Q. I am 47 years of age and my hair is going very thin at the front and in my parting.  I’ve been to see a specialist who advised ME to take iron tablets, to improve my ferritin levels which were 24, and the preferred level for hair loss is 40. Unfortunately the iron caused severe diarrhoea. Are there any other supplements I can take, or do you know of any proven remedies to help?
A. The commonly prescribed iron supplements do tend to cause digestive side effects.  You could try instead taking Spatone or Floradix, both of which are generally very well tolerated.

• Spatone, £8.25 for 28 sachets at www.victoriahealth.com – buy here (and don’t forget you receive an exclusive 5% discount at the checkout, deducted automatically)

• Floradix, £10.34 for 250 ml from www.victoriahealth.com – buy here  (and see note above about discount)