Hair! From personal statement to personal problem - baldness

FDA Consumer, Dec, 1991 by Devera Pine

The list of causes of temporary hair loss goes on: Pressure on the scalp from wigs or hairdos that pull too tightly can cause it. A fever of 103 degrees Fahrenheit or more often causes hair loss six weeks to three months later. And some medications can cause a temporary loss. These include vitamin A derivatives such as Accutane, cough medicines with iodides, anti-ulcer drugs, some antibiotics, beta blockers, antidepressants and amphetamines, anti-arthritis drugs, blood thinners, some cholesterol-lowering agents, aspirin taken over long periods, some thyroid medications, and chemotherapy.

You Hair What You Eat?

Although nutrition does play a role in hair loss and in the overall health of your hair, only extreme nutritional deficiencies or excesses will cause hair loss. For instance, people with anorexia and bulimia may temporarily lose hair. So will others suffering from malnutrition. "It's pretty rare in the United States," says Bertolino. "If someone was on a real strange, restrictive diet, it could happen to them."

Megadoses of some vitamins-particularly A and E-and an iron deficiency may lead to hair loss. People who claim they can determine which vitamins are lacking in your diet by analyzing your hair, however, are not speaking from a scientifically sound basis. The test used with this type of hair analysisatomic absorption spectrophotometryis a legitimate analytical chemistry method; however, used on hair, the results of this test do not correlate with nutritional status, says Shupack. "Because of the sociological importance of hair, a lot of people try to cash in on it," he says. [Hair analysis] is all witchcraft as far as I'm concerned." There are, however, a few legitimate hair tests for substances such as arsenic and lead.

For Beauty's Sake

Every time you shampoo, blow dry, perm, straighten, or dye your hair, you damage it slightly, says Bertolino. For the most part, hair can withstand this type of treatment. But overzealous beautifying can damage the hair fiber, resulting in many broken strands, and a frizzy, split-end look. For instance, if you bleach your hair and then have A bunch of perms done in a short time, you're heading for trouble. Misuse of hair cosmetics can cause the hair to break as it comes out of the scalp, says Frances Storrs, M.D., professor of dermatology at the Oregon Health Sciences University. Permanent wave solutions break the bonds that hold hair together and then re-form them. But with a perm that is not diluted right or not rinsed off properly, for instance, those bonds may not re-form and the hair would soon fall out as a result. Fortunately, most professional hair dressers know how to use perms correctly, says Storrs.

Most hair dyes are not as irritating as permanent solutions, mostly because they do not break the bonds between hair fibers and are therefore not likely to cause a hair loss, she says. However, a severe allergic reaction to hair dye could cause hair loss. "The allergy is pretty common, actually," says Storrs. Permanent solutions can also cause allergic reactions, though that's a rare side effect.