Baldness, the unfortunate hair loss
Common baldness, sometimes called male- or female-pattern baldness, accounts for 99 percent of hair loss in men and women. Although its exact causes are unknown, heredity, hormones and age are contributing factors. Baldness is also known as alopecia. Baldness is usually most noticeable on the scalp, but can occur anywhere on the body where hair grows. The condition is more common in men than in women.
Causes of Baldness: Baldness is caused by a mixture of genetics and hormones that we have very little control of. Though scientists are pretty close to identifying the genes responsible for baldness, (there's more than one), the actual process of baldness is still quite a mystery.
There also is a strong inherited factor in balding. The trait can be inherited from either the mother's or the father's side of the family. It can affect both men and women, although women with this inherited tendency do not become completely bald.
Balding is a normal process that develops to some degree in all men. It is influenced by male sex hormones, called androgens.
Women suffering from baldness can blame powerful andogens created by the ovaries and adrenal glands combined with loss of estrogen for their hair loss. This is evidenced by a high-rate of female pattern baldness among women during menopause when testosterone levels are highest among women.
The process of balding is due to progressive miniaturization of individual hair follicles, which become smaller and have a shorter growth cycle. The hairs consequently become smaller and narrower. The number of hair follicles remains the same, however. There is the same number of hair follicles in the scalp of a bald man/woman as in the scalp of a man/woman with a full head of hair.
Ringworm: Small patches of hair loss associated with dandruff-like scaling of the scalp and stubby, broken hair shafts within the bald area is typical of scalp ringworm. It occurs in children and is highly contagious, but it is not a serious threat to health.
Alopecia areata: This condition involves patchy hair loss with normal underlying skin; the cause is unknown. As the hair in one patch starts to grow again, another bald patch may develop elsewhere. No cure for this condition is known, but it usually clears up by itself in six months to a year.
- Because of a disorder of the thyroid gland, in which there is too little thyroid hormone circulating throughout the body, causing inadequate stimulation of activity in body cells.
- As a side effect of medication or medical treatment (for example, chemotherapy or radiation therapy for cancer).
- After prolonged vitamin deficiencies, or a deficiency of protein or iron.
- Mental or physical stress, such as recent surgery, illness, or high fever. You may have a lot of hair loss 4 weeks to 3 months after severe physical or emotional stress. Your hair usually will grow back within a few months.
Hair care: Pulling your hair back too tightly or wearing tight braids or ponytails can cause hair loss. You may lose hair around the edge of the hairline, especially around the face and forehead. Using curling irons or dyes continually can also result in hair loss. Hair usually grows back when these activities are stopped..
Age: As you age, your hairs tend to break more easily, and hair follicles do not grow as much hair.
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Treatments Most forms of baldness have no cure. Some types of baldness will disappear on their own, but please go and visit a health care professional in this area, so you can have piece of mind.
Hair transplantation |
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Medications
The appropriate treatment depends on the initial cause of alopecia. If hair breakage is the problem, altering hair care practices often helps. Other forms of hair loss may require treatment with medications applied topically to the scalp, local injections of a corticosteroid or systemic medications.
Tissue expansion
In this procedure, a device called a tissue expander is placed underneath a hair-bearing area that is located next to a bald area. After several weeks, the tissue expander causes the skin to grow new skin cells. Another operation is then required to place the newly expanded skin over the adjacent bald spot.
Flap surgery
Flap surgery is ideal for covering large balding areas. During this procedure a portion of the bald area is removed and a flap of the hair-bearing skin is placed on to the bald area while still attached at one end to its original blood supply.
Scalp reduction
Scalp reduction is done in order to cover the bald areas at the top and back of the head. This technique involves the removal of the bald scalp with sections of the hair-bearing scalp pulled together filling in the bald area.
Precautions
- Eat a nutritionally balanced diet.
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Handle your hair gently and always try to allow your hair to air-dry naturally.
- Avoid tight hairstyles, such as braids, buns or ponytails.
- Avoid compulsively twisting, rubbing or pulling your hair.
- Check with hair care experts about hairpieces or styling techniques that help minimize the effects of balding.
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The over-the-counter (nonprescription) medication minoxidil (Rogaine) promotes new hair growth and prevents further hair loss in a small percentage of people. Other over-the-counter hair growth products have no proven benefit.
Your hair's future is largely determined before you're even born. Your follicles have been genetically programmed as to when, where and how much baldness (if any), you'll experience in your lifetime. But the fate of your hair can be altered or compensated for with modern hair loss treatments. Like your skin and nails, your hair goes through a finely tuned cycle of growth and rest. Excessive hair loss can occur at any time this delicate cycle is upset.
(Sources: healthscout.com, medicinenet.com, mayoclinic.com)
