Anagen Effluvium, just like Telogen Effluvium is a diffuse hair problem that develops in a much quicker manner and can cause complete hair loss i.e. non-scarring alopecia. This occurs during the Anagen stage which is the growth period of hair. Sufferers of this problem experience rapid shedding of hair mostly in form of clumps, leaving with partials and sometimes complete bald patches. Other than the scalp hair, eyebrows, eyelashes and body hair may also shed.
Common causes of this condition are intake of cytostatic drugs usually recommended for cancer patients. In case of chemotherapy, this hair loss process happens shockingly fast. This might also occur due to radiation therapy, autoimmune disease, ingestion of toxic drugs for instance rat poison, or an infection like fungal hair infection. …show more content…
These drugs might be helpful in blocking the rapid development of cancerous cells in the body, but the cells of our hair follicles are quite proliferating and noncancerous in nature. Normal growth of hair fibers from the hair follicles is 0.4 mm per day that requires a lot of cell proliferation. But when we take cytostatic cancer drugs or various other toxins to control unusual cell development in the body, the cells in hair follicles get affected the most due to which we experience sudden hair loss.
Anagen Effluvium normally occurs within the first 2 to 4 weeks of chemotherapy. These drugs act so fast that the hair follicles get in a frozen and suspended state with minimum hair growth and rapid hair loss. In this condition, the hair follicles get no time for entering the Telogen stage of resting, as it is a much better state where hair loss is