Turns out that stress and bad habits such as smoking, drinking and even tanning could contribute to hair loss, especially in women, according to preliminary findings from new research.
Two new studies found that women’s hair follicles are particularly vulnerable to the wear and tear of a stressful lifestyle. One study found that women who had suffered the stress of a divorce or death of a spouse were at the highest risk of losing their hair at the midline, meaning a widening of the parting in the middle of the scalp. This type of hair loss is called telogen effluvium, which refers to hair loss induced from severe stress – may it be physical, emotional, or psychological stress.
Men can chalk balding mostly up to genetic luck of the draw, although smoking, alcohol consumption, daily stress, and sun exposure contribute as well. According to the research, such habits contribute to poor blood flow in the scalp, affecting the health of the hair follicles since it is through blood circulation that the follicles obtain nutrients.
While you can take preventative measures such as wearing a hat when exposed to the sun, quitting smoking, and reducing your alcohol consumption, researchers add that adopting healthier lifestyle choices could possibly help your hair grow back.
‘Part of it is to manage what you can’, shares a New York City dermatologist. ‘The sooner you address it, the better your chances of recovering the former healthy state of the hair follicles’.
Prior research and clinical studies have also linked stem cells to balding, finding that some stem cells in the scalp are incapable of developing into the type of cells that make hair follicles. The discovery, published earlier this year in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, could give hope to men and women with hair loss, said the researchers in a release.
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