Posted on January 24, 2012 - by Nurse Virginia

STRESS RELATED CONDITIONS IN THE ELDERLY – ALOPECIA/SHINGLES

(PART II)

Frank also had significant hair loss; however it happened over so many years that he really didn’t notice until the hair started coming back. Because of his high blood pressure (he was on 5 medications) and his weight gain his physician advised Frank to stop eating wheat products. After going gluten free for several months, Frank noticed that at the age of 68 he was now growing a remarkable amount of hair on his arms and legs.

Frank did lose 55 pounds going gluten free and the edema in his legs was totally gone as well. But what he hadn’t expected was to see the re-growth of all that hair on his extremities. He had had Alopecia and hadn’t even realized it.

A person usually has only 80 – 90% of their hair shafts growing at a time. The rest are somewhat dormant for periods of about two months at a time. When the individual is impacted by one of the previously mentioned conditions, (see Part I) more hair shafts go dormant than normal and that is Alopecia.

Hair loss may be only noticed in one location or in patches. But in many extreme cases of Alopecia it may include all the hair on the body including pubic, eyebrows, eye lashes and so forth.

While stress may be the cause of this disorder, having Alopecia can also be a large source of stress. Usually time is the great healer here. As previously noted a dormant area of hair will start re-growth after two months. Many people with a spontaneous case of Alopecia will regain their hair in a year.

While the resulting baldness on your head will be stressful it will not be painful, susceptible to infection or potentially life threatening as Shingles may be. (See Part III Shingles)

Virginia Garberding R.N.

Director of Education, The Wealshire, Lincolnshire, Illinois

Author: Please Get To Know Me – Aging with Dignity and Relevance

www.pleasegettoknowme.com