SimplyMom - At Your Service

Posted by Mary

Okay, welcome to my new series, At Your Service. I want to serve our readers by helping them find answers to questions they may be too embarassed to asked. After all, when women go to the doctor, we put off asking the most embarrassing or intimate questions until the very end of the consultation – or we simply don’t ask them at all. So let me ask for you. Deal?

Here's the first question, with some expert input. Hope this helps someone.....and if you have a question, don't be too embarassed to ask!

There’s a lot of hair in my brush recently. Can I be going bald?
“Hair loss for women is common and, to some extent, unavoidable,” says Dana S. Simpler, a MD in private practice in Baltimore. “When you compare the amount of hair a typical 18 year old woman has to an 80 year old, clearly there is a natural and normal amount of hair loss with aging.”

That being said, hair loss may also indicate other problems. “Iron deficiency is a common cause of hair loss, and is common in women due to our loss of blood with each menstrual cycle,” says Simpler. “Menstruating women should take some kind of iron supplement.” If that is the problem, taking additional iron should slow the hair loss down.

Other causes of hair loss include thyroid disease and medications. A simple blood test can diagnose thyroid problems. If you’re on medication, read the insert to see if hair loss is a common side effect.

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SimplyMom - At Your Service

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