The article of the month of August – Beautiful Hair with Dr. Vranken

Hair health is a relentless mirror of hormonal and nutritional deficiencies. Hair loss and baldness are frequent complaints of patients, for both men and women. It is caused by a combination of nutritional and hormonal deficiencies. Let’s first review the hormones. Thyroid hormones are essential for the health of the hair. Hypothyroidism causes a diffuse hair loss and an alteration of the quality of the hair making them become thin and dry. Sex hormones play key roles for the hair as well. Estrogens help to thicken women’s hair while a deficiency in this hormone causes hair loss. Testosterone strengthens the hair of men. During testosterone treatment, it is necessary to block its transformation into dihydrotestosterone, because the latter is responsible for hair loss in men and women.

What about the other hormones?

Growth hormone and IGF 1 also help to thicken the hair. Melatonin in local application is effective in reducing hair loss. Cortisol with an antimycotic topical solution can locally fight against stress-related plaque hair loss. An injection of ACTH can be helpful for total hair loss.

Let’s move on to the nutritional aspect. Zinc and iron are essential trace elements, their deficiency can cause hair loss. Vitamins A, B7, C and D are also important for the good health of the hair. An oral treatment with borage oil (rich in omega 6 fatty acids) stimulates hair regrowth. The local application of a mixture of oil, rich in omega 6 also. The amino acids based on sulfur and MSM (methylsulfomethane) are the most useful for having beautiful hair.

There are a lot of interesting and effective solutions available. With a comprehensive blood test, 24-hour urine test and a test of minerals and heavy metals, we can identify and correct hormonal and nutritional deficiencies. The results can be noticed after a few weeks for the nutritional treatment, it often takes a little more time for the hormonal treatments (because one uses almost physiological doses).