Anagen Effluvium and hair loss.

Published 14/07/2009

15 Votes

What is Anagen Effluvium and its effects on the hair?

The anagen effluvium is a generalised loss of hair in its growth phase, provoking an extensive and quite radical hair loss; in a period of 1 to 4 weeks some 80% of hair in the anagen phase is lost.

Around 85 to 90% of hair in the average person is in this phase at any given moment.

The anagen effluvium is caused by the simultaneous inhibition of cells in the process of division in the follicles, causing a sudden stop in hair growth.

As in the telogen effluvium, the causes that provoke anagen effluvium may be various, some of them can produce both effluvia in the same person.

Anagen effluvium can be provoked by arsenic poisoning, thallium salts or other similar substances.

It can also be part of a medical condition which causes hair loss, such as alopecia areata.

However, generalised anagen effluvium is seen more often in those under chemotherapy for the treatment of cancer.

The action mechanism of chemotherapy is to provoke a cellular disorder, either the synthesis of nucleic acids, cellular division or synthesis of proteins.

The chemotherapeutic agents also destroy the normal cells, above all those of the hair follicles which divide faster.

Common causes of anagen effluvium

There are many potential causes that can provoke anagen effluvium, but the most common are:

• Hereditary genetic disease: Pollitt Syndrome, hypotrichosis type.
• Defects in the production of hormones: anagen effluvium may be associated with hypopituitarism, hypothyroidism, Cushing’s Syndrome and, occasionally, juvenile diabetes.
• Nutrient deficiency: Extreme deficiency of copper, iron, zinc, biotin, essential fatty acids, or vitamin C in the diet.
• Treatment against cancer: Chemotherapy.
• Ionising Radiation: X rays and gamma rays.
• Toxic agents: Thallium, arsenic, bismuth.
• Medications:

Treatment

The best treatment for anagen effluvium is determining theaetiological agent that began this type of baldness and taking the corresponding therapeutic measures.

Once achieved, the hair will grow again and we will recover the appearance we had prior to the hair disorder.

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