Tag: low iron in women

Hair loss and heart meds

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 47 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas    ♥   @HeartSisters

Did you know that most of us normally shed 50 to 100 hairs a day from our heads? According to Mayo Clinic experts, this usually doesn’t cause noticeable thinning of our scalp hair, however, because new hair is growing in at the same time. Hair loss actually occurs when this cycle of hair growth and shedding is disrupted for some reason. It’s thought to be related to one or more factors like family history, hormonal changes, medical conditions, or medications.

It was this last factor that caught my attention.  I read recently about a list of medications commonly prescribed to heart patients that may also be linked to the distressing side effect of hair loss – especially since I’ve been noticing with some alarm that my own hair seems to be thinning at a scary rate! Continue reading “Hair loss and heart meds” →

Do low iron stores protect women from heart attacks?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 9 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

Women are somewhat protected from developing heart disease – until we hit menopause, that is.

Many cardiologists believe that the hormone estrogen is women’s secret cardioprotective weapon, until our production of estrogen tapers off and our heart attack rates rise dramatically at menopause to surpass men’s rates. That’s an increasingly  controversial theory, however.

Researchers from Finland, for example, now question this estrogen theory in light of a remarkable study that appears to link iron depletion with protection of heart health. This hypothesis has actually been kicked around by scientists since 1981, when they first observed that the lower rate of heart attacks in menstruating women was associated with relatively low levels of stored iron.   click to continue reading