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For most women all they want is thick luscious locks but many are left with thin limp hair that is extremely limited when it comes to some of the best styles. Previously the reason for thin hair has been owed to genetics and has had many women blaming their ancestors for the reason that they do not look as glamorous as the celebrities in the shampoo advertisements. It has been discovered that there could be other, more serious, health reasons that could be the cause behind thinning hair.

The causes

Anaemia, eating disorders, polycystic ovary system, thyroid problems and severe forms of stress are all known to cause thinning of hair and many are also untraceable at first glance and need further investigation into the illness and symptoms. Anaemia is caused by lack of iron in the blood which means that there are fewer red blood cells and thus less oxygen is taken to the scalp which can cause hair loss.

Another reason for a decrease in blood to the scalp which might result in hair thinning could be the reduction of food in cases such as eating disorders. It makes hair lose its shine and prematurely fall out. Polycystic ovary system also known as PCOS is an excess of male hormones in women which might cause thinning of hair in the front and top of the scalp, although this is only happens to PCOS sufferers who have a genetic history of thin hair.

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Another cause for hair loss might be too much or too little thyroid hormone in the body which affects the metabolism and thus the growth of hair. It is generally known that stress causes hair to turn grey prematurely but hormones that are released during stress can result to clumps of hair loss.

Giving your hair some TLC

As all these illnesses are vastly different it is impossible to treat all of them. The first step is to work out if you have any other symptoms to the above illnesses, such as pale skin and fatigue for anaemia and extra hair growth on face and body for PCOS, and then visit your local GP to be examined. In order to beat anaemia an iron supplement might help or else drink a glass of orange juice everyday with iron rich food. For those that have suffered from eating disorders, you have to make sure that you eat lots of vitamins as well as fatty acids and zinc. Those suffering from PCOS simply need to take medication to support hair growth while for stress, one can take steroids or go for UV light therapy or one can just wait for the hair to grow back.

Although it may be true that your thin hair might be caused by genetics, it is worth checking out if it is treatable because with a little bit of treatment you end up looking like a girl in a Garnier advertisement.

Tags: hair, hair care, hair loss