Female Hair Loss: Now What Do I Do?
Female Hair Loss: Now What Do I Do?
As a nutritionist, I see women every week who complain of hair loss. I suspect this growing problem is more common now than 30 or 40 years ago.
It is estimated that 1/3 of women have experienced hair loss. That percentage goes up past menopause (Harvard Health Publishing, 2020).
Common reasons for female hair loss:
Stress
Nutricional deficiencies (Gowda, et al. 2017)
Rapid weight loss, especially from bariatric surgery
Insufficient protein
Hormonal changes
Thyroid issues
Medications
Toxic exposures
Long COVID
Aging
Women Over 50
When I talk to women over 50 with hair loss, I often recommend the typical hair-supportive products such as collagen and biotin. Collagen contains certain amino acids, the building blocks of protein, that makeup keratin. Hair is mostly comprised of keratin. That being said, there are few studies supporting the use of collagen for hair loss.
Biotin is a water soluble vitamin. It can help grow hair if the hair loss is due to an “underlying pathology” (Patel, Swink & Castelo-Soccio, 2017). Despite the lack of studies, I often recommend collagen and biotin for hair loss because both products are safe and often produce results.
Collagen also helps with other issues of concern to older women such as bone and cardiovascular health. While biotin has no known toxicity issues, supplementation can interfere with blood test results, especially thyroid panels. Avoid biotin at least a week prior to doing blood work.
Younger Women
When younger women complain of hair loss, I immediately suspect an autoimmune condition. An autoimmune condition is when the body attacks itself. Autoimmune conditions that can cause hair loss include alopecia areata, lupus, hashimoto’s, and Crohn’s disease. Unfortunately, autoimmune diseases seem to be on the rise – especially among younger women.
It is suspected that processed foods play a role in autoimmune diseases. Many of the factory foods we eat today aren’t recognized by our bodies at a cellular level. Foreign substances can trigger an overreaction of the immune system. An anti-inflammatory diet based on whole foods often helps reduce the systems of an autoimmune condition. An elimination diet of some kind may be needed to identify food triggers. Fast food and gluten are high on the list of possible triggers (Manzel, Muller, Hafler et al., 2014).
The Role of Male Hormones
Both men and women have androgens or male hormones. The role that androgens play in male pattern baldness is better understood than in female pattern baldness, also referred to as female androgenetic alopecia. Women tend to experience overall thinning. Men lose hair in distinct regions, often exhibiting a receding hair line or significant hair loss at the crown.
From the time of Hippocrates, the link between male hormones and hair loss was understood because Eunuchs and males castrated prior to puberty did not lose their hair.
The specific androgen in question is a form of testosterone, DHT, or dihydrotestosterone. Interestingly, female pattern baldness is more prevalent in women with PCOS, a condition caused by elevated testosterone levels. Many factors can contribute to hormonal imbalances in women including insulin resistance and environmental toxins (Ramos & Miot, 2015)
The pharmaceutical options for female pattern baldness are problematic. Minoxidil is a topical preparation with a limited success rate. Finasteride prevents the conversion of testosterone to DHT. It is most commonly used with men with an enlarged prostate and has a long list of potential side effects, including sexual dysfunction. Finasteride is very dangerous for women of childbearing age due to the high risk of birth defects (Lamsumangetal, 2020).
The Role of COVID-19
Long Covid is thought to contribute to the problem of female hair loss. A staggering 25% of people who got sick with Covid-19 have experienced hair loss (Lopez-Leon, 2021). Anyone who works in the beauty industry is aware of this common complaint among their female clients.
Hair loss is a common side effect of many powerful antiviral drugs. Many women hospitalized with Covid-19 were administered drugs known to cause hair loss (Moradi, et al. 2020). But many women who did not take antiviral drugs have also experienced hair loss. Covid-19 is now considered a major reason for female hair loss (Sharquie & Jabbar, 2021).
Please note, in another blog post, I detail suggestions on how to deal with post-Covid symptoms of all kinds.
