The 3 early warning signs in your hair – that mean you’re at risk of silent killer
MOST people experience issues with their hair from time to time.
It may be that you’ve started to lose it as you get older, or that you’ve noticed a flaky scalp.
But various studies suggest that there are early warning signs in your hair that could mean you’re at risk of a silent killer.
Medics say that there are three different red flags to look out for on your scalp when it comes type 2 diabetes.
It’s a common illness that causes the levels of sugar in the blood to become high.
While the condition can be managed, if left untreated it can result in sight loss, kidney failure, heart attack and stroke.
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Studies show that the three signs you may notice in your hair include:
- No new hair growing
- Hair growing at a faster rate
- Hair growing at different rates on different parts of the head.
A study published in 2019 by experts at the Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University, found that there was an association with type 2 diabetes and severe central scalp hair loss in women.
Writing in the International Journal on Women’s Dermatol, medics said that ‘patients with type 2 diabetes should be followed closely for central scalp hair loss so that appropriate treatment can be offered’.
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Another study, published in 2016 found that hair follicle characteristics are an early indicator of the illness.
Experts in Peru at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia explained that the hair follicle could be considered an end organ, with its own complex microenvironment.
Writing in Med Hypotheses they said it needs a special environment and supply of oxygen and nutrients – something that chronic disease can hinder.
“A chronic decrease in the oxygen and nutrient supply caused by hyperglycemic vascular impairment can cause follicle damage, resulting in hair alterations like hair thinning, hair fragility, sparseness of hair, or decreased hair growth speed.
“These alterations may be subtle, so patients do not always notice them, and they must be detected with an active approach using dermatologic techniques,” they added.
In a study published in the National Library of Medicine, medics said there is a relationship between hyperglycaemia and androgenetic alopecia, and the hair loss of diabetes patients.
It’s important that if you think you have diabetes then you speak to your GP.
While these studies have found a link between the scalp and diabetes, they aren’t the main signs of illness.
KNOW THE SIGNS
The NHS says that many people have type 2 diabetes without realising it.
Some of the signs of illness, they say include:
- peeing more than usual, particularly at night
- feeling thirsty all the time
- feeling very tired
- losing weight without trying to
- itching around your penis or vagina, or repeatedly getting thrush
- cuts or wounds taking longer to heal
- blurred vision.
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You may also be at an increased risk of the condition if you are over 40, or over 25 for south Asian people.
Other risk factors include having a close relative with the illness, being overweight or obese, or if you are from Asian, African-Caribbean or black African origin (even if you were born in the UK).