Fwd: Fw: FHHF VERY GOOD ARTICLE/hair loss

[Guest guest]

Thought this may be helpful to some )) ..........

This was posted on the iron overload group that I belong to. Since there have

been a few posts in the past about hair loss as well as low iron levels, I

thought some of you might find this intersting.

LJ

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Freecycle_AikenSC_AugustaGa/

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AugustaGA_CanaryClub/

---------- Forwarded Message ----------

Hair Loss May Be Caused By Iron Deficiency

Thursday, May 18, 2006

By J. DeNoon

(http://foxnews.webmd.com/webmd_today/home/default?src=rss_foxnews_rtstatlogo)

If you're losing hair, you may have an iron deficiency.

A review of 40 years of research shows that iron deficiency has a much

closer link to hair loss than most doctors realize. It may be the key to

restoring

hair growth, Cleveland Clinic dermatologists find.

" We believe that treatment for hair loss is enhanced when iron deficiency,

with or without anemia, is treated, " Leonid 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.

" What Dr. Bergfeld has found in decades of experience, is when she treats

patients for iron deficiency --even in the absence of anemia -- it can maximize

their ability to regrow hair, " Trost tells WebMD. " It is not the silver

bullet for baldness, but it can definitely help maximize how a patient regrows

hair. "

The Cleveland Clinic isn't alone in doing this. Cotsarelis, director

of the University of Pennsylvania Hair and Scalp Clinic, has studied iron

supplementation in women with various forms of hair loss.

" From our clinic's experience, it is clear to me that if you replenish

hair-loss patients' iron stores with iron supplements, they are more likely to

regrow hair, or at least stop hair shedding, " Cotsarelis tells WebMD. " And they

don't have to be anemic. That is the biggest mistake doctors make. "

An even bigger mistake would be for balding people to take iron supplements

on their own. Unless you have iron deficiency -- diagnosed by a doctor -- iron

supplements can lead to a very dangerous condition from iron overload.

Hair Loss May Be a Symptom of Serious Illness

A sensitive way to check total body iron stores is to measure the amount of

ferritin in the blood. Ferritin is a protein that plays an important role in

iron storage. As a general rule, the less ferritin in the blood, the less iron

a body has stored up.

Cotsarelis and Trost say that what most doctors consider to be a normal

ferritin level is, in fact, too low. Ferritin levels of 10-15 ng/mL are within

the " normal " range. Cotsarelis says a ferritin level of at least 50 ng/mL is

needed to help replenish hair. Trost and Bergfeld shoot for 70 ng/mL.

" Doctors see ferritin levels in the normal range, and don't do anything, "

Cotsarelis says. " But the normal range is wrong, I think. The normal range for

women is 10-120 ng/ML, and for men it is 30-250 ng/mL. Why should a man's be

lower than a woman's? Mostly because women are iron deficient. It is almost a

public health problem. Hair loss is only an indication of this. "

Cotsarelis and colleagues have found that women with hair loss have

significantly lower iron stores than women without hair loss. Surprisingly, this

was

particularly true for women with alopecia areata, a form of hair loss caused

by haywire immune responses.

" Our theory is that lower iron levels decrease the threshold for developing

hair loss of any kind in genetically predisposed individuals, " Cotsarelis

says. " So people prone to develop even hereditary hair loss, if their iron

levels

are low, it accelerates that process. We think it's because the hair

follicles grow so much, they require a lot of iron. "

Women who frequently have heavy menstrual periods often become iron

deficient. " If you have a healthy woman with hair loss, you can assume iron

deficiency, " Trost says.

Iron deficiency is less common in men and postmenopausal women than in women

of childbearing age. But it's something Cotsarelis and Trost see often in

people with hair loss. Especially when it gets to the point of anemia, iron

deficiency can be a symptom of very serious illness. It's important for a

doctor

to find out why this is happening.

" If you have a man or a postmenopausal woman with iron-deficiency anemia, you

need to do a workup to find out why, " Trost says. " Say you have a

55-year-old man with iron-deficiency anemia -- it could be caused by bleeding

due to

colon cancer. Believe it or not, someone can come in complaining of hair loss,

and find out it is something serious. "

Don't Take Iron Supplements Without Doctor Visit

Iron supplements are not a cure for baldness. But as part of a multipronged

approach, Cotsarelis and Trost say, supplements can be a big help.

So is a diet full of iron-rich foods, such as tofu, lentils, beans, oysters,

spinach, prunes, raisins, and, yes, lean beef.

Trost says he and Bergfeld usually recommend these foods, plus

supplementation with ferrous sulfate, 325 milligrams per day taken on an empty

stomach.

It's not an easy supplement to take.

" Iron supplements cause constipation and gastrointestinal upset, " Cotsarelis

says. " We try different preparations, but they but all seem to have similar

problems. And there is some anecdotal evidence that orange juice, vitamin C,

or lysine, if take together with the iron, helps the absorption. "

Do not take iron supplements unless a doctor has told you that you have iron

deficiency, Trost warns.

" Iron supplements are available over the counter, but we recommend you take

them only under the supervision of a doctor, " he says. " 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. "

By _ J. DeNoon_

(http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,135751,00.html#DeNoon) , reviewed by Louise

Chang, MD

SOURCES: Trost, L. B. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, May

2006; vol 54: pp 824-844. Leonid Trost, MD, resident physician,

department of dermatology, The Cleveland Clinic, Ohio. Cotsarelis,

director,

hair and scalp clinic; and professor of medicine, University of Pennsylvania

School of Medicine, Philadelphia.