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Facts About Hair Loss

AT A LOSS ABOUT HAIR LOSS?

Facts About Hair Loss Treatments, Hair Loss Products, Men and Women's Hair Loss


Do you feel that you are the only one losing hair? You're not! The most common form of hair loss, Androgentic Alopecia, or pattern baldness, is experiences by 50-80% of Caucasian men. The number of Chinese males affected are half of the Caucasian counterparts while African Americans have a lower incidence of the condition as well. For women androgenetic alopecia occurs between 20-40% of the general female population. In summary, it is safe to say that pattern baldness is experienced by the norm of the population, you're not alone, but actually in the majority.

Androgenic alopecia develops when the hair follicle (the place under the skin where hair grows from) experiences a reduction in size, as well as a time reduction in the active growth phase. this translates into a simple fact: more and more of the hair follicles will spend time in the resting state where hair is shed once the state is completed. Fortunately, androgenic alopecia does not develop in all hair follicles at the same time. This is why some part of the scalp seems to be losing more hair than the other.

What causes androgenic alopecia? As boys grow up, their hair follicles are exposed to androgen (any hormone that controls the appearance and development of masculine characteristics) that their body has synthesized. Once hair follicles are exposed to androgen, they become "androgen sensitive" and androgenenitic alopceia can develop latter in time. Stopping the hair follicles from interacting with androgens seems to prohibit any chance of androgenetic alopecia development.

To put it in a more detailed explanation there are two types of androgen that need to be considered: testosterone and DHT (dihydrotestosterone). An enzyme called 5-alpha-reductase converts testosterone to DHT. Once DHT is formed, it has the ability to bind to any androgen receptor in hair follicles. This binding reduces follicle activity, shrinks the hair follicle which in turn slows the hair growth cycle, reduces the diameter of the hair shaft and over times hair growth ceases.

For females, the mechanism of the condition is similar to that of the males. the source of the androgen is the combined activity of the ovaries and the adrenal glands. Hair loss in women can many times be directly related to pregnancy or menopause and their effects.

Why do some people seem to have more extensive hair loss than others? recent research suggest that the answer has something to do with the differences in the concentration of 5-alpha-reductase in skin and hair follicles of people who have androgenetic alopecia. It is possible that some people just produce more of this enzyme, which in turn converts more testosterone to DHT, which will result in greater hair loss. Also, some people just develop greater sensitivity of androgen receptors in their hair follicles. This means that a certain concentration in others with less sensitive androgen receptors in the follicles.

A. Men's Hair Loss

It is true that androgenetic alopecia is the most common hair loss suffered by male. However, there are other causes of men's hair loss that you need to be aware of:

1. Alopecia Aretea-autoimmune disorder which will cause "patchy hair loss", often in small circular area in different areas of the scalp.
2. Alopecia Totalis - total hair loss of the scalp, This is an advanced form of (1)
3. Alopecia Universalis - Hair loss of the entire body, also an advanced form of (1)
4. Traction Alopecia - hair loss caused by physical stress to hair such as prolonged use of hair weaving
5. Anagen Effluvium - hair loss attributed to toxic substances internally administered. A good example would be chemotherapy agents.

All of these only represent ~5% of the hair loss found in general male protection; androgenetic alopecia is the norm.

If you fact experience androgenetic alopecia, more likely than not your hair loss will be limited to the top of the head and may or may not involve thinning and/or receding hair lines.

B. Women's Hair Loss

It is probably the best kept secret: hair loss in females is a common thing. As mentioned above, the most common type of women's hair loss is androgenetic alopecia, The female pattern baldness is seen as hair thinning predominantly over the tope and sides of the head. Androgenetic alopecia in women is most commonly seen after menopause, although it may begin as early as puberty. How can you be sure that you're not actually experiencing hair loss? Normal hair falls approximately 100-125 strands per day, true hair loss occurs when the loss is not replaced or when the daily hair shed exceeds 125.

Suddenly hormonal changes when starting or stopping contraceptives, starting or ending a pregnancy, the start of menopause, all has been characterized as the promoter of androgenetic alopecia. The two key events in a life of a woman might promote this onset: pregnancy and menopause. WHY? Simply because menopause causes permanent changes in hormone production, the adrenal glands also undergo changes during menopause. the overall result is a reduction of "androgen antagonist" such as estrogen and a net increase in androgen, as we have elaborated before, androgen is directly responsible in hair loss.

I. Myths About Hair Loss

Be careful in believing everything that you hear about the cause of hair loss! for example, have you ever heard those that say that shampooing your hair too often will make you lose hair? Well, contrary to popular beliefs, that is NOT true, Here is a list of myths that you do not need to believe regarding hair loss:

1. permanent hair loss is caused by perms, colors, and other chemical treatment
2. Shaving your head will cause hair to grow back thicker.
3. Dandruff causes permanent hair loss
4. Stress causes permanent hair loss.
5. Hair loss does not occur in the late teens.
6. hair loss affects only intellectuals
7. Smoking causes hair loss (research on this topic is only preliminary and does not give a supported explanation of why smoking might promote hair loss)
8. Standing on your head will stimulate hair growth
9. Androgenetic alopecia is inherited from mom (in other words, you can inherit the gene for baldness from mom or dad)

II. Some other causes of hair loss

1. Physical stress - surgery, major illness, rapid weight change
2. Emotional stress - mental illness, death of a loved one, job layoff
3. Medications - high dose of Vitamin A, blood pressure medications, gout medications
4. Hormonal changes - pregnancy, birth control pills, menopause
5. chemotherapy

Physical and emotional stress might cause hair loss since body is recuperating from an overwhelming turmoil and simply shuts down hair production, thinking that it is not necessary for the body's survival, thereby contributing all energy toward repairing vital body parts. there can be up to three months delay between the major incidence and the actual hair loss. Moreover, there is also period of three months before the loss hair is replaced. This then means there is a total of a minimal of 6 moths for the total hair loss and regrowth cycle. Of course there are things that might contribute to hair loss such as anemia, low blood count, and thyroid abnormalities.

