For a diagnosis of Hair loss, the following list of conditions have been mentioned in sources as possible alternative diagnoses to consider during the diagnostic process for Hair loss:
Rare form of hair loss often misdiagnosed: a rare form of extreme hair loss called "Atrichia with papular lesions" (APL) is often misdiagnosed as alopecia totalis. Researchers estimate that about 1 per 100 diagnoses of alopecia totalis are incorrect. See introduction to alopecia totalis.
Hair and scalp disorders misdiagnosed in African Americans: A higher than average percentage of misdiagnoses of hair or scalp disorders seem to occur in African Americans. Some of the overlooked hair/scalp conditions include cicatrial alopecia, traction folliculitis and sebhorrheic dermatitis. See hair disorders or scalp disorders.
Subtle changes in hypothroidism can be missed: The early changes in hypothyroidism are subtle and can be misdiagnosed especially if only a single symptom is dominant. Hence the list of conditions from which it has to be differentiated from is endless. To mention a few, anovulations, infertility, depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, sleep apnoea etc. Lack of early treatment leads to disease progression with gradual worsening of the symptoms and further metabolic derangements can occur. Estimation of the TSH levels is the single most sensitive index of thyroid function
The following medical news items are relevant to misdiagnosis of Hair loss:
Read these general articles with an overview of misdiagnosis issues.
When checking for a misdiagnosis of Hair loss or confirming a diagnosis of Hair loss, it is useful to consider what other medical conditions might be possible misdiagnoses or other alternative conditions relevant to diagnosis. These alternate diagnoses of Hair loss may already have been considered by your doctor or may need to be considered as possible alternative diagnoses or candidates for misdiagnosis of Hair loss. For a general overview of misdiagnosis issues for all diseases, see Overview of Misdiagnosis.
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