Pea Sprout Extract
While researching female hair loss, I came across an interesting pilot study using pea sprout extract. Apparently, pea sprout extract has been used topically for some time. A recent pilot study of 21 volunteers given a pea sprout extract supplement containing 100 mg reported a 95% success rate for regrowing hair after only several months Pea sprout extract, pisum sativum L., is a good source of biotin as well as L-arginine, an amino acid that helps promote healthy circulation.
Pea sprout extract is known to be both anti-inflammatory and an anti-oxidant. Furthermore, it activates two genes associated with hair growth, F6F7 and noggin (Grothe, 2020).
While the study was financed by Mibelle Group Biochemistry, the Swiss company that makes the pea sprout extract supplement, it seems promising to me.
What to do?
If you are a woman experiencing hair loss, here are some actions to consider:
Look at your medications and ask your doctor if any are associated with hair loss
Follow an anti-inflammatory diet
Practice stress management
Look for nutritional deficiencies, especially low protein, low vitamin D, and low iron (Tamer, 2020) as well as other nutrients
Try biotin and collagen – many people obtain good results
Ask yourself if you or a close family member might have an autoimmune condition
Reduce your toxic exposures
Consider supplementing with pea sprout extract
Make an appointment with your nutritionist for guidance
Disclaimer
The included information is not meant to or should not be used to replace or substitute medical treatment, recommendations, or the advice of your physician or health care provider. The information contained within is strictly for educational purposes and is based on evidence-based nutrition. If you believe you have a medical problem or condition, please contact your physician or healthcare provider.
Sources
Gowda, D., Premalatha, V., & Imtiyaz, D. B. (2017). Prevalence of Nutritional Deficiencies in Hair Loss among Indian Participants: Results of a Cross-sectional Study. International journal of trichology, 9(3), 101–104. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijt.ijt_48_16
Grothe, T., Wandrey, F., & Schuerch, C. (2020). Short communication: Clinical evaluation of pea sprout extract in the treatment of hair loss. Phytotherapy research: PTR, 34(2), 428–431. https://doi.org/10.1002/ptr.6528
Harvard Health Publishing (2020) Treating female pattern hair loss..
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/treating-female-pattern-hair-loss
Iamsumang, W., Leerunuakul K. & Suchonwarit P. (2020) Finasteride and its potential for the treatment fo female pattern hair loss: evidence to date.
Lopez-Leon, S., Wegman-Ostrosky, T., Perelman, C., Sepulveda, R., Rebolledo, P. A., Cuapio, A., & Villapol, S. (2021). More than 50 long-term effects of COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Scientific reports, 11(1), 16144. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-95565-8
Manzel A, Muller DN, Hafler DA, Erdman SE, Linker RA, Kleinewietfeld M. Role of "Western diet" in inflammatory autoimmune diseases. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep. 2014 Jan;14(1):404. doi: 10.1007/s11882-013-0404-6. PMID: 24338487; PMCID: PMC4034518.
Moradi, F., Enjezab, B., & Ghadiri-Anari, A. (2020). The role of androgens in COVID-19. Diabetes & metabolic syndrome, 14(6), 2003–2006. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsx.2020.10.014
Patel, D. P., Swink, S. M., & Castelo-Soccio, L. (2017). A Review of the Use of Biotin for Hair Loss. Skin appendage disorders, 3(3), 166–169. https://doi.org/10.1159/000462981
Ramos, P.M. & Miot H.A. (2015) Female pattern hair loss: a clinical and pathophysiological review. Anais Brasileiros de Dermatologia.
https://doi.org/10.1590/abd1806-4841.20153370
Sharquie, K. E., & Jabbar, R. I. (2021). COVID-19 infection is a major cause of acute telogen effluvium. Irish journal of medical science, 1–5. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-021-02754-5
Tamer, F., Yuksel, M. E., & Karabag, Y. (2020). Serum ferritin and vitamin D levels should be evaluated in patients with diffuse hair loss prior to treatment. Postepy dermatologii i alergologii, 37(3), 407–411. https://doi.org/10.5114/ada.2020.96251