Does thalassemia minor cause hair loss?

Hi everyone! I'm new to the board. I had a question I hope you could help me with. I am a 31-year-old woman with Tm and I've recently been experiencing severe hair loss. I was wondering if the two might be connected. If so, are there any vitamins or supplements I should be taking?
Thanks!

Hi Kudra and welcome to the group,

Hair loss is more often associated with thyroid disorders. I have a severely under active thyroid and lost all my hair. I would suggest seeing a doctor immediately if you haven't already had your thyroid checked.

You should definitely check your thyroid and make sure they do a complete panel of common nutrients since some nutritional deficiencies can also cause hair loss. Most studies on thyroid function and thalassemia involve transfused patients who experience problems due to iron overload. Hypothyroidism is not rare and it also tends to run in families.

My father who is thal minor has hypothyroidism (on medication now) which developed in his 50's. He was already bald though due to other heredity factors ;) I tested borderline at least twice in the past two years but I am not taking any medication for it. My dad's sister who has thal minor coincidentally this week was diagnosed with a thyroid goiter which needs to be taken care of soon. I am investigating whether Hashimoto's thyroid runs in my family or other types of hypothyroidism. It is a little hard to tell.

Is there any family history of thyroid problems in your family?

You can do some reading on common thyroid issues here: http://thyroid.about.com/cs/hypothyroidism/a/hashivshypo.htm

Unfortunately many of the usual thal minor complaints such as fatigue, sleeping disturbance, etc. couldn't easily be told apart from thyroid issues unless you do blood tests.

Hi Marientina,

One point of interest about thyroid disease is that it is possible for all three conditions to run in the same family. My mom and oldest two brothers all had hyperthyroid, my sister has hashimoto's and I have hypoactive thyroid. It may be possible that you also have more than one type in your family. Please keep a close watch on your own thyroid and have it regularly tested. Untreated thyroid disease can cause many problems, including a very low immune system, which can lead to other health or even life-threatening conditions, as I stupidly discovered.

Thanks Andy. That heredity...man...

I waiting to hear on my TSH and usual tests for a couple of weeks ago. I have all the basics done every three months still and on occasion I add some other tests for benchmarks. When I did a full panel for celiac, etc in December my doc told me my TSH is borderline so we'll see what happens now. My dad has been fine after he went on his pills. My aunt has been through all kinds of hell the last two years including full hysterectomy and carpal tunnel.

People always tell me that I am 'high-maintenance', yet they don't understand that our body is like a tower of Jenga blocks and if one thing goes bad and is not taken care of, everything else will follow.

A follow up to this post since I have done two tests since. When I made this post, my thyroid came back as 2.7.  My t3/t4 has always been normal. The upper limit is now 3.0. Since then, many of my symptoms have become worse and are slightly different than my usual thalassemia low hemoglobin and iron deficiency. I tested this week at 3.5 and have subclinical hypothyroidism. For some people, they may feel ok at that, but for me the fatigue has been increasingly worse, my eyes are puffy in the morning, I developed a yeast rash on my face, my skin is very dry and I have lost some hair. My hemoglobin is 10.3 and ferritin is 45. My hemoglobin is within my 'normal' range of sucky-ness. If I don't take my iron syrup, I lose 10ng of ferritin per three months. I don't know if I will go on thyroid medication yet. I have some other hormonal issues to deal with as well and I need to do one thing at a time.

Many would label me a hypochondriac, but what I like to do is make a very informed decision about my health by knowing the details and experimenting as well as establishing evidence and patterns. Doctors do the same and they barely know us. They try their best, but a truly informed patient helps them out and can help themselves.

Chronic problems needs 'patterns' established. I was lucky that my hematologist gave me the benefit of the doubt and tested me monthly for a year and now every three months for another year to help me and her know what is 'normal' for me. My hemoglobin will never be 11.5 or 12.5 as the normal minimum for females my age is. But I have to know what is the best I can do. And apparently it is 11, but only with 5 times per week of steak.  And with great effort my ferritin can be 62. Now I know these patterns, so when new problems come about I can separate the anemia from other issues a little bit. If I didn't have anemia, maybe I wouldn't notice the thyroid problems yet. But I do and I have.

Good luck to all you out there.

