Vitamin D and Alopecia Areata
Hi Doc,
I am wondering if there any current links between supplementation of Vitamin D and potential hair issues. I am looking to try to minimize my acne and supplement with 2000 IU Vitamin D daily.I also found an old study dating to 1937 entitled “Vitamin D in Acne” [PDF file]. In the study, I noticed a mention that “Three patients with alopecia areata grew their hair without other treatment” except supplementation with Viosterol (pre-Vitamin D). Is this method ever used today to ever treat hair disorders??
Thanks
The thing about alopecia areata is that even with NO treatment, the hairs usually grow back in a substantial number of patients, so I really cannot comment on the 3 patients that grew their hair back.
I do not know of any vitamin or pre-vitamin treatments for hair loss that works, and I suspect that in the 74 years since that study was conducted, if there was some actual evidence that it worked, it would be a common treatment by now.
This article is a great example of the difference between what constitutes medical “evidence’ 70 years ago (1937!) and today. As Dr Rassman has noted, the observation by the author of a causal relationship of improvement in 3 patients with alopecia areata following Vitamin D supplementation is likely spurious (given the absence of a control group for a condition that often spontaneously improves).
Of equal interest is that the “favorable side effects†of increased hair growth reported by the author was seen as a result of the main purpose of the anecdotal case histories: treatment of acne with Vitamin D as a supplement to X-rays. While the dose of Vitamin D given to these patients is ill-defined (“dosage averaged probably 5,000 to 14,000 unites at a doseâ€), the practice of administering x-rays to those with acne fell out of favor in the early 1950’s. Subsequent controlled retrospective studies showed a significant increase in thyroid and parotid gland cancer (as well as premature aging of skin) from this practice.