Hair Loss Linked to Iron Deficiency
A review of 40 years worth of research by dermatologists at the Cleveland Clinic has turned up a link between hair loss and iron deficiency. From WebMD.
“We believe that treatment for hair loss is enhanced when iron deficiency, with or without anemiaanemia, is treated,” Leonid Benjamin Trost, MD; Wilma Fowler Bergfeld, MD; and Ellen Calogeras, RD, MPH, write in the May issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
It’s a controversial issue. Not every study shows a link between iron deficiency and hair loss. Trost says there’s not enough hard evidence — yet — to make iron-deficiency screening a routine procedure for people with hair loss.
But study researcher Bergfeld has been doing this for years. And she’s finding that whatever the cause of hair loss — for both women and men — having too little iron in the blood makes it worse.
Doctors are quick to point out that this it not a panacea, merely a connection. “It is not the silver bullet for baldness, but it can definitely help maximize how a patient regrows hair.”
Now, before you go out and stock up on iron supplements, head the following cautions:
“Iron supplements cause constipation and gastrointestinal upset.”
“Iron supplements are available over the counter, but we recommend you take them only under the supervision of a doctor. It is safe, when used appropriately, but if taken when inappropriate it can cause some harm. If you take a too-high dose of vitamin C, your body eliminates it — but iron doesn’t work that way. Your body can regulate how quickly it uptakes iron, but has no way to get rid of it quickly. If you are not deficient, you can get iron overload, which can be dangerous.”
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POSTED IN: Bald Medicine, Hair Replacement
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