Telogen effluvium is a scalp disorder characterized by thinning or shedding of hair resulting from the hairs prematurely entering
into the resting phase (telogen), and stopping the hair growth phase (anagen).
The affected hairs may be immediately or slowly lost (immediate or delayed anagen release).
Immediate anagen release: 2-3 months after a triggering stressful event.
Delayed anagen release: 2-6 months after severe hormone changes (pregnancy).
Clues to the cause(s) of Telogen Effluvium
Immediate anagen release: Typically caused by severe illness, high fever, surgical
trauma, sudden starvation, hemorrhage, stress or drugs. There is no cause identified
in about 1 in 3 cases.
Delayed anagen release: Caused by hormone changes, mainly postpartum
(telogen gravidarum).
Short anagen syndrome: A condition resulting in persistent hair loss in the resting
phase (telogen) without apparent cause.
Chronic diffuse telogen hair loss: Extreme hair loss dispersed around the head or
body. Greater than 6 months after the cause is common and may occur with female
pattern hair loss. Causes include drugs, thyroid disorders, profound iron deficiency, acquired or genetic zinc deficiency (acrodermatitis
enteropathic), malnutrition, crash dieting, hypoproteinemia, malabsorption, effa deficiency, hypervitaminosis A, pancreatic disease, liver
disorders, chronic renal disease, malignancy hodgkins disease, systemic lupus erythematosus or dermatomyositis.
Identifying the type of shed hairs, the timing of hair loss, history of preceding trauma, hormone and drug changes, stress
and medical/surgical history is critical to determining which type of telogen effluvium one is experiencing.
Information on Research and Causes of Alopecias
In the past 20 years, medical research has made significant advances in determining the genetic and environmental causes of a number of human diseases including some causing hair loss. The US National Institute of Health (NIH) in particular has freely available sites to educate the public about medical advances for the diagnosis and treatment of common and rare diseases. The National Organization for Rare diseases (NORD) (www.rarediseases.org) is a helpful source of information. Since medical research on alopecias and hair disorders may be very difficult to understand, there are a number of websites created by hair disorder associated support groups.
Alopecia areata is one of more than 80 autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, celiac disease, thyroiditis, early onset insulin dependent diabetes mellitus and lupus erythematosus. The National Alopecia Areata Foundation (NAAF) (www.naaf.org) is a non-profit support group that provides information about and research support for patients with alopecia areata.
What is Telogen Effluvium and what causes it?
NAAF and NIH supported an Alopecia Areata Registry research grant to identify families and individuals with alopecia areata to enable medical researchers to identify specific genetic changes that will lead to better diagnoses and therapies. The impact on these and other medical conditions by studying alopecia areata, a distinctive and visible condition, is easy to understand but not rarely appreciated by the general public.
A similar non-profit support group, Cicatricial Alopecia Research Foundation (CARF) (www.carfintl.org) provides information and raises funds to support research on permanent scarring forms of alopecia.
