42.    Hair loss of type telogen effluvium and androgenetic alopecia in women is not correlated to zinc levels in the serum. 
Raziel Lurie(1), Uri Ron(2), Michael David(3), Emelia Hodak(3) 1.Maccabi Healthcare Services; Pediatric Dermatology Hair Clinic, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, 2. Department of Biochemistry, The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 3.Department of Dermatology, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Hospital, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel.

Background: Medical literature as to the correlation between hair-loss and various nutritional deficiencies in general and specifically zinc is scarce. There is no well-based study which established that in people with no background diseases, linked to known nutritional deficiencies, hair-loss was caused by a Zinc deficiency. Nevertheless, the popular view is that low serum Zinc concentrations cause hair loss, and many trichologists/dermatologists/medical doctors carry out serum Zinc-concentration tests, and prescribe Zinc supplements as treatment for hair-loss.
Goal: testing whether common types of hair loss in women, i.e. Telogen Effluvium (TE), Chronic Telogen Effluvium (CTE) and Androgenetic Alopecia (AGA) are correlated to low serum Zinc concentrations. Methods: The study included 1459 women (mean age: 38.5 years, range: 17-89 years) who visited a dermatology clinic which specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of hair-loss. The diagnosis was based on a full medical anamnesis accompanied by a physical examination. 765 women were reported as suffering from TE; 645 suffered from AGA; and 49 women suffered from CTE. In some unclear cases the diagnosis was based upon a trichogram examination using the German method. Serum Zinc concentrations were tested after an overnight fast and in a single laboratory. The patients did not use nutritional supplements at least 3 months prior to the blood test. Results: Serum Zinc concentrations measured were normal in all women (mean: 108.1 microgram/dl; the norm ranges between 55-165 microgram/dl), except for 2 women, whose serum Zinc levels were slightly under the norm (53, 54).
Conclusions: Hair-loss of types, TE, CTE and AGA in women is not linked to low serum Zinc concentrations. Hence, in our opinion, testing for serum Zinc levels should not be a routine examination for diagnosing hair-loss in women.