No Association Between Serum Ferritin Levels Greater Than 10 μg/l and Hair Loss Activity in Women

The study conducted at the University Hospital of Zurich from 2002 to 2005 included 181 women with female pattern hair loss (FPHL) and/or diffuse telogen effluvium (TE) and aimed to assess the relationship between serum ferritin levels and hair loss activity. The participants were categorized into three groups based on their serum ferritin levels. The findings revealed no correlation between serum ferritin levels greater than 10 µg/l and telogen rates in women with FPHL or TE. The majority of the women with hair loss had serum ferritin levels above the threshold for iron deficiency, suggesting that the importance of tissue iron status in female hair loss may have been overestimated. Consequently, the study concluded that iron supplementation as a treatment for hair loss in these women is questionable and recommended that its efficacy should be evaluated through a double-blind controlled trial.