Diabetes is among the most common chronic diseases in the United States. According to the American Diabetes Association, in 2015 more than 30 million Americans (about 9% of the population) had diabetes.
Of those with the condition, more than 7 million were undiagnosed, and unaware of their health risks for this reason. An additional 84 million Americans had prediabetes and about 1.5 million new cases of diabetes are diagnosed every year.
What Does Diabetes Do to the Body?
Diabetes affects the production or use of a hormone called insulin in the body. For some people with diabetes, this means their bodies no longer produce a sufficient quantity of insulin. For others, it means the body is no longer able to effectively absorb the insulin it produces.
The function of insulin is to move sugar in the foods you eat into the bloodstream, so it can either be stored or used as energy. When your body doesn't produce enough insulin, or isn't able to use it, sugar tends to build up in your blood. This causes damage to bodily organs such as your kidneys, nerves, eyes and blood vessels.
Blood vessels carry oxygen throughout the body. When they become damaged, various organs and tissues are oxygen-deprived. This includes your hair follicles. When insufficient quantities of oxygen reach hair follicles, it can disrupt normal hair growth.
How Does Diabetes Affect Hair Growth?
In healthy individuals, hair grows about 1 to 2 centimeters each month. When hair follicles don't receive sufficient oxygen due to diabetes, that growth can slow down. At the same time, diabetes can cause you to lose more hair than normal (this is true not only on your head, but also on other parts of your body). The stress diabetics often feel from living with a chronic condition can further exacerbate hair loss.
In addition, people who have diabetes are more likely than others to develop alopecia areata, a condition in which the body's immune system attacks hair follicles. People with alopecia tend to lose hair in patches, which can be especially devastating because of the way it affects one's appearance. Diabetics are also more likely to develop thyroid disease, another cause of hair loss.
What Should You Do If You're Experiencing Diabetic Symptoms Like Hair Loss?
There are many causes for hair loss, and if you're losing more hair than normal, it does not necessarily mean that diabetes is the cause. Nevertheless, if you are concerned that you might have diabetes or prediabetes, you should contact your doctor immediately.
If your doctor diagnoses diabetes, he or she will recommend an effective course of treatment. This could include changes in your lifestyle and diet, as well as medications to control the disease. This should bring your diabetes under control and reduce hair loss.
Are There Other Options to Treat Hair Loss?
The treatments you receive from your doctor should help, but they won't necessarily give you the full head of healthy hair you want. Fortunately, recent advances have made hair restoration a very effective option to deal with hair loss due to diabetes. The best hair restoration centers offer numerous solutions to restore lost or thinned hair for both men and women. These include hair restoration systems, surgical hair restoration, laser hair growth therapy, topical thickening, trichology, wigs and hair extensions.
Conclusion
At Mane Image, we have been providing effective hair restoration solutions since 1987 throughout Merrillville, Indiana and the surrounding area. We are widely recognized as one of the leaders in our field both because of the solutions we provide, and because of the compassionate, caring way we provide them. To learn more about our hair restoration services, or to schedule your free consultation, contact us today.
