The corona virus can have numerous after-effects that restrict daily life. A study now provides a new symptom.
Jeonju – The virus was detected for the first time in Germany in 2020, and Corona has now firmly established itself as a disease. In addition to the typical signs such as cough, sore throat and runny nose, new variants also come with a number of new symptoms, for example in the mouth. But the virus can also cause long-lasting health consequences – and more and more are becoming known.
Does the Corona virus cause hair loss? Autoimmune disease is said to be exacerbated by Sars-CoV-2
The permanent symptoms are known in science as Long Covid. They are considered “health complaints that persist or arise again beyond the acute phase of a Sars-CoV-2 infection of four weeks,” like the British one National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) informed. The after-effects are diverse and affect both men and women. The virus can significantly worsen or even trigger various autoimmune diseases. These include intestinal diseases or, in rare cases, even vocal cord paralysis.
Another possible after-effect has now been reported in media reports: circular hair loss. This is an autoimmune disease that can be triggered by various factors such as genetics, viruses, vaccinations and psychological stress.
It is suspected that Covid-19 not only promotes the occurrence of this autoimmune disease, but also worsens existing hair loss. South Korean scientists led by lead author Jong-Seung Kim from Jeonbuk National University in Jeonju have investigated this hypothesis.
Corona infected people have a higher risk of increased hair loss than healthy people
In a population-based cohort study, the researchers analyzed data from around 260,000 corona patients. These were compared with the data from 260,000 uninfected people. The results were finally published in the scientific journal Jama Dermatology published and show: Corona infected people have a six times higher risk of increased hair loss and thin hair growth. In addition, people with Covid-19 were significantly more susceptible to circular hair loss than uninfected people.
The study refers to an average of 43.19 infected people per 10,000 people who developed the autoimmune disease. Not only the incidence, i.e. the number of new cases within a certain period of time, but also the prevalence showed an increased risk. This means the total number of sick people. For corona patients this was 70.53 per 10,000 person-years; for non-infected people it was 52.37. Person-years here describes the sum of the different years of the participating people who were observed. Women and men over 20 years of age were equally affected.
Corona could “play a role in the occurrence of circular hair loss”
“Our study shows a significantly increased incidence and prevalence of circular hair loss after a Covid-19 infection, even after adjusting for influencing factors such as age and gender,” the scientists said in their summary. They suggest that SARS-CoV-2 “may play a role in the occurrence and worsening of circular pattern hair loss.”
But they also point out that the evidence for a causal connection between Covid-19 and circular hair loss is limited. Other factors, such as psychological stress during the pandemic, could also have an influence. Further research on this topic is therefore necessary.
The editor wrote this article and then used an AI language model for optimization at his own discretion. All information has been carefully checked. Find out more about our AI principles here.