Chemotherapy agents are basically poisonous chemicals administered to kill cancer cells. Unfortunately, they kill more than just cancer cells: they hurt healthy cells as well, including hair cells. Usually the patient loses a huge amount of hair during treatment and there is no hair growth stimulant, shampoo or conditioners that can reverse this effect. the good news is that once chemotherapy is completed, hair usually grows back. Adequate hair growth may take anywhere from 6-12 months.

DISCLAIMER: this information given on this site is for general information only. It should not be considered as medical advice and with all physical conditions you should always consult a health care professional.

- Courtesy Of thickerhair.com

  • It is normal to lose 60-110 hairs from the head each day
  • Each hair on the head grows for about 3 - 4 years before being shed
  • 40 million men and 25 million women suffer from hair loss
  • Scalp hair grows at a rate of about 1 cm (just under 1/2 an inch) over a month
  • We each have around 100,000 hairs on the scalp
  • In the United States of America there has not been an elected bald President since
    the television age began. 




Dihydrotestorone (DHT) builds up around the papilla, in effect, choking it. Each hair that is cycled through the follicle becomes thinner and thinner until the follicle eventually shuts down and can no longer produce thick hair.

How Hair Grows
The portion of the hair that we can see on head is called the shaft. Each shaft of hair protrudes from its follicle, which is a tube-like pouch just below the surface of the skin. The hair is attached to the base of the follicle by the hair root, which is where the hair actually grows and where it is nourished by blood capillaries. Like the rest of the body, hairs are made of cells. As new cells form at its root, the hair is gradually pushed further and further out of the follicle. The cells at the base of each hair are close to the blood capillaries, and are living.

As they get pushed further away from the base of the follicle they no longer have any nourishment, and so they die. As they die, they are transformed into a hard protein called keratin. So, each hair we see above the skin is dead protein. It is the follicle, which lies deep in the skin, that is essential in growing hair. Also, the thickness of each hair depends on the size of the follicle from which it is growing.


How Hair Loss Begin
If any of the stages of hair growth are disrupted, the individual may loss hair. For example, if follicles shut down (meaning that they stay in the resting phase, and then shed the hair) instead of growing new hairs there will be less hair on the head. Another reason might be interference with the formation of new hair cells at the root during the growing phase. If follicles have been destroyed (a burn, loss of layered skin or trauma), there will be baldness in that area. An individual can also look bald if the hairs are growing but are so fragile that they break just as they emerge from the follicle.

Recently, scientists at Columbia University in New York announced the discovery of a gene that appears to be the 'master switch' for hair growth. They found the gene after comparing the genes of hairless mice belonging to a mutant breed, and comparing the genes of 11 members of a family who had lost all their hair. This discovery is a step towards understanding how the hair follicle works and how baldness happens, and may lead to effective treatments becoming available in the future. 


Heredity
Heredity (genetics) is very important. If you have relatives with thin hair or who are bald then you may well develop the same problem. This tendency can be inherited from either the mother or the father side of the family and can skip generations.


Ageing
Ageing makes baldness more likely. 40% of men have noticeable hair loss by age 35, and 70% by age 60. Most elderly people have thin fine hair even if they are not noticeably bald.
 
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It is well known that many cancer chemotherapy medications cause baldness. Most people are willing to put up with hair loss when accepting treatments for life-threatening diseases. But a large number of popular medications can cause hair loss while neither pharmaceutical industry nor your doctor will tell you about this side effect. Here we compile a list of drugs that are know to cause hair loss in some patients:

Cholesterol-lowering drug: - clofibrate (Atromis-S) and gemfibrozil (Lopid)

Parkinson Medications: - levodopa (Dopar, Larodopa)

Ulcer drugs: - cimetidine (Tagamet), ranitidine (Zantac) and famotidine (Pepcid)

Anticoagulents: - Coumarin and Heparin

Agents for gout: - Allopurinol (Loporin, Zyloprim)

Antiarthritics: - penicillamine, auranofin (Ridaura), indomethacin (i\Indocin), naproxen (Naprosyn), sulindac (Clinoril), and methotrexate (Folex)

Drugs derived from vitamin-A: - isotretinoin (Accutane) and etretinate (Tegison)

Anticonvulsants for epilepsy: - trimethadione (Tridione)

Antidepressants: - tricyclics, amphetamines

Beta blocker drugs for high blood pressure: - atenolol (Tenormin), metoprolol (Lopressor), nadolol (Corgard), propranolol (Inderal) and timolol (Blocadren)

Antithyroid agents: - carbimazole, Iodine, thiocyanate, thiouracil

Others: - Blood thinners, male hormones (anabolic steroids)

Next time your doctor prescribes any drug for you, ask if it will cause hair loss. Your doctor may not realize this side effect. You can ask him or her to look it up in the Physicians' Desk Reference, which lists the side effects of all prescription medications. If the drug is linked to reversible alopecia, ask if another can be substituted. And just to make sure your physician has given you accurate information, when you get the prescription filled, ask your pharmacist as well.

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