Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Loose Anagen Hair Syndrome

Our precious daughter has been diagnosed with Loose Anagen Hair Syndrome. The good news is that Lauren is healthy!! We took Lauren to the doctor because we were becoming increasingly aware of her hair loss. At first we thought, oh just baby hair is finally falling out. Then I began to worry about stress due to all the changes she had in just the last few months; a new sibling, potty training, preschool, daddy traveling, etc. But, it turns out she has what is referred to as LAS and there really is very little information available. No money is spent on research for this syndrome since there is no health risk involved, basically it is "just cosmetic". What is happening with Lauren's hair is that her hair follicles are actually to loose to keep the hair in. Therefore her hair painlessly falls out. It will cycle, and new hair will grow back, but it too will fall out. Her hair will never be able to really grow past her neck. Typical children diagnosed with LAS are Caucasian girls around the age of 2. Most girls grow healthy hair by the time they are teenagers and some even earlier. I am determined to research LAS further and find as much information as possible because although this is "just cosmetic" I think a little girls' looks are very important to them. Already Lauren is understanding that we can't do pig tails in her hair anymore.