Divorce And Women's Hair Loss Linked In New Study

Divorce and women's hair loss may be linked, a new study shows, and stress is the most likely reason.

"Most likely, stress is the aspect of a troubling divorce that appears to lead to hair loss among women," lead researcher Dr. Bahman Guyuron, chairman of the department of plastic surgery at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, told HealthDay.

After genetics, marital status is the single highest predictor of hair loss among women, and the most hair loss occurs in women who have lost a spouse either through death or divorce, HealthDay reported.

Researchers conducted two studies on female identical twins who completed lifestyle surveys, blood tests and photo analysis of hair. Using twins in studies rules out the factor of genetic differences, since each twin has the same genes as the other.

Hair loss near the temples seemed to be caused by a history of smoking. Having a few drinks per week seemed to reduce the risk in that area, although drinking increased hair loss in other areas on the head. Excessive smoking and/or drinking also contributed to hair loss in men, the researchers found in another study.

Dr. Doris Day, an attending physician in dermatology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, told HealthDay that stress can contribute to hair loss. "It's complicated," she said, "but it's not a shock to suggest that various kinds of stress can lead to hair loss. Or that men and women don't experience stress in the same way, so that their hair loss patterns may be different."

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