How to treat hair loss from diabetes?
Common Symptoms and Causes of Diabetes
Diabetes is one of the common diseases and risk factors for heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, and nerve damage.
The most common symptoms of diabetes are fatigue, weight loss, and frequent urination. Other signs and symptoms are unusual thirst, increased hunger, blurred vision, tingling of the hands or feet, skin infections, slowed healing of cuts or sores, and reduced pain sensation.
The most common causes of diabetes are excessive weight gain and lack of physical activity. Other causes include older age, family history of diabetes, personal history of gestational diabetes in pregnant women, previous diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a hormone imbalance disorder that often results in excessive hair growth (hirsutism), and acromegaly, a hormonal condition that results in the face becoming noticeably larger.
Health Consequences Associated with Diabetes
Diabetes is a common health problem among adults and is caused due to certain problems in the pancreas. The pancreas is an essential organ that is located near the stomach and helps in producing insulin. Insulin is a hormone that helps in the metabolism of sugar or glucose. When there is an excess amount of sugar in the blood, it causes severe damage to various parts of the body, including the skin, eyes, nerves, and heart. All these organs are sensitive to sugar.
The disease has several health consequences like heart attack, stroke, blindness, kidney failure, etc. Also, many people come across hair loss due to diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is a serious condition that affects how your body turns sugar (glucose) into energy. The most common signs of diabetes are: feeling very thirsty, going to the bathroom more often than usual and eating more food than usual.
Hair Loss Due to Diabetes
You would be surprised to know that diabetes is the leading cause of hair loss among adults. Our body uses insulin that moves the sugar from the foods into the cells to be stored or used as energy. When our body does not produce enough insulin, sugar keeps on building in our blood and damages our internal organs including eyes, nerves and kidneys. It can also damage the blood vessels that carry oxygen all over our body to nourish the organs and tissues. Damaged blood vessels may not be able to transport sufficient oxygen to the hair follicles and hence it negatively affects our normal hair growth cycle.
Diabetes is a chronic disease that stays for life. It makes us prone to serious health issues. In fact, the most common one among them is hair loss. Diabetes affects the circulation of blood in your body, including its flow to your scalp. Circulation of blood is important for the production of new hair cells. When the blood flow to your scalp is affected due to diabetes, it leads to hair loss or alopecia.
Diabetes affects the hair growth cycle of the hair by impairing hair growth, causing more hair to grow than normal and stopping new hair from forming.
The other reasons behind hair loss in diabetics are nutritional deficiencies, genetics and stress.
How to Treat Hair Loss Due to Diabetes
By starting with a healthy diet, you can do a lot for your hair. You must ensure that you eat a balanced diet that contains sufficient calories and proteins and is low in fats and carbs.
The thinning hair can be treated by using minoxidil on the scalp. Minoxidil may be used to increase the growth of hair. It is available in several forms- solution, foam, or gel. Start using it once or twice daily until you get the desired result. For better results, use it with other treatments for hair loss such as taking biotin tablets for good hair growth.
Biotin is an effective multivitamin tablet that helps in hair growth and improves metabolism. These pills help in reducing hair fall by improving scalp and hair health. Regular intake of biotin tablets can make your hair stronger and thicker than before.
It is not always possible to eat foods that are rich in biotin but you can always try to include whole eggs, nuts like almonds, avocados, cauliflower, salmon, etc in your diet. However, please refrain from consuming too much biotin as it can lead to other health complications.
Alternatively, you can also use wigs. We understand that it might sound uncomfortable but wigs are a convenient yet temporary solution for your hair loss. It should be your last option to opt for wigs, before that you should make some lifestyle changes and cut down bad habits like smoking, consuming alcohol, drugs, etc.
Take Away
Diabetic hair loss can be scary because along with sweets and sugary foods, you are also sacrificing your hair which is definitely not a part of your hair goals. To reverse this hair loss, you need to fix the root cause of it i.e diabetes. Regular exercise and a balanced diet can help you control your blood sugar levels. Apart from these remedies, try inculcating good hair care habits like using shampoos that contain natural ingredients. Use wooden combs to brush your hair and eat hair-friendly foods.
