Hair loss can be embarrassing, and it can be alarming if it happens overnight. This condition is often known as alopecia areata, and commonly, some doctors will treat it as an autoimmune disease of the skin. This condition occurs when your body’s white blood cells launch a coordinated attack on your hair follicles, treating them as foreign bodies that have to be removed. This results in your hair falling out following the death of your hair follicles. What triggers this condition is unknown, but studies have shown that there may be several causes that directly or indirectly result in this condition.
Aside from the autoimmune disease itself, there may be a genetic connection: some members of your family can suffer from different allergies or autoimmune diseases, or may have eczema or asthma. These conditions can actually lead to overnight hair loss, and studies have shown that about half of all people who suffer from overnight hair loss also tend to suffer from these diseases. About a fifth of those who suffer from overnight hair loss may also have a fellow family member with the condition. Some babies might even be born with the condition, and this can be due to something that has happened to their mother while they were being carried in the womb.
An imbalance in the body’s hormones can also lead to autoimmune diseases, and it can indirectly lead to overnight hair loss. This may lead to the disease that causes the hair loss, or to direct hair loss itself. There are actually overlaps among the different autoimmune diseases, so it can be hard to pin down the cause of the disease to a certain hormone.
Overnight hair loss may actually occur as the result of another disease, or even as a symptom! About half of all women who give birth also experience hair loss and some women may even develop bald patches. This may be due to the fact that some hormones are imbalanced during pregnancy and can cause baldness. Another way for overnight hair loss to occur is through disorders of the thyroid gland, where the thyroid gland’s overproduction or underproduction of some hormones can also cause other hormones in the body to be imbalanced. In this case, both men and women are affected by the imbalance.
There are some conditions that co-occur with overnight hair loss. This may include an overproduction of Langerhans cells in the body. Stress also contributes to a lot of disorders, and one of them is alopecia areata. This may be due to the fact that stress can cause the narrow capillaries that supply blood to different parts of the body to constrict and close. Chemical imbalances such as those associated with lack of vitamins and minerals can also cause your body to lose hair. Lastly, you may also be undergoing an infection due to a viral or bacterial, even a fungal agent, and you may experience overnight hair loss as a result.
These are only a few causes of overnight hair loss. Although this condition can be quite disconcerting, to say the least, you should not panic. Instead, you need to go see your doctor and ask for advice on how you can have your condition treated. Moreover, you need to ask for help on how you can get your hair to start growing again. You don’t have to worry as long as you don’t self-medicate and as long as you keep your cool.
