Thinning Hair is Not Just A Male Problem
>> Thursday, May 9, 2013
Erroneously thought to be a rigidly male illness, girls basically make up forty percent of American alopecia sufferers. Alopecia in women can be completely devastating for the sufferer's self image and psychological well-being.
Sadly, society has forced women to suffer in silence. It is considered far more satisfactory for men to go through the same hair loss process. More sadly, the medical community also treats the issue of women's hair loss as if it were nonexistent. Since baldness does not appear to be life-endangering, most physicians pay little attention to women's complaints about hair loss and fundamentally tell their patients that "it's no big deal", and that "you'll just have to live with it."
Of course what these physicians don't seem to realize is that the psychological damage due to baldness and feeling unattractive can be just as devastating as any significant disease, and in fact , can take an emotional toll that without delay affects physical health.
The North American Alopecia Organisation recognizes that baldness is girls is a rather serious life altering condition that can no longer be ignored by the medical profession and society as a whole.
Hair loss can be transient or long lasting. Transient alopecia can be simple to fix when its cause is identified and dealt with, or difficult when it is not straight away clear what the cause is. Alopecia that would doubtless have been transient, may become enduring because of a wrong diagnosis. The aptitude for such misdiagnoses is perhaps the most exasperating aspect of alopecia for women. The information in this section will help you in identifying the cause of your baldness and ideally lead you and your doctors to the right treatments for your individual sort of baldness, earlier, instead of later on.
Alopecia is the correct term for unnecessary or abnormal hair loss. There are different types of alopecia. What all alopecia has in common, whether it's in men or women, is that it's always a symptom of something else that is gone wrong in your body. Your hair will stay on your head where it belongs if hormone disequilibrium, illness, or some other condition is not happening. That condition might be as simple as having a gene that makes you at the mercy of male or female pattern balding or one of the sorts of alopecia areata, or it may be as complex in total host of illnesses. Luckily , baldness can also be an indication of a short term event such as stress, pregnancy, and the taking of certain medications. In these situations, hair will most likely (though not necessarily) grow back when the event has passed. Substances, including hormones, medications, and diseases could cause a change in hair growth, losing phases and in their durations. When this occurs, synchronous growth and losing happen. Once the cause is dealt with, many times hairs will go back to their random pattern of expansion and losing, and the alopecia problem stops. Unfortuantely, for some ladies, hair loss becomes a life long struggle.
Dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a derivative of the male hormone testosterone, is the enemy of follicles on your head. Simply put , in certain circumstances DHT wants those follicles dead. This simple action is at the roots of many sorts of hair loss, so we'll address it first.
Androgenetic alopecia, commonly called male or female pattern balding, was only partly understood until the last few decades. For a number of years, scientists thought that androgenetic alopecia was caused by the predominance of the male sex hormone, testosterone, which women also have in trace amounts under standard conditions. While testosterone is at the center of the balding process, DHT is believed to be the primary culprit.
Testosterone converts to DHT with the aid of the enzyme Type II 5-alpha reductase, which is held in a hair follicle's oil glands. Scientists now believe that it's not the amount of circulating testosterone that is the problem but the level of DHT binding to receptors in scalp follicles. DHT shrinks follicles, making it impossible for healthy hair to survive.
The hormonal process of testosterone converting to DHT, which then harms follicles, happens in both ladies and men. Under standard conditions, women have a minute fragment of the level of testosterone that men have, but even a lower level could cause DHT- caused hair loss in ladies. And definitely when those levels rise, DHT is even more of an issue. Those levels can rise and still be within what doctors consider "normal" on a blood test, although they're high enough to cause a problem. The levels may not rise at all and still be a difficulty if you have the kind of body chemistry that is very sensitive to even its regular levels of chemicals, including hormones.
Since. Hormones operate in the most healthy manner when they are in a delicate balance, the androgens, as male hormones are called, do not need to be raised to kick off a difficulty. Their opposite number female hormones, when lowered, give an edge to these androgens, for example DHT. Such a disequilibrium can also cause Problems, including alopecia.
Hormones are cyclical. Testosterone levels in some men drop by 10 p.c each decade after thirty. Women's hormone levels decline as menopause approaches and drop abruptly during menopause and beyond. The cyclic nature of both our hair and hormones is one reason hair loss can increase in the short term even when you're experiencing a long-term slowdown of baldness (and a long-term increase in hair growth) while on a treatment that controls baldness.
These are the most typical reasons behind women?s hair loss:
Andogenetic Alopecia
The great majority of girls with androgenic alopecia have diffuse thinning on all areas of the scalp. Men from the other perspective, rarely have diffuse thinning but instead have more distinct patterns of hair loss. Some women may have a mixing of two pattern types. Androgenic alopecia in women is because of the action of androgens, male hormones that are usually present in only tiny amounts. Androgenic alopecia can be due to a selection of factors tied to the actions of hormones, including, ovarian cysts, the taking of high androgen index birth control tablets, pregnancy, and menopause. As in men the hormone DHT seems to be at least partially to blame for the miniaturization of hair follicles in ladies suffering with female pattern baldness. