Medications that Can Cause Alopecia / Hair Loss
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By Yolanda Smith, BPharm
Alopecia, also commonly known as hair loss, can sometimes occur as a result of taking some medications. The effects typically become evident within several says or weeks of initiating or increasing the dose of a medication.
The risk of drug-induced alopecia depends both on the type of medications taken and the individual response to it. Some drugs are strongly linked to causing alopecia and result in hair loss for most patients who take the drug, while other drugs may cause hair loss in some patients but not others.
Signs and Symptoms of Drug-Induced Alopecia
The hair loss that occurs as a result of medication use can affect all hair growing on the body. The scalp is the most commonly affected area, although patients commonly report the loss of hair from their eyebrows and eyelashes, particularly for those who are being treated with chemotherapy.
The effects typically begin several weeks after the initiation of the therapy that causes hair loss. Research on women who have chemotherapy to treat breast cancer has found that alopecia could begin as early as two weeks after the first treatment for some women. On average, hair loss began 4-5 weeks after treatment initiation.
http://www.news-medical.net/health/Medications-that-Can-Cause-Alopecia-Hair-Loss.aspx