Hi Kudra. The only times I lost more hair than usual was when I was getting intermittent transfusion trials before I started on regular transfusions. When my hemoglobin would fall back down, my hair would start coming out more and I would have terrible headaches. This probably doesn't help you, but I thought I would just send it out there. I think checking on the condition of your thyroid is a good place to start. Good luck, Jean

Hello, I am new to this group and very excited to know that there is so much information regarding thalassemia.  I have always been told that I have minor as does my Mother and Daughter.  My hemoglobin is usually between 9 and 10 haven't seen my hematocrat lately.  When growing up there were times that I would sleep for two or three days straight and there were days that I just couldn't finish the daily activities. For the most part I would NOT make a good candidate for an anemic poster child as I typically have alot of energy. One of my concerns is my hair loss. I once had thick black hair and for the past 10 years it has been thinning at a steady rate.  I have been to several physicians over the years and have had my thyriod tested. Thyriod is normal and it doesn't seem to be pattern baldness.  Could I have a deficiency in some vitamin or mineral due to the thal minor that could be causing this?  Also, I recently had a sebacious cyst removed and the pathology reported the presence of "ghost cells".  Are "ghost cells" related to thalassemia? 

Hi Olga,

 

Welcome on the forum,Are you taking any kind of supplements? Hair loss can be due to zinc deficiency too,have you checked it out? As for your hb and energy levels,you should be taking folic acid as it will help your hb to maintain and wheat grass is another supplement which will give your energy levels a boost.
On this forum our members have tried a new supplement,called carao fruit syrup,and one of our members who is a minor,her hb was raised to 12 after starting carao.
Ghost cells are those cells which have undergone hemolysis and do not contain any hemoglobin,i am sorry i am not sure if they are related to thalassemia,but assuming that thal minors have a bit weak cells then non thal carriers,it can be a possibility.

I hope i answered your questions,plz feel free to ask if you have anything else in mind.

Zaini.

Hi Olga,

I'm glad you chose to join us.

We have heard this same thing from many thal minors, so I am led to believe that there is some connection between thal and hair loss. We can speculate that it is related to a nutritional deficiency, a hormonal issue or even perhaps the result of chronic low oxygen levels, but why it happens has not been researched. Some supplements that may help slow hair loss are vitamin D, magnesium, zinc and copper. Taking regular zinc supplements can cause copper deficiency which can also cause hair loss, so a mineral supplement that includes trace elements like copper would be advised. B-complex may also be of value. As thal minors grow older they do tend to experience more problems and a good diet and certain supplements can help optimize the health in the face of these problems. As Zaini pointed out, folic acid is extremely important as it helps build red blood cells. Magnesium, vitamins D and E and B-complex are also important for the health of the blood.

Ghost cells would relate to thalassemia and refer to degenerating or fragmented erythrocytes (red blood cells) with no hemoglobin. Because there is a defect in one of the beta hemoglobin genes, many of the red blood cells produced are abnormal and can be misshapen or have cellular wall defects. Some of these will be seen as ghost cells in a blood count.

I want to add one thing to this topic. Excess vitamin A can also cause hair loss. In most cases, there is no need to supplement with vitamin A and too much can cause a variety of health problems. Vitamin A is not safe in large doses. While many vitamins have value for a variety of problems, vitamin A is something that should be taken with caution.

Hi everybody,
This is a really interesting thread. As you have probably guessed I have also lost a lot of hair. We have both thalassemia and hashimotos in the family. Of 5 siblings three are thal minor ,one is not and the last one is still waiting for results. My sister and I both are suffering hairloss even though she is not a minor. But like me she is hypothyroid ( hashimotos ) so I have to agree with Andy that being hypothyroid is probably more likely to cause hairloss. Another brother is borderline hypothyroid but not suffering hairloss yet. That said I have read somewhere that evening primrose oil as a supplement may help some people who have hairloss due to being hypothyroid. Plan to try it when I am no longer nursing my son ( thal intermedia ). His intermedia has lead to a lot of people getting tested and finding out they are carriers also. So many that I am amazed there hasnt been any major or intermedia in either my or my husbands family before now especially as family marriages were very , very common a generation ago and still occur. The real tragedy is that my husband and I arent related at all yet our son suffers.
Zahra

The real tragedy is that my husband and I arent related at all yet our son suffers.

Our case is also the same Zahra,me and my hubby are not related,neither were my aunt and uncle who lost their daughter to thal in 80s.Thats why its necessary to get tested before marriage especially in areas where thal carriers exist in large numbers.

Zaini.

Hi Kudra & Olga ,
  , i m too late to say this   

The real tragedy is that my husband and I arent related at all yet our son suffers.

Zhara and Zaini, same applies to me

manal