Guest guest Posted January 15, 2007 Report Share Posted January 15, 2007 Hi Penny; As others have already mentioned, thinning hair or hair loss could be due to medications such as ursodiol (actigall) or asacol (mesalamine). Both medications are reported to have this possible side effect: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a699047.html http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/uspdi/202734.html There are a few reports of alopecia + inflammatory bowel disease, or alopecia + PSC, in the literature, and so it seems possible that there might also be a genetic link .... see for example: Treem WR, Veligati LN, Rotter JI, Targan SR, Hyams JS 1993 Ulcerative colitis and total alopecia in a mother and her son. Gastroenterology 104: 1187-1191. Seibold F, Klein R, Jakob F 1996 Polymyositis, alopecia universalis, and primary sclerosing cholangitis in a patient with Crohn's disease. J. Clin. Gastroenterol. 23: 121-124. There is also this interesting article in Online Medeliian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) regarding a disease that causes ichthyosis, alopecia and sclerosing cholangitis (ICHTHYOSIS-SCLEROSING CHOLANGITIS SYNDROME), due to a defect in a gene called claudin-1: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/dispomim.cgi?id=607626 Hadj-Rabia S, Baala L, Vabres P, Hamel-Teillac D, Jacquemin E, Fabre M, Lyonnet S, De Prost Y, Munnich A, Hadchouel M, Smahi A 2004 Claudin-1 gene mutations in neonatal sclerosing cholangitis associated with ichthyosis: a tight junction disease. Gastroenterology 127: 1386-1390. One of the Foundation funded researchers (Dr. Radhakrishna Rao) is taking a closer look at the genes encoding " tight junction " proteins like claudin-1, to see if they may be the cause of PSC. These proteins are thought to play a role in keeping the bile-duct epithelial barrier intact. http://www.pscfoundation.org/fundedre.html Best regards, Dave (father of (21); PSC 07/03; UC 08/03) > > Hi just a quick question for the group, has anyone heard of an > increased chance of Alopecia if you have either UC or PSC? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 Way back in the infancy of this group we discussed hair loss. I had experienced a lot of hair loss during the time that I had repeated infections due to " procedures. " Most of those required hospitalization and IV meds. Penny > > Hi just a quick question for the group, has anyone heard of an > increased chance of Alopecia if you have either UC or PSC? As my > son's hair has started becoming quite thin.... at first we thought it > was drug related but now I am not so sure. > > Penny > Mum of 16, UC 04, PSC 2/05. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 --- Thank you all for your answers, I will have a look at the articles that you mentioned . We will just keep our eye on him and see.... 2 months back the Doctor thought that the drugs were to blame and reduced his URSO dose by half... his LFT's doubled but then stabilised, and are now sitting at that new higher level but not getting any worse. His hair did start to thicken back up a bit, but the weird thing is it seems to fluctuate. thats why I've started thinking Autoimmune Alopecia. Again thank you all for your input, Penny Mum of UC 03 PSC 04. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 --- Thank you all for your answers, I will have a look at the articles that you mentioned . We will just keep our eye on him and see.... 2 months back the Doctor thought that the drugs were to blame and reduced his URSO dose by half... his LFT's doubled but then stabilised, and are now sitting at that new higher level but not getting any worse. His hair did start to thicken back up a bit, but the weird thing is it seems to fluctuate. thats why I've started thinking Autoimmune Alopecia. Again thank you all for your input, Penny Mum of UC 03 PSC 04. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 --- Thank you all for your answers, I will have a look at the articles that you mentioned . We will just keep our eye on him and see.... 2 months back the Doctor thought that the drugs were to blame and reduced his URSO dose by half... his LFT's doubled but then stabilised, and are now sitting at that new higher level but not getting any worse. His hair did start to thicken back up a bit, but the weird thing is it seems to fluctuate. thats why I've started thinking Autoimmune Alopecia. Again thank you all for your input, Penny Mum of UC 03 PSC 04. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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