Thyroid & Hair Loss in Women

Video Transcript

"Hi! I'm Dr. David Cathcart. I'm a family practice physician at Heartland Regional Medical Center in St. Joseph, Missouri, and I've been asked to talk to you today about thyroid disease. Thyroid and hair loss in women, actually thyroid when it's overacting can cause hair loss, not only in women but men as well. But the problem in women, you know, of course most women don't like to run around bald so and once the thyroid has been treated appropriately then you'll quit losing your hair anyway. But so in the meantime while we probably just want to get a wig or some, you know, sort of a hair piece or wear a scarf or something until your hair starts growing back. But that would only be a problem in someone who's having acute attack of what's called thyroiditis or a an essentially as we've been talking at some of the earlier segments, the autoimmune version of thyroid disease such as Graves' disease or Hashimoto's thyroiditis. When the thyroid is putting out tons or a large amount of thyroid hormone, that can cause the weight loss, the diarrhea, the sweaty skin and hair falling out. Once the thyroid though has been treated properly so it's not producing so much thyroid hormone, the hair will grow back. This is Dr. Cathcart and thanks for letting me talk to you about thyroid disorders."