Crash Dieter's Hair Loss

    February 1976 in “ JAMA ”
    Richard B. Odom, Detlef K. Goette
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    TLDR Rapid weight loss can cause temporary hair loss, but hair usually grows back.
    In a letter to the editor from 1976, several patients were reported to have experienced significant hair loss following a rigorous weight loss program, which included a starvation diet of 500 calories per day, sometimes accompanied by human chorionic gonadotropin injections, vitamins, amino acids, and minerals. These patients lost between 10.5 to 16.5 kg in four to eight weeks and began to experience profuse hair loss three to four months after starting the diet, which lasted for two to three months before hair gradually began to regrow. The patients had telogen hair counts of 30% to 50%, confirming the diagnosis of telogen effluvium, a condition where stress causes hair to prematurely enter the resting phase and shed. The letter concluded that rapid weight loss should be considered another stressful event that can cause telogen effluvium, with the prognosis for hair regrowth being generally excellent.
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