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. 2017 Jan 31;7(1):1-10.
doi: 10.5826/dpc.0701a01. eCollection 2017 Jan.

Diet and hair loss: effects of nutrient deficiency and supplement use

Emily L Guo  1 , Rajani Katta  2
Affiliations

Diet and hair loss: effects of nutrient deficiency and supplement use

Emily L Guo et al. Dermatol Pract Concept. .

Abstract

Patients presenting with hair loss should be screened by medical history, dietary history and physical exam for risk factors for nutrient deficiency. If warranted, laboratory studies may be performed. In patients with no risk factors, further laboratory evaluation searching for nutritional deficiencies is not warranted. For patients with nutritional deficiencies, it is clear that those deficiencies should be corrected. Further research is required to determine whether any benefit exists for nutrient supplementation in the absence of documented deficiency. At this time, patients must be informed that such research is lacking and that in fact some supplements carry the risk of worsening hair loss or the risk of toxicity.

Keywords: alopecia; diet; hair loss; nutrition; supplementation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

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