Hair Loss and Birth Control Pills Frederick R. Jelovsek MD, MS "I am 25 and have had severe alopecia areata since I was about 4 years old. In July, I started taking Mircette birth control pills. Would my taking these pills have anything to do with the recent worsening of the alopecia? " M. The term "alopecia" means hair loss. There is quite a large list of different causes and conditions regarding hair loss. Alopecia areata is a condition affecting about 1-2% of women and results in quarter-sized clumps of hair falling out at once. The cause of alopecia areata is unknown, although it is suspected that the baldness medical cures alopecia head cover autoimmune system plays a role. Affected hair follicles are thought to be attacked by a person's own immune system (white blood cells), resulting in the cessation of hair growth in patchy areas. When all of the hair in this patch enters this resting phase at once, the hairs all slough off shortly after, creating a bald patch. In your case with taking the birth control pills, the process is probably somewhat different and I doubt the immune system is altered at all. Rather, the estrogen in the pills probably stimulated and prolonged the growth phase of many hair follicles. This causes more than the usual 10% cures balding alopecia head cover of hairs to reach the resting phase and then the sloughing phase about 3-4 months later. The net result of this growth stimulation is a more than normal sloughing of hairs (normally 50-100 each day) several months down the line. In this case the hair loss should not be patchy like your basic disease but rather generalized. It usually only lasts for a month or two and the hairs resume a random growth pattern. When you stop the pills, the same process may take place because the growth phase shortens throwing more hairs into a resting phase several months later. Thus the pills can be alopecia areata totalis alopecia head cover causing some hair
