10 Symptoms of Addison's Disease
Reviewed: Dr. Gromatzky
Symptom #7: Loss Of Body Hair
Adrenal insufficiency associated with Addison’s disease can lead to hair loss. This is more likely to happen in women. Androgen hormones including DHEA control hair growth. When these hormones are produced in small quantities as a result of adrenal insufficiency, they are inadequate to stimulate normal growth of body hair.
The reason why women are more prone to lose hair due to Addison’s disease is because in women androgen hormones are only produced by the adrenal glands. In men, Addison’s disease is unlikely to cause hair loss because testosterone, another androgen hormone produced in the testes, stimulates hair growth among other functions.
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