Caerus said:
I think the genetic causes are probably so overwhelming that they would pretty much swamp the effects of sleep loss unless it was something like life-threatening sleep loss. I don't know about stress though, it's much more plausible to go incredibly stressed, which has some pretty bad effects on the body, than it is to go without lots of sleep.
I can say that I have wondered about this a whole lot though. I am losing hair at a really early age, and have had huge problems with sleep and stress. There have been many times in my life where I had weeks with no more than 10 hours of sleep total, going on for months at a time. I'm also told professionally, that I have some of the worst possible stress. If I go on vacation and relax the bones in my back crack and pop when they are released from the tension.. I also get badly ill with high fever from an immune system crash so I can never enjoy the time off. These problems are really genetically based too though so I guess it's really not that different.
Yes and no...
Stress and lack of sleep are closely related. A sleeping disorder is but one precursor to stress.
Everything in the lives we lead has a cumulative effect and it is unfortunate that most people are blissfully unaware of this fact.
You talk about being "incredibly stressed" as being more plausible than "sleep" when concerned with hair loss but as I mentioned above they are closely related (
'precursor",
"cumulative effect").
Stress amounts itself from many different sources including emotional, physical and biological. Unfortunately most people equate stress with it's roots firmly tied to emotional triggers because it is easy to recognize that the lives we live, the jobs we work, the immense amount of pressure to be somebody, to succeed, to...to...whatever, all equates to stress. Easy!
However, who would have thought sleep equates to stress if not done properly? Who would further think that sleep, which can equate to stress, can further equate to hair loss regardless of whether you suffer from genetic male pattern baldness?
For most of us yes the cause is genetic, but, the complexity of the subject does not end with this understanding although it appears many people would like everyone else to shut up and agree that it's the be all and end all.
Just remember, stress, whilst experienced in many forms, is often an accumulation of environmental factors internally (within your body) and externally (lifestyle) that certainly mediates to a degree the rate of your hair loss and the health of your hair, amongst other things.
I don't know about you exactly but I for one know that when I am under increased amounts of stress my hair sheds profusely as it does when I am lacking fundamental amounts of sleep which again, equates to stress.
You would be surprised what you will learn when you take the time to listen to what your body is telling you. It gives you signals and signs and is much like an alarm alerting you. It's whether you ignore it or not that makes the difference.
