The HairPhysio

Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a disease of modern civilisation and involves central obesity, hypertension, glucose intolerance, insulin resistance and abnormal lipid levels.

But how can this affect your hair follicles..

The association of hair loss and metabolic syndrome have been investigated in several studies and in 2021 a meta analysis was conducted to determine the risk involved in those with MS and patterned hair loss.

2531 participants were involved.

The conclusion was that patterned hair loss was remarkably associated with MS.

Early pattered hair loss was greater in females - especially in those with African ethnicity.

It was also demonstrated that those with patterned hair loss had significantly poor metabolic profiles, such as BMI, waist circumference and triglycerides levels.

This highlights the need to have your metabolic health screened by your medical practitioner if you have patterned hair loss.

My personal view is MS syndrome comes first, then patterned hair loss occurs due to a cascade of malfunctions in the hair follicles, which includes chronic inflammation.

Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of the Association Between Metabolic Syndrome and Androgenetic Alopecia. Yueqi Qiu, Xingyu Zhou, Siqi Fu, Shuaihantian Luo and Yaping Li. Department of Dermatology, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Hunan, China

Lipids are molecules that contain hydrocarbons and make up the building blocks and function of living cells

Examples of lipids includes fats, certain vitamins such as A, D, E and K, hormones and most of the cell membrane that is not made of protein

Lipids are your scalps natural fats. They are essential and play a crucial role in maintaining the strength of the skins protective barrier, retaining moisture, aids in repairing and keeps dirt and impurities out

There are many types of lipids, however cholesterol is one of the most important for hair and scalp

Cholesterol plays an important roles in hair biology and has long been suspected of influencing hair growth. Altered cholesterol homeostasis has been reported to have be involved in primary scarring alopecia, mutations in cholesterol transporters are associated with congenital hypertrichosis (excessive hair growth), and dislipidaemia has been linked to androgenic alopecia

Good sources of healthy fats are, whole eggs, full fat dairy such as cheese, yoghurt and cream, animal fats, such as butter, ghee, lard, suet and dripping.

Has the behaviour of your hair changed recently and you can’t quite put your finger on why?

Although the hair fibre above the scalp is technically dead, underneath the scalp there is a hive of activity happening and your hair strands are very much alive, recording information as they pass through the dermis layer of the skin.

Changes in the way the hair behaves can be due to mechanical or chemical reasons, however it can also be the first outwardly sign you may be in the early stages of male/female pattern hair loss. As your hair follicle function alters and miniaturisation occurs, you can expect to see differences in the way the hair looks and acts. You may find, your blow-dry or hair cut don’t last as long as they used to, or the texture changes.

It can take a long time for a patterned or un-patterned hair loss to manifest itself on the scalp to the point where you can see the skin - and by this point you’ve usually spent hundreds on shampoos, conditioners or lotions trying to find a solution - some even go the extreme of changing their hairdresser.

If you’re experiencing behaviour changes then visit a Certified Trichologist for a scalp examination to rule out follicle changes that can lead to diminished hair growth.