Emma Howard: Hello, we are answering question on health and medical problems I'm joined by Dr. Rosemary Leonard, hello Rosemary.
Rosemary Leonard: Hello.
Emma Howard: We've got a question here that I don't know whether its from a man or women and its about hair loss. This person says once I was combing my hair the other day I managed to dislodge a small clump of hair from my scalp. Now initially I dismissed it but the following day the same thing happened again and I stared to wear a cap, sounds that like a man is it.
Rosemary Leonard: Oh, yes.
Emma Howard: When I go out because I'm worried about happening in public I am only 26 but does this mean I am going bald.
Rosemary Leonard: Well it may be that he is going bald if it is a man, but he needs to look at his family history because male pattern baldness certainly starting at this sort of young age tends to run in families. So, if your father went bald or your grandfather went bald.
Emma Howard: It is going to be a great clue there.
Rosemary Leonard: Yes you got a great clue that it might be. The other thing it might be is a condition called alopecia areata which is what we call an autoimmune condition where you develop antibodies against your own hair follicles. It can happen out of the blue and unlike male pattern baldness which happens on the top of the head and on the temples alopecia areata can occur in any parts of your head. See if you get an old patch at the back and the old patch at the front sometimes you just get old patches besides of the coin but can't get it so it covers the whole scalp.
Emma Howard: Because you loose your eyebrows and your eye lashes if it have been in the extreme form.
Rosemary Leonard: In an extreme form yes that can happen. Quite often with these types of alopecia the head does grow back in a very few cases it doesn't but there are treatments you can try using particularly strong steroids if the condition appears to be progressing. The other thing or is to do with hair loss with both sexes is to check the thyroid function because if you have an underactive thyroid it can cause hair loss as also can low iron levels which is a particular problem in menstruating women if you just even you are not anemic if you have low iron levels it can cause thinning hair so they should be checked.
Emma Howard: And if this were a women and she is 26 and losing hair she should be doing the same thing check her iron levels, check up from the history, absolutely know that they are into.
Rosemary Leonard: In women, it can also be related to a hormone imbalance can cause hair lose in the male pattern distribution. So women who have got polycysticovariansyndrome where you have a slight hormone imbalance can get hair lose on the temples and on the top of the hair and the other thing I should say is hair loss can be related to stress. So if you are very tired and working hard have a look at your life style as well because it can affect every part of your body including your crown and glory.
Emma Howard: That was a good advice thanks for that Rosemary. Well we hope that if you have a similar problem we have offered you some help but of course it's always best to go and see your own doctor for medical advice, thanks for watching we will be back with more health questions and answers.
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