Auto Immune Disease and Hair Loss

Hair loss affects 25% of women and 50% of men over the age of 50 but it’s not only related to aging. In fact, hair loss can be the result of many different factors such as hormones, genetics, stress and even autoimmune disease. March is Autoimmune Disease Awareness Month and, in honor of it, we’re exploring the links between hair loss and autoimmune disease. Autoimmune disease affects more than 23 million Americans.

Better Health states, “The immune system is a network of cells and tissues throughout the body including bone marrow, the thymus, spleen, lymph nodes, and white blood cells. These work together to defend the body from invasion and infection. An autoimmune disorder occurs when the body's immune system attacks and destroys healthy body tissue by mistake.” With autoimmune conditions, the immune system mistakenly attacks the body, causing a host of possible side effects, including hair loss. Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease which causes hair loss on the scalp, face and other parts of the body. Symptoms of lupus include strands and clumps of hair coming out.

Autoimmune conditions with links to hair loss are:

· Alopecia areata

· Alopecia Universalis

· Lupus

· Hashimoto’s disease

·       Graves’ disease

· Crohn’s disease

·       Rheumatoid arthritis

· Psoriasis

Steroids, hormone treatments, androgen blockers, immunosuppressant drugs and diet and lifestyle changes are sometimes used to help treat autoimmune disorders. Many of these treatments and medications come with their own set of side effects which may also include hair loss, compounding the issue.

The good news is there are many hair restoration treatments and options available to help. Here at Emerge Trichology Hair Restoration Center in Tampa, we specialize in finding the perfect custom hair loss solution for our patients. Contact us today at 813-820-0022 to learn more about how we can help with your autoimmune disease-related hair loss.