Diabetes and Diffuse Hair Loss

Overview. Unbalanced diabetes can cause diffuse hair loss. Few diabetologists give importance to this non-vital symptom, which they consider to be a merely ‘cosmetic’ sign of the condition. But for patients who already have difficulties accepting their diabetes, hair loss is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. This info file is for them.

Contents
Your symptoms
What is the connection between diabetes and hair loss?
Hair loss treatment

Your symptoms

Your hair is thinning out and progressively weakening, growing more slowly, and then starts to fall more than usual. This is different from telogen effluvium, which is when the hair loss is diffuse and spread throughout the head. In some cases, its intensity can vary from mild to abundant: some women complain about losing their hair “by the bunch”.

By Elimination...

It is essential for an effective hair loss treatment that its cause be determined. And, in order to act in the right place, we must be certain of the origin of yours. Many factors can come into cause: hereditary, medical treatment, lack of iron… to name just the most common. In other words, before incriminating your diabetes, we advise you to have your hair diagnosed. That will enable to proceed by elimination, and to ensure, for instance that:

1) It is not a case of androgenetic alopecia, which is the most common type of hair loss: it represents over 95% of cases in men and close to 80% of cases in women. 

2) That it is not either a thyroid complication, which is often linked to sugar diabetes and can be detected through a blood analysis. A dysfunction at thyroid level can, alone, trigger major hair loss. See our info file Thyroid problems and hair loss.

What is the connection
between diabetes and hair loss?

Blood sugar level
The first cause that comes to mind in order to explain how diabetes can cause hair loss is a blood circulation deficiency. In a diabetes patient whose blood sugar level is not yet or no longer balanced, the blood does not sufficiently irrigate the hair follicle cells, which are pores into which the hair roots are based. Because it is not receiving the vital nutrients the blood flow should bring it, the hair can no longer grow or develop and renew itself as it should. That is especially the case if hyperglycaemic crises are frequent.  

WORTH NOTING: A silent disease (close to 600 000 people in France apparently suffer from it without knowing it), type 2 diabetes can even sometimes be diagnosed via unexplained hair loss. A simple blood test, with blood sugar dosage, is then needed to test the hypothesis. If the level on an empty stomach is equal or superior to 1.26 g/L (i.e., 7 mmol/L), then diabetes is confirmed.

Stress
Accepting diabetes and the lifestyle it engenders is often a source of chronic anxiety, and sometimes of depression, for those with the condition. That is why daily stress is also another possible cause for the acceleration of hair loss.

This is especially the case because hair loss is often felt like the most noticeable sign of the disease, the one that cannot be hidden. It can therefore quickly cause a drop in morale and self-confidence. The spiral is then endless: stress triggers the loss, which causes stress, which increases the loss...

Hair Loss Treatment

If you would like to regain good looking hair and neutralise the loss, you must first balance your diabetes, by thoroughly following your physician’s prescriptions (diet, physical exercise, anti-diabetic medical treatment…). Regarding your diet, we also encourage you to click on this link Your Diet and Hair Loss. The general recommendations made in the first part of it are also applicable to those with diabetes: they are based on glycemic index monitoring.

Local hair treatment
It is a necessary addition to your in depth diabetes treatment. In your case, your hair follicles need to be assisted, in order to make up for their deficiency in blood input. The local treatment will boost the irrigation of your hair roots, and bring it the nutrients it absolutely needs in order to stabilise the loss, regain a normal growing pace and reinforce its strength.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
- 'Telogen Effluvium' Hair Loss Women Men
- Androgenetic Hair Loss/Alopecia Women Men
- Iron Deficiency and Hair Loss
- Thyroid Problems and Hair Loss
- Daily Hair Loss: What Is the Norm?  Women Men

FOR TREATING
- Your Diet and Hair Loss Women Men
- Baicalein, the new Clauderer anti-hair loss natural extract
- Why are organic active vegetable ingredients more effective against hair loss?
- What's new with natural treatments against hair loss?
- Clauderer Anti-hair Loss Treatments
- Clauderer in-Depth Hair Diagnosis

Diagnosis In-depth Clauderer Diagnosis: Have a complete hair checkup