Does Vitamin D Deficiency Cause Hair Loss?
Vitamin D Deficiency and Hair Loss
* Update: Vitamin D and Hair Loss (Alopecia): New Research Confirms Link *
Does Vitamin D Deficiency Cause Hair Loss?
To the very best of my knowledge, there is no known link between hair loss and vitamin D deficiency. By that, I mean that I am not aware of any conclusive scientific research associating the two.
I searched the two terms in both Bing and Google, but the majority of the results were from Q&A forums and consisted largely of questions like the one you’re asking. There was nothing of relevance in the Google News results for the phrase ‘vitamin d deficiency hair loss’.
That is not to say that vitamin D deficiency does not bring about hair loss, merely that if science has determined that the former precedes the latter, I haven’t seen the evidence or the proof despite actively searching for it.
The truth of the matter is that I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if in fact hair loss is a symptom of vitamin D deficiency, and that one day science establishes and then confirms that the two are in fact related.
I did a post on this particular nutritional deficiency several weeks ago. While researching the topic for the post, I learned of well over 20 different diseases and ailments that had been scientifically linked to vitamin D deficiency. Since I published that particular article, I have learned of several more that weren’t on my original list, putting the number at close to 30.
All that said, until further notice, the answer to the question is “no”, at least for the time being. There is simply insufficient evidence at this point linking vitamin D deficiency to hair loss and/or premature balding in men. Perhaps in the future there will be, but for now there is not.
In any case, vitamin D deficiency leads to so many diseases and other health problems and vitamin D3 offers so many important health benefits that it would be wise to make a point of taking a daily vitamin D3 supplement regardless of whether or not it impacts hair loss and/or balding.
It’s hardly scientific but I found the following comment in the Herald Sun from a trichologist, David Salinger, who professed:
“There is conclusive proof that stress can cause excessive hair loss. One substance that can have an adverse effect on hair in times of stress is the neuropeptide Substance P, or SP for short. An increase in SP leads to inflammation of nerves around the hair follicle which, in turn, leads to excessive hair loss.
We can counteract the effects of SP with Vitamin D”
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad/beauty-tips-from-the-experts/story-fn6bfkm6-1226000782681
April Sun
28 Feb 11 at 1:02 am
April, thank you for sharing that with us. I must have somehow overlooked that one while researching the subject. I anod I’m sure your fellow readers do appreciate you bringing that story to our attention.
Vitamin D3 Blog (Peter Egan)
5 Mar 11 at 7:37 pm
I think any vitamin deficiency can affect your hair in some way. So it’s really important to just make sure you get the right amount of vitamins.
Hair Loss Vitamins
8 Mar 11 at 7:59 pm
Believe me , it causes. At least in my case. I’m 36 years old female and my whole family is here to prove that D3 stops (at least my) hair loss. I’ve got dark long hair , so everybody in the house knows I’m losing it – it’s eveywhere. I was amazed at the results, cause I took D3 for other purpose and didn’t expect that additional bonus.
Natalya
15 Mar 11 at 3:12 pm
Natalya, thank you for contributing to the discussion. I don’t doubt you one bit. It would not surprise me in the least if science at some point arrives at the same conclusion as yourself. As a journalist, if I cannot find any evidence of such a study I have to disclose that fact. The fact that there has not yet been such a study is by no means suggestive that no such link exists, merely that science hasn’t gotten around to it yet for whatever reason.
Peter
16 Mar 11 at 4:14 am
Well…I’m in my late 30s and my whole family has really nice hair…nobody suffers from boldness or any thing like that (neither men, nor women)…old ppl in my family have died with luscious heads of hair!! (My grandparents and parents don’t even have a receding hairline, not even a bit! Well, I have been losing my hair by hand full and it is no exaggeration!!… I will become bold at this rate maybe within this year…it is scary as hell and it is traumatizing!! I was stress before; but now even more!! But how could I calm down??? I have gone to my doctor for help and they have not helped me because my insurance doesn’t cover the treatment…they first tried to tell me that it was normal and that it was just stress, but the loss progression is obvious and all I have tried to stop it has not helped… I don’t know what else to do…I have been taking regular vitamins for “skin, hair and nails” and also biotin… And nothing!! Nothing’s changed!! I am going to take phyto pills now… My hair falls by the hand full but evenly so you cannot quite spot the bold spots yet… I’m thinking that if this is going to change for the best, this is when to do it; because I cannot hide this problem much longer (I am already thinking of contacting the cancer hospital to see if I can get help with obtaining a wig, and I’m going to purchase scarves and caps to cover my head… My question is: if I wanted to try adding the vitamin C to my diet; to see if it improves the problem, what kind of vitamins is the correct kind; (how many kinds of vitamins C are there?) and what dose is the appropriate for such an emergency?? Thanks, I.W.F. Ps: I am disabled and the only constant in my life has been taking pain medications for years (opiates), I wonder if there is any known relation to the hair loss? Do you know if pain medication has ever caused alopecia?)
Isabelle W. F.
10 Apr 11 at 2:38 am
Isabelle, many thanks for stopping by and for sharing your insights. As for your question, I am not a doctor and am not qualified to answer any questions related to emergency situations, medicine or its relationship to hair loss. As for your question about vitamin C, there is basically only one form of vitamin C, per se. However, the pH of the product may vary by brand and manufacturer. Some people claim that less acidic forms of the vitamin are more readily absorbable, but the truth is that any form will do. Vitamin C is vitamin C. It’s not like it is with D where there are different forms with a large discrepancy in terms of the quality.
admin
29 Apr 11 at 10:33 pm
This study showed a link between hair growth in mice and vitamin D3 ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12399436?dopt=Abstract.
Mark
21 May 11 at 5:33 am
Mark, thank you for contributing to the conversation.
admin
23 May 11 at 3:20 pm
I started taking 2000 IU’s of D3 last fall as a natural alternative to taking the flu shot. I was healthy and without the flu during the winter, but in February I noticed a slight change when I looked closely in the mirror. I was starting to sprout new hair in spots that had been hair free for years. At this point about 50% of my hair was lost and a good percentage of the remaining hair was thinning and wispy. Currently a lot of the wispy hair has thickened and I have regrown about 20% of the lost hair, with new hair developing every day. The new hair is thick and comes in the natural color.
When this new hair started growing, I looked to find a reason for this change. The best that I have come up with so far relates to vitamin D3, which I found out is not really a vitamin. One study I found, links the initiation of hair growth to the vitamin D receptors in the hair follicle. Without enough vitamin D3, the follicle will not activate the growth phase. Another study I found links hair loss to dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which occurs when testosterone in the body is changed into DHT. DHT is also linked to prostate issues. DHT can accumulate in the scalp and surround the hair follicles, cutting off the nutrition required to maintain and grow hair. As amazing as D3 is, it is also been identified as a DHT blocker. I have recently up my dosage of D3 to 6,000 IU’s per day and aside from feeling great, I can see more and more hair develop each day.
William
15 Jun 11 at 8:07 am
William, thank you for sharing your experience and for visiting the blog!
admin
16 Jun 11 at 5:17 pm
This is for Isabelle. I hope you have found a reason for your hair loss and how to stop it. I experienced the exact same problem. Long dark hair all over the place with no particular reason. I was very scared I would go bald if I didn’t find a cure. After going for my annual physical and getting my blood test back, I found the problem. Extremely low Vitamin D level in my blood. Luckily my Dr. checked my vitamin D level.Healthy level is 60-70. Mine was 9!!!
He put me on HIGH levels of Vitamin D. LITERALLY my hair stopped falling out in less than a week!! Now it’s growing back all over my head. I have new hair growing in! So best advice I can give you is get your D level checked. Best of health to you!
PS I’m 54 Caucasian 5’2″ 110 lbs My daughter 26 was just put on 10000 IU per day due to low levels of D found on her blood results.
Deborah
29 Aug 11 at 5:19 pm
I just went on-line to check out a possible link between low Vitamin D and hair loss. There are a number of links to comments about this being a fact. After reading your comment, I wanted to tell you what has happened to me in the last 3 months. My hair has been falling out for 10 or 15 years, but had gotten so bad in the last 18 months, that I was wearing a wig. My doctor kept having me increase my vitamin D dosage, because it was so low. After increasing it to 17,000 mg for about three months, I am no longer wearing a wig! When I got my hair cut this week, I realized that I had gotten quite a bit of new hair growth!
Jo Anne
24 Sep 11 at 4:12 pm
That is 17,000 mg per week
Jo Anne
24 Sep 11 at 4:17 pm
LOW FERRITIN LEVELS CAUSE HAIR LOSS!! I began having problems with my hair falling out. I went to several doctors and NO ONE took my problem seriously. I finally went to yet another doctor (a Dermatologist) and she said, I think your problem is iron deficency. The reason its hard to diagnose, is because the range for a “normal” iron level is very wide! The doctor said “I am going to test your SERUM FERRITIN levels”. You must have at least 40 to maintiain your hair, and to grow new hair it should be about 70. My levels were 14. This was due to heavy periods. She told me to take a specific brannd of iron call FEOSOL. This really helped, almost immediately and when my hair loss is high, I start taking iron again!
Laura
14 Oct 11 at 9:41 am
I just wanted to add that I am being treated by an endocrinologist for a pituitary tumor. One of the symptoms that brought me in was hair loss. As part of the screening my doctor checked my vitamin D levels. He said that vitamin D deficiency can contribute to hair loss. In addition to finding the pituitary tumor he also found that I was severely deficient in vitamin D (even though I spend 15 minutes or more in the sun everyday) and prescribed me a weekly vitamin D supplement. I’ve been treated for both conditions for around 2 months and there is a noticeable improvement in my hair. I would assume that if a board certified endocrinologist checked for vitamin D deficiency as a cause of my hair loss that there is evidence that vitamin D deficiency is indeed linked to hair loss.
Kim
28 Oct 11 at 4:29 am
I have found this to be a very interesting blog.
I have been experiencing increasing hair loss over the past year with a couple of bald spots developing. I visited my doctor and whilst he thought it may be alopecia he suggested that it may also fungal in origin – to cut a long story short he prescribed anti-fungal shampoo and steroid cream. Happily the bald spots disappeared but I continue to lose more hair than is normal.
Visiting my doctot alopecia
Recent blood tests have revealed very low levels of Vitamin D3 and am currently takng 4,000iu’s per day.
I will get back to you if I notice any changes in hair loss.
Terry
3 Nov 11 at 2:02 am
Terry,
Thank you for your contribution. I will gladly take this opportunity to remind everyone that I am not a physician, and my sentiments do not constitute medical advice.
I am happy to learn that you were able to successfully reverse the balding, and that you were able to identify the culprit!
Regards,
Peter
admin
17 Nov 11 at 12:13 am
Kim, thanks for sharing your story. I’d love to see the research on which the doctor’s statements are based. Like I said in the post, just because I have been unable to track it down doesn’t necessarily mean that no research exists on the subject. If you know of any scientific data to back up the claim that a relationship exists, please feel free to reply with a link.
admin
17 Nov 11 at 12:15 am
Laura,
Thank you for contributing to the discussion! This one seems to have elicited quite a response from readers. I appreciate you sharing your story with the rest of us.
One of these days I’m going to have my mother (who is a healthcare/medical professional) look into the matter further and perhaps even write a guest post on the subject as a follow-up to this one.
Thanks again for reading and for sharing!
admin
17 Nov 11 at 12:20 am
Jo Anne,
This post definitely seems to have gotten the readers’ attention, no doubt about that. I sincerely appreciate you sharing your experience with us!
Peter
admin
17 Nov 11 at 12:23 am
Deborah,
Thank you for contributing to the conversation. I sincerely appreciate you sharing your story with the rest of us!
Peter
admin
17 Nov 11 at 12:30 am
I just this week recieved a blood work result of level 13 vitiman D ,I had noticed my hair my hair was thinning quite a bit,After these findings I was wondering if the hair loss was due to the low D, that is how I came across this post ,thank you all, I am taking 50000 uts 1 times a week for 3 mo then doc will re test I will post results on D hair. Peter how can I get a copy of your article on 20 the different diseases and ailments linked to low D, Thanks , mary
mary
17 Nov 11 at 9:21 am
Mary, thank you for contributing to the discussion. As for a copy of the Vitamin D Deficiency and Disease article, assuming you do not have a printer, I’d be happy to mail you a copy. Just email me with your mailing address or PO Box and I’ll be happy to send you a copy.
admin
18 Nov 11 at 8:49 pm
Reading these comments gives me some hope. I’m a 32 year old African American woman. For years i have suffered in periods of time that I lose my hair. My doctor suggested stress. My dermatologist said I need stop using chemicals on my hair, for example; temporary hair dye. I did that and still experienced hair loss and my hair Is so fragile. My doctor finally decided to test my blood. Sure enough I have vitamin D deficiency. My level was like 10 or 15. She suggested I take 5000 mg per day. However, she never said It was connected to hair loss. I recently failed to take the vitamins and I realized my hair Is falling out again. From these testimonies I see need to start back again and be more diligent. Thank all. Because no really talks about this. I will let you know my progress In a month
Erica
26 Nov 11 at 12:02 pm
Hi All,
I am experiencing female hair loss due to the birth control pill. Even though I got off it, it is continuing. Every doctor was telling me to just accept it, and that it is my genes. My hair loss stopped during summer months, then began again this fall. This fall my doctor found Vitamin D deficiency in my blood test. The fact that my hair loss stopped in the summer backs up the possibility that the loss is due to Vitamin D, since we soak up the most Vitamin D in the summer, due to the sun’s stronger rays and more exposure. I just took my first caplet a couple of days ago of 10,000 IU’s (for one week) and I’m hoping I see a change soon like a few of you on this blog did. My hair loss is not drastic looking yet, but my forehead line keeps getting higher, much like a man’s would. I’ll post if I get any changes!
Marilyn
28 Nov 11 at 12:05 pm
I’m 69 and continuously refining diet for the past 15 years with the object of extending life and health. This is working, no prescription usually guessed as mid fifties. Most of this time I’ve not been balding but slowly losing hair evidenced by the need to clear the drain after showering each day. Sometime in the past year this stopped completely, zero hair on the drain. Three significant changes took place in that period.
1.I moved to a very high saturated fat very low carbohydrate (ketogenic) diet.
2. I began taking 10,000 units of D3, monitoring serum level to maintain it at almost 100 ng/ml
3. Continued to wash the hair every day with hot water but used shampoo only one day per week.
This is only anecdotal evidence but judging by the front page story in the Wall Street Journal today it might be as useful as a million dollar study. (Only about a quarter of studies published in the mos and confirmed by anyone else, the rest are simply wrong)
David Boothman
2 Dec 11 at 10:21 am
Just found out that I have very low levels of vitamin D AND MY HAIR HAS BEEN FALLING OUT LIKE CRAZY! SO GLAD i FOUND THIS AND MADE THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE TWO!
Jennifer
5 Dec 11 at 2:00 pm
Jennifer,
I most certainly hope that D3 supplements can help reverse the unfortunate trend. Please follow-up with us. Since there is little-to-no scientific data on the topic of vitamin D deficiency and hair loss, your experience could help shed light on whether or not there is actually a relationship between the two conditions.
In fact, if you would be willing to email me your account of the situation 3-4 months after you first started taking D3 supplements on a regular basis (or whenever you first start to notice results, if in fact the desired result is achieved), I would be willing to publish it in hopes of shedding some light on the mystery and hopefully helping to convince the scientific community to research the topic in hopes of settling the debate once-and-for-all.
If you’re interested, please send an email to vitamind3info@gmail.com, preferably from the address used to fill out the comment form.
The same goes for anyone else who has experienced hair loss and taken vitamin D3 supplements as a means of revering the prematurely receding hair line. Please let me know if any of those who have shared personal stories in this thread would be interested in participating in a follow-up post which would focus on your individual stories and in particular the results — whether or not D3 supplements helped achieve the desired results.
Peter Egan – Editor in Chief
admin
21 Dec 11 at 8:41 pm
Hi
Just thought I’d stop by and tell my story for what it’s worth, hopefully it can help someone.
I’m a 36 year old man and in the last year have found what was causing my hair loss.
Basically it was sugar, too much! The reccomended daily allowance is 90grams, I worked out my daily intake was more like 250grams, 3 cans of coke, red bull, chocolate bars you name it.
I’ve now cut it back to about 50grams and the change in my thinning hair has been amazing! This doesn’t seem like common knowledge, maybe because hair loss treatment is such big business, or maybe I’m lucky?
Either way if your sugar intake is higher than it should be it’s worth a try.
Really hope this helps any of you out there, I know how traumatising this can be.
g
16 Jan 12 at 3:44 pm
G,
Thanks for sharing your experience!
Admin
19 Jan 12 at 10:41 pm