Can medication cause hair loss?

Hair loss can occur due to various reasons and one of the reason is strong medication and ailments. Any severe ailment like typhoid, cancer, menopause and thyroids can cause tremendous hair loss, chances of balding are very high in such conditions.

Apart from these major ailments there are some other medications that induce hair loss like; oral contraceptives (incase of women), anti – depressants, psychoactive drugs, medication for acne, medicines for arthritis and cholesterol’s lowering medications.

Hair loss due to medication is still a vague concept, however, research suggests that it is caused due to a disruption of the normal anagen/telogen phases of hair growth. The hair loss may be reversible when the medication is discontinued. If the hair loss is due to medication it makes sense to ask your doctor for some alternate medicines or nutrition supplements to comabt the hair fall. Hair loss due to medication can affect any age group, so teens are also at a risk if there is some sickness.

Hair loss due to chemotherapy is the most dreadful type since the hair falls out in clumps, the pattern of hair loss is not even thus it gives bald patches. It is advisable to cut the hair short, losing short hair is less distressing as compared to losing long hair. Hair loss happens because chemotherapy not only affects cancer cells but also affects other cells in the body hence it is likely that the other body hair like facial hair, pubic hair etc will also thin.

Hair loss does not occur with all chemotherapy treatments it depends on the drugs and dosages and it can either be sudden or slow. Also once the treatment is over the hair will re- grow after 3 to 6 months but the quality of the hair may not be the same.