31-Year-Old Woman With Alopecia
September 2013
in “
Mayo Clinic Proceedings
”
TLDR A woman's hair loss was treated successfully with iron supplements for her iron deficiency.
In the 2013 case study, a 31-year-old woman experienced significant diffuse alopecia, losing one-third of her hair volume over three months without a clear initial cause. She had no relevant medical or lifestyle history that typically contributes to hair loss, but she had started taking bupropion for migraines, which led to mild anorexia and a slight weight loss. Despite normal thyroid function, a dermatologist's evaluation pointed to iron deficiency due to heavy menstrual periods as the cause, with a notably low ferritin level of 9 µg/L. The diagnosis was telogen effluvium, a form of nonscarring diffuse alopecia. Iron supplementation was prescribed, and after seven months, her ferritin level rose to 25 µg/L, and her hair shedding decreased, though her hair density had not fully recovered. The case highlighted that nonscarring alopecia is common and can be multifactorial, with this patient's hair loss being successfully treated with iron supplementation for low iron stores.
