Female Hair Loss Caused by Pharmaceuticals and Treatments

Hair loss is devastating no matter what the reason, but whenone's medication is the culprit - it may be even more difficultto understand. This is often a real concern for anyone who isdiagnosed with cancer, as chemotherapy and radiation treatmentsare the most common cause of this type of hair loss. However,this type of hair loss also affects patients with thyroiddisease and young girls who are taking birth control.Though hair loss cased by medicine can affect anyone with aserious illness, it is more prevalent in women and children. Thereasons for this are that female breast cancer and Leukemia arethe two most common types of cancer and both are treated withthe use of chemotherapy and radiation. Women are at the greatestrisk because they are also more susceptible to thyroid disease.In addition, a woman may lose her hair from a strong form ofbirth control. As you can see, women have a higher risk ofreceiving one of the many harsh medicines that cause hair loss.Among the medicines known to cause hair loss, chemotherapy isprobably the best known. This treatment is used to fight thelate stages of cancer and can cause a drop in red blood cells,hair loss, and a weakened immune system. This type of medicineis often used in the treatment of Leukemia and breast cancer,the two most common forms of cancer. Radiation treatments and radio active medicines are the nextmost common medicines known to cause hair loss. These treatmentsare used in cancer and thyroid patients and target a certainarea of the body with a large amount of radiation (meant to killharmful cells). Due to the extreme amount of radiation, hairloss is almost inevitable when using these types of treatments.If you or someone you know isolates themselves from societybecause of their hair loss, contact a counsellor and become partof a support group.While losing one's hair due to the medicine they are on may bedevastating, it is important to remember that this is only atemporary stage of your life. Hair has been known to begingrowing back as early as a few weeks after the treatment hasended. With this knowledge many patients have braved the harshmedications, successfully saved their lives, and re-grown theirhair. With everything 'back to normal,' these patients can goback to their normal lives once again.