Hair loss in men and women can be due to different causes. Nonetheless, the most important reason, common to the great majority of men, is the hereditary ‘androgenetic alopecia’, better known as ‘masculine pattern of baldness’.
 The presence of the ‘dihydro-testosterone’ (DHT) hormone in men that have a genetic predisposition to same is necessary for the development of this type of baldness. Due to the same cause, most of women who have hair loss have a feminine hereditary pattern. Other less frequent causes that may cause temporary or permanent hair loss problems, such as ‘‘lupus erythematous’, ‘lichen planus’, and the ‘alopecia areata’, amongst others.
Its causes are still under investigation, but the hormones that influence in the loss of hair in women can be different than those in men. Other less frequent causes, but that we must take into consideration, are in their majority, reversible with the right treatment, like the diseases resulting from thyroids, iron deficit, high fever, general anesthesia or surgery, strict diets, post-childbirth and intake of certain medication.
Many myths around hair loss problems exist. We can ascertain that it is not influenced by bad circulation, nor by the obstruction of hair follicles, or by the daily shampooing, nor due to the use of caps or helmets, or by the infestation with ‘acaruses’. It is important to remember that most of adults lose between 75 to 125 hairs every day due to the natural renovation process, by which some hair follicles enter into a resting phase (telogen), while others begin to generate a new hair (anagen). One another hair loss factor is stress, which can accelerate hair loss genetically programmed. Nonetheless, stress probably will not cause hair loss by itself, without the collaboration of the necessary hormones and genes.
The trend of losing hair, present in both masculine as in feminine patterns, is inherited from any branch of the family and begins to develop after the late stages of puberty. Hair that is genetically susceptible to the ‘androgenetic alopecia’ (commonly the ones at the front and central zone of the scalp) begins to reduce in its diameter and in its length during each vital cycle of 3 to 5 years, until it completely disappears. Hair found at the back and sides of the scalp is generally permanent, and it is destined to remain for life.
|
