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With diabetes, your body's endocrine balance is affected, which can off-kilter the typical hair growth cycle. For instance, you might find you're losing hair at a faster rate than it can regrow, or new hair could come in thinner or weaker than before. Alopecia areata is a condition where your immune system attacks the hair follicles, which can cause patchy or total hair loss on the scalp or other parts of the body. Fortunately, as many as 50% of patients recover their hair within a year. Others may not regrow their hair or may experience hair loss periodically throughout their lives (Darwin, 2018).
What does normal hair growth look like?
Is Hair Loss a Side Effect of Wegovy and Ozempic? - The People's Pharmacy
Is Hair Loss a Side Effect of Wegovy and Ozempic?.
Posted: Mon, 08 May 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
The primary causes of hair loss in people with diabetes are uncontrolled blood sugar levels, emotional and physical stress, and hormone imbalances. Besides hair loss, diabetes can also cause hair thinning, fragility, sparsity, or a slower hair growth rate due to the disrupted hair cycle. The amount of hair loss depends on the level of oxygen and nutrient insufficiency. Nonetheless, although diabetes can damage the hair follicles and causes the hair to fall, the disease does not eliminate hair growth. The hair follicles that have shed hair previously can still grow new hair, yet at a slower rate. Gentle hair care practices prevent hair loss in people with diabetes.
The three phases of hair growth
By testing your glucose levels regularly after meals, you will be able to understand whether certain foods are making it harder to control your blood sugar. The solution could also be increasing exercise, getting better quality sleep, or adjusting your medication dosages. If hair loss has become an issue in a person with type 2 diabetes, there are possible ways to treat it or prevent further loss. There are several ways that type 2 diabetes can affect the body, which can lead to hair loss.
Treatment and Management of Hair Loss
Since autoimmune conditions are more prevalent among diabetics, it's essential to stay alert to symptoms and seek advice promptly if they arise. Individuals with diabetes must closely monitor their nutritional intake to manage blood sugar levels. Sometimes, the dietary restrictions required to control diabetes can lead to nutritional deficiencies. A lack of adequate levels of iron, zinc, and proteins can impair hair growth and strength. Consider a nutritional supplement for hair health, to help restore these vital nutrients and promote healthier hair. A normal sugar level is one of the conditions with which the normal hair growth process can be achieved.
hormonal fluctuations
However, because people with diabetes usually experience high blood sugar, they may experience more hair thinning because they’re losing more hair than they’re growing. The first step in addressing hair loss in diabetes is to make sure that blood sugar is being properly managed. Many factors can affect hair growth, including stress, hormones, high blood sugar levels, and underlying health conditions, such as diabetes. First, people with type 1 diabetes are more prone to alopecia areata, where the immune system attacks hair follicles, resulting in losing hair in patches on the scalp and other body areas.
vitamin B12
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hasn’t approved finasteride for people assigned female at birth to use. When you don’t have insulin or it’s not used effectively, sugar can build up in your blood. Comprehensive, accurate, easy-to-understand articles written by a team who live with diabetes, and fact-checked by medical professionals. Anemia is characterized by low levels of iron in the blood, is easily tested for in your annual lab work, and is usually easy to treat with an iron supplement, explains ScalpMed.
If you like the idea of adding supplements to your routine, there are some which are specifically formulated to contain ingredients that increase hair thickness and health. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, it’s completely normal to shed anywhere between 50 to 100 strands of hair per day. However, if you’ve noticed more strands falling out of your head than normal, you may be experiencing alopecia, the medical term for hair loss. Common diagnoses include androgenetic alopecia, alopecia areata, telogen effluvium, and lymphocytic scarring alopecia, Agbai tells USA TODAY.
Treating hair loss in people with diabetes
In fact, your blood sugar concentrations affect hair so directly that your hair preserves evidence of your recent blood glucose history. Some researchers have even proposed using chemical analysis of hair to improve upon a traditional A1C measurement. Unfortunately, there’s not much data on the prevalence of diabetes-related hair loss.
Doctors often prescribe oral medications to be used along with topical minoxidil because studies show the combination boosts hair production. Low-dose oral minoxidil (prescribed off-label) has been found to be effective and safe for most patients, Mirmirani says. Other oft-used drugs include finasteride (Propecia) and spironolactone.
Prediabetes can also have hair loss as a symptom, and in this case, preventive measures can be crucial. Monitoring your blood sugar levels is key in managing the state of your hair. If your glucose readings are consistently higher than usual, it's time to consult with your healthcare provider to assess the effects of your blood sugar regulation on hair growth. Therefore, if you’re experiencing a significant loss of hair, you should quickly seek medical help to control your condition. Besides meeting a doctor, implementing important lifestyle changes such as exercise and healthy eating is key.
Hypergylcemia can also cause hair thinning, hair fragility, spareness of hair, or decreased speed of hair growth. Insulin resistance could produce microvascular impairment, thus playing a role in the pathophysiology of a hereditary cause of hair loss called androgenic alopecia. If the hair loss is related to diabetes management, you may need to adjust your medications, diet, or lifestyle. Talk with your doctor if you’re having any bothersome diabetes symptoms, including hair loss. Hair loss from your arms and legs is especially important to report because it could be a symptom of poor blood flow. For patients able to be more aggressive about blood sugar management, an A1c under 6.5 percent is going to have an even greater impact on preventing damage to small and large blood vessels.
If your blood sugar levels stay high for a long time, your blood vessels can get damaged. Damaged blood vessels can prevent hair follicles from getting enough oxygen and nutrients. When left unmanaged, high blood sugar levels cause sugar to build up in the blood, which can damage or block blood vessels.
These treatments are applied directly to the scalp and have been proven effective in promoting hair growth and slowing down hair loss. You may be able to avoid diabetes-related hair loss by managing your blood sugar levels and making healthy lifestyle changes. Many of the methods used to prevent hair loss from diabetes are the same as treatments for diabetes-related hair loss. For those living with diabetes, especially type 1, there's an increased risk of autoimmune disorders such as alopecia areata. This condition causes the body's immune system to attack hair follicles, resulting in sudden hair loss, typically in patches.
Prediabetes occurs when your blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes. Keep in mind that the level of blood sugar control can make a significant difference. It's crucial to monitor your diabetes closely and maintain a balanced blood sugar level, thus helping mitigate hair loss. Hair loss can be distressing, especially if you’re unsure what’s causing it or how to treat it.
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