Hair loss is a natural thing that happens to all persons, male and female. It may be more pronounced in men as compared to females due to the hormonal differences. The causes of loss of hair include hormone testosterone, pregnancy, illness, emotional or physical stress and chemotherapy especially among cancer patients.
This article will concentrate on chemotherapy and other drug related hair loss and treatment.
Let us start by having an understanding of the drugs that cause the loss of hair. It is not every drug that cause this phenomenon. It is therefore not necessary to avoid all forms of medication out of fear of losing hair. If you are in doubt, you can read through the information on the side effects or ask the pharmacists for information on the drug.
Excluding anticancer chemotherapy drugs, there are a number of drugs that do not have usually exhibit bad reactions but which can cause loss of hair. These include pregnancy prevention pills and high blood pressure medications which alter the hormonal balance. Other drugs that have been said to cause loss of hair include celexa and accutane. This is a natural principle in life where there is nothing that lacks the other side of the coin. While these drugs play a vital role on making life healthier, they can lead to poor health too.
The most common class of drugs that cause loss of hair are the anti-depressants. This class of medicines which are also caused by include the celexa which are accused of using more of the proteins and amino acids. This means that amino acids such as cystein will not be supplied in adequate amounts to meet the need for production of hair follicles.
Other drugs with similar effect include Prozac, Paxil, Accutane. Accutane class of drugs is used to treat severe acne and is responsible for loss of hair among teenagers and those in their early twenties of age.
Similarly, medicines such as heparin that are blood thinners and anti-coagulants have been shown to increase loss of hair. So are dilantin which are used in managing the seizure and alopurinol used in managing gout.
In chemotherapy, hair loss is most prominent because of the suppression of the cellular activities. The toxic byproducts of the chemotherapy are very dangerous and they lead to destruction of the cells around the epidermis.
You can mitigate against the effects of these drugs on loss of hair by:
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