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A.
Most
likely you are experiencing telogen effluvium. It is generally self
limiting.
Check your vitamin
supplement for "vitamin A". If the label says retinol
palmitate be aware that it is an essential metabolite, not really
a vitamin and it has been been linked to hair loss. Beta carotene
is the true vitamin A and it's non toxic and plentiful in pigmented
plant foods. Nature's Life Vegetarian Super Mega Vite is the only
supplement I can recommend from experience. Its "vitamin A"
is beta carotene. Zinc deficiency has also been linked to hair loss
and since zinc is a limiting nutrient on a veg*n diet a 15-30 mg
zinc supplement might be worth a try.
Below is an
good article on hair metabolism. I hope it will be of some use to
you. Notice that crash dieting and weight loss is a common cause
of hair loss.
Sincerely,
-William Harris,
M.D. **********
Dermatology
in Practice Anthony du Vivier MD, FRCP Department of Dermatology
King's College Hospital London, UK Wolfe Publishing 1993 ISBN 0-397-44698-5
TELOGEN AND
ANAGEN EFFLUVIUM Page 211
Introduction: the hair cycle Human hair grows in an asynchronous
manner, un-like animal hair which falls out synchronously in the
form of a moult. ‘Moulting' only occurs in humans as part of
a pathological state. There are three phases of hair growth. Anagen
is the active and longest phase, lasting up to 4 or 5 years, which
explains why hair will only grow to a certain length, usually to
the waist or buttocks, but not down to the ground. The majority
of the hair is in anagen at any one time. Following anagen, cell
division ceases in the hair bulb and involution (catagen) occurs.
The hair follicle regresses and the hair shaft becomes shortened
and club shaped. Catagen lasts a few weeks and is followed by telogen
during which hair is shed for about 3 months. The hair cell cycle
is one of the most active in the body and is very susceptible to
external influences. Three recognizable clinical states occur.
Anagen effluvium
Definition
Acute, diffuse loss of scalp hair.
Diagnostic featuresl Sudden onset. * Diffuse loss of hair. Obvious
immediate cause, usually a drug.
Aetiology: Drugs used in cancer chemotherapy are now probably the
most common causes of acute hair loss that results from mitotic
arrest of the cells of the hair bulb. The cytotoxics especially
cyclophosphamide c, anticoagulants, thyroid antagonists, excess
vitamin A, and other retinoids, thallium salts, and X-rays
X-Rays used to be used therapeutically to induce epilation of hairs
infected with ringworm, until this became unnecessary with the advent
of griseofulvin.
Clinical features
The hair fall is acute and often extreme necessitating the wearing
of a wig.
Management
The patient will recover but clearly requires to be forewarned of
the occurrence.
Telogen effluvium
Definition: An acute, diffuse hair loss occurring 3-4 months after
a medical event.
Diagnostic features: . Sudden onset. * Diffuse loss of hair. * Medical
event 3 months previously.
Aetiology: Surgical shock, haemorrhage (including occasionally blood
donation), high fever, crash dieting and psycho-logical illness
are common causes of hair loss. Women notice the complaint much
more frequently than men. During the illness, anagen hairs are prematurely
precipitated into catagen. Nothing untoward happens during this
time, but as the hairs reach the telogen phase, new anagen hairs
develop and displace the telogen hairs, causing them to fall abruptly
and alarmingly.
 William
Harris MD
received a degree in physics from the University of California Berkeley,
where he earned Phi Beta Kappa honors. He received his degree in
medicine from the University of California at San Francisco, and
received his postgraduate training at San Diego County Hospital.
He holds a Medical License in the State of Hawaii. He has been an
Emergency Department physican since 1963, and the Director of the
Kaiser Permanente Vegan Lifestyle Clinic on Oahu until his retirement
in 1998. Dr. Harris is the author of The Scientific Basis of Vegetarianism.
In
addition, he was the 1950 Big Ten Trampoline Champion, is an accomplished
hangglider and commercial pilot, and at age 70 became a skydiver
with 108 jumps to date. Dr. Harris has been vegetarian since 1950,
and vegan since 1963.
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