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Does Slightly High Levels Of Vitamin D And TSH Cause Acute Hairfall ?
Question: Hi,
My wife (F - 33 years) is experiencing high degree of hair loss since 15 days now. Brushing her hair leads to at least 15-20 strands of hair falling at a time.
She was treated for thyroid since 2 years, but did not experience any hair related problems with fluctuations in her T3, T4 and TSH levels. Got her Vitamin B, Folic Acid and Vitamin D checked. Only Vitamin D is slightly below normal.
Her thyroid is coming within control - only TSH is slightly higher.
Any suggested causes for the sudden excessive hair fall and treatment.
My wife (F - 33 years) is experiencing high degree of hair loss since 15 days now. Brushing her hair leads to at least 15-20 strands of hair falling at a time.
She was treated for thyroid since 2 years, but did not experience any hair related problems with fluctuations in her T3, T4 and TSH levels. Got her Vitamin B, Folic Acid and Vitamin D checked. Only Vitamin D is slightly below normal.
Her thyroid is coming within control - only TSH is slightly higher.
Any suggested causes for the sudden excessive hair fall and treatment.
Hi! XXXXXXX
Thank you for the query.
There are various causes of hair loss in females at this age. In your wife's case, the one obvious cause is hypothyroidism.This does lead to severe hair loss at times.
The other major & minor causes of hair loss in females are :
1) Iron deficiency
2) Hormonal disturbances
3) Stress
4) Crash dieting
5) Lack of sleep
6) Shift from one city to another
7) Depression
8) Zinc & copper deficiency
9) Malignancy
10) low serum ferritin level
11) Any chronic illness
12) 3 months after delivery
13) hard water
14) fungal infection
Kindly let me know if any the above causes matches with your wife's condition.
Iron deficiency and hormonal disturbances being the most common causes.
Hormonal disturbance can manifest as irregular periods, weight gain, facial hair & pimples on face. If any of these are present in your wife then please get a hormonal check up done. This would include a blood test along with a lower abdomen ultrasound to rule our poly-cystic ovary syndrome (PCOD).
Low serum ferritin level and low hemoglobin can also be done with the help of a blood test.
At times there are two or three causes together which lead to such a situation.
So a proper investigation is very important to reach to a conclusion.
The pattern of hair loss may also give a clue as to the reason of hair loss.
In hormonal cases the hair loss is more in the crown of the scalp sparing the front hair line. While in thyroid case or iron deficiency the whole scalp gets affected.
At time females may loose hair in coin shaped patches, which is called as alopecia areata.This also should be ruled out by properly looking at the scalp.
Fungal infection can be ruled out getting a KOH test done from the scalp.
There are two important test which can be performed by the dermatologist. One is a hair pull test and the other is trichogram test which can further give a clue to the diagnosis.This test includes looking at the hair follicle root under the microscope to find out which type of hair patient is loosing most.
I would advise you to consult a good dermatologist who can get all the relevant investigation done to diagnose the exact cause of hair loss.
‘Hope I have answered your query, I will be available to answer your follow up queries if any'.
Regards,
Dr.Bharat chawda
Thank you for the query.
There are various causes of hair loss in females at this age. In your wife's case, the one obvious cause is hypothyroidism.This does lead to severe hair loss at times.
The other major & minor causes of hair loss in females are :
1) Iron deficiency
2) Hormonal disturbances
3) Stress
4) Crash dieting
5) Lack of sleep
6) Shift from one city to another
7) Depression
8) Zinc & copper deficiency
9) Malignancy
10) low serum ferritin level
11) Any chronic illness
12) 3 months after delivery
13) hard water
14) fungal infection
Kindly let me know if any the above causes matches with your wife's condition.
Iron deficiency and hormonal disturbances being the most common causes.
Hormonal disturbance can manifest as irregular periods, weight gain, facial hair & pimples on face. If any of these are present in your wife then please get a hormonal check up done. This would include a blood test along with a lower abdomen ultrasound to rule our poly-cystic ovary syndrome (PCOD).
Low serum ferritin level and low hemoglobin can also be done with the help of a blood test.
At times there are two or three causes together which lead to such a situation.
So a proper investigation is very important to reach to a conclusion.
The pattern of hair loss may also give a clue as to the reason of hair loss.
In hormonal cases the hair loss is more in the crown of the scalp sparing the front hair line. While in thyroid case or iron deficiency the whole scalp gets affected.
At time females may loose hair in coin shaped patches, which is called as alopecia areata.This also should be ruled out by properly looking at the scalp.
Fungal infection can be ruled out getting a KOH test done from the scalp.
There are two important test which can be performed by the dermatologist. One is a hair pull test and the other is trichogram test which can further give a clue to the diagnosis.This test includes looking at the hair follicle root under the microscope to find out which type of hair patient is loosing most.
I would advise you to consult a good dermatologist who can get all the relevant investigation done to diagnose the exact cause of hair loss.
‘Hope I have answered your query, I will be available to answer your follow up queries if any'.
Regards,
Dr.Bharat chawda
Note: Hope the answers resolves your concerns, however for further guidance of skin related queries consult our Dermatologist.Click here to book a consultation
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Manju M
Answered by
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