Hormonally-induced hair loss, Hyper/hypo thyroid...

fluoride toxicity, which, as we see from PB3046's post below, can masquerade as hypothyroid.... possible help/solutions for hair loss:


http://thyroid.about.com/cs/hairloss/a/hairloss_3.htm


"Hormonally induced hair loss takes place when an enzyme starts to convert the hormone testosterone on the scalp to its less useful version, dihydrotestosterone, or DHT. DHT then attacks the hair follicle, and shrinks it, even making it disappear entirely. Hair becomes thinner and finer, and may stop growing entirely. This conversion of testosterone to DHT seems to be sped up in some patients with hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism, and may be the cause of hair loss that continues for thyroid patients, despite what is considered sufficient thyroid treatment.
Some people actually complain that rapid hair loss is the worst symptom of their thyroid problem - the thinning hair, large amounts of hair falling out in the shower or sink, often accompanied by changes in the hair's texture, making it dry, coarse, or easily tangled. Interestingly, some people have actually written to tell me that their thyroid problem was initially "diagnosed" by a hairdresser, who noticed the change in their hair!

While thyroid disease frequently causes general hair loss from the hair on the head, a unique and characteristic symptom of hypothyroidism is loss of the hair on the outer edge of the eyebrows. General loss of body hair from areas other than the head can also be seen in thyroid disease.

If you have a thyroid condition, and are concerned about the amount of hair you are losing, here are some steps to take.

"For hair loss, I routinely recommend multiple vitamins, and especially evening primrose oil. If there's any sex pattern to it -- if a woman is losing hair in partly a male pattern - -then, the problem is there is excessive conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone at the level of the hair follicle. Evening primrose oil is an inhibitor of that conversion. So almost anybody with hair loss probably will benefit from evening primrose oil."

As someone who has had a few periods of extensive hair loss since I became hypothyroid, I can vouch for the fact that taking EPO was the only thing that calmed it down. It not only slowed, then stopped my hair loss over about two months, but new hair grew back, and my hair was no longer straw-like, dry and easily knotted.

If you've been checked out by the dermatologist and determined to have thyroid-related hair loss, you may have to settle in and be a bit patient. It's likely that for most, the hair loss will slow down, and eventually stop, once hormone levels are stabilized and in the normal range. This may take a few months, however. But rest assured, I've had many thousands of emails from people, and have yet to hear from anyone who lost most of his or her hair, or became bald, due to thyroid disease.

In one study, Dr. Hugh Rushton, a professor at Portsmouth University, also found that 90 percent of women with thinning hair were deficient in iron and the amino acid lysine. Lysine is the most difficult amino acid to get enough of via diet. Lysine helps transport iron, which is the most important element in the body and essential for many metabolic processes. When lysine and iron levels are low, the body probably switches some hair follicles off to increase levels elsewhere. Meat, fish and eggs are the only food sources of lysine. There are also supplements that contain lysine.

Some other natural ways to deal with hair loss include:

Arginine
Cysteine
Green Tea
Polysorbate 80
Progesterone
Saw Palmetto
Trichosaccaride
Vitamin B6 Zinc

~I'd say skip the green tea... :)