Hormones and Clocks: Do They Disrupt the Locks? Fluctuating Estrogen Levels During Menopausal Transition May Influence Clock Genes and Trigger Chronic Telogen Effluvium

May 2016 in “ Dermatology Online Journal ”

Paradi Mirmirani

chronic telogen effluvium CTE estrogen menopausal transition clock genes circadian control genes hair biology chronobiology

TLDR Changing estrogen levels during menopause might affect genes related to body rhythms and cause increased hair loss.

The 2016 paper "Hormones and clocks: do they disrupt the locks? Fluctuating estrogen levels during menopausal transition may influence clock genes and trigger chronic telogen effluvium" proposed a hypothesis that chronic telogen effluvium (CTE), a condition of increased, diffuse scalp hair shedding mostly in middle-aged women, may be triggered by hormonal fluctuations and alterations in circadian control genes. Despite being described almost 20 years prior, the underlying cause of CTE was not identified at the time of this paper. The authors suggested that the combination of research in hair biology and the emerging field of chronobiology could lead to significant breakthroughs in understanding CTE.

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