Hair loss comes from many things, diseases that cause alopecia, and the most common form of hair loss is genetic. However, hair loss can come from medications, illness, toxic substances, and your own actions.
People who twist their hair, and wear it tightly in a bun, ponytail or braid often pull the hair out by the root. This causes scar tissue and permanent hair loss. Malnutrition and improper diet also cause hair loss. Tracing the cause of hair loss is important as it may be a symptom of an underlying disease that needs treatment.
Some of the diseases that cause alopecia or you to lose hair include the following:
1. Lupus
Lupus is an autoimmune disease that affects the joints and most of the major organs, it’s also one of the diseases that cause Alopecia. These include the skin, kidneys, lungs, heart, and brain. When you lose hair from lupus, your hair comes out in patches and is brittle. Since it breaks off easily, you’ll probably have short broken hairs on the forehead. If lupus affects the skin, it sometimes develops scars on the scalp that cause the hair to fall out. Other symptoms of lupus include swollen joints, fatigue, skin rash, and a persistent low-grade fever. Hair loss during a flare-up of lupus often grows back.
2. Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and Certain Other Cancers
Hodgkin’s lymphoma is cancer of the lymph tissues of the lymph nodes, bone marrow, liver, spleen, and elsewhere on the body. While the most recognizable symptoms are fatigue, itching, fever and chills, night sweats, weight loss, and swollen lymph nodes in the groin, armpits, and neck that are not painful, hair loss can also be another symptom of Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
3. Thyroid Disturbances
Hyperthyroidism
Hyperthyroidism is an overactive thyroid that can cause weight loss, rapid heartbeat, increased appetite, nervousness, shaking fingers and hands, sweating, sensitivity to heat, changes in bowel habits, an enlarged thyroid, muscle weakness, difficulty sleeping, and hair loss. It occurs due to several different conditions. Hair loss from hyperthyroidism is reversible.
Hypothyroidism
One of the diseases that cause alopecia is Hypothyroidism. It is the opposite of hyperthyroidism. In this case, the thyroid is underactive. You’ll feel fatigued, sluggish, be sensitive to the cold, have pale skin, a puffy face, a hoarse voice, weight gain, stiff muscles, high blood cholesterol, muscle aches, brittle fingernails, depression, constipation, and brittle hair. The brittleness of the hair causes it to break, and that causes hair loss. The hair loss through hypothyroidism is reversible.
4. Muscular Dystrophy
Muscular dystrophy’s adult form, myotonic dystrophy, a genetic disease that causes wasting of the muscles, also can cause hair loss.
5. Pituitary Diseases
Since the pituitary gland controls six hormones, it also has an effect on many of the other organs and functions necessary for hair growth. The hormones are a thyroid-stimulating hormone, growth hormone, Adrenocorticotropic hormone, Luteinizing Hormone (LH) and Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH), Melanocyte-Stimulating Hormone, and Prolactin.
6. Folliculitis
Folliculitis is an infection of the hair follicles that leads to scarring and subsequent hair loss.
7. Diabetes
Diabetes does not allow the body to produce the amount of insulin necessary to metabolize carbohydrates. It affects healing and makes the skin susceptible to fungus and bacterial infection. It also has a direct link to thinning hair since it slows the regrowth of hair.
8. Malnutrition
The body requires a number of different nutrients, particularly protein, to create hair shafts. Anemia, a lack of iron, is included in this category. If the material isn’t available, you don’t have hair growth to replace the normally shed hair.
9. Alopecia Areata
This immune system disease causes the body to attack its own hair follicles and cease their functioning.
10. Androgenetic Alopecia
This is genetic hair loss that causes male pattern baldness and hair loss in women too.
11. Fungus Infections of the Scalp
Ringworm is a fungus infection that affects the scalp causing sores and subsequent hair loss.
12. Heavy Metal Poisoning
Heavy metal poisoning from substances like thallium and arsenic can cause hair loss as one of the symptoms.
13. Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Late-stage syphilis and HIV, two diseases that come from sexual contact as the primary method of infection, but by no means the only way, cause compromise to the immune system and body, in general, causing hair loss.
14. Sarcoidosis
Sarcoidosis causes scar tissue from inflammation throughout the body. This blocks the growth of hair when it’s on the scalp.
15. Stress
One of the more common causes of hair loss is stress. It may come from a severe illness caused by the body or mental stress. The best way to treat hair loss is by knowing the root cause, types, drugs, and diseases that cause alopecia.