Low serum ferritin hair loss is a serious issue in women's health. Though hair loss (alopecia) does not cause any physical pain or ill effects on the workings of the body, it can have a significant negative impact on the emotional and psychological state of a woman. Therefore, it is important to understand the relationship between ferritin levels and female hair.

Though hair loss has historically been a difficult disorder to understand, scientists and doctors are gaining a new perspective through the discovery of the low ferritin hair loss phenomenon.

What causes low serum ferritin hair loss?
At the simplest level, an iron deficiency is to blame for low ferritin levels and female hair loss. Ferritin is a protein that stores iron in the body. To determine if a woman has low serum ferritin levels, a blood test is performed. (It is important to note that hemoglobin is the standard measure for iron in the blood, and while hemoglobin levels can diagnose anemia, they do not always correspond with low serum ferritin hair loss. A woman can have plenty of hemoglobin, yet still suffer from low serum ferritin levels.)

When it comes to ferritin levels and female hair, ferritin levels are simply more important to the body. If iron levels are insufficient to maintain blood health, the body "robs" iron from other cells. Since hair is not as essential to the body as is blood, the body often sacrifices the less important function of hair growth for the essential function of blood maintenance.

What is CTE?
When low ferritin levels and female hair loss coexist, the patient is most likely diagnosed with Chronic Telogen Effluvium, or CTE. This hair loss condition usually occurs in women of childbearing age (18-50 years old), and results in evenly-distributed hair loss. Women with low serum ferritin hair loss usually notice one of two things:

• Increased loss of hair during shampooing or brushing.
• Less density of hair, as in a thinner feeling ponytail, or less hair to clip back.