zinc deficiency and protein deficiency.  A lack of proteins in the body causes inability of hair shafts to grow and develop properly. Once we adjust our diet to the nutritional needs of our hair, our hair health usuall improve in 2-3 months.

Psychological traumas and stresses

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These are among the leading causes of hair loss. Researches have shown that stresses make our hair enter its resting stage, and supported by nutritional deficiencies, hair starts getting weak and falling out.

Anorexia and too rapid weight loss

The researchers at the American Academy of Dermatology warn that weight loss over 15 pounds can cause hair loss. Additionally, there are very strong connections found between anorexia and hair loss, mainly due to a lack of essential nutrients in the body.

Taking certain medications

Hair loss is quite a common side effect of a great deal of medications like antidepressants, blood pressure medications, birth control pills and so on.

Careless hair care

People who dye or bleach their hair often are much more prone to hair loss than those who do not do so. Also, such factors as daily usage of hair driers, curling irons or hair straighteners contribute greatly to hair loss in many women.

Too tight hairstyles

This is especially common reason for hair loss among African Americans who like using weaves, tight braids and other hairstyles. The constant pulling and pushing on the hair leads to severe hair loss. Specialists suggest that any type of hairstyle which causes pain in the scalp should be strictly avoided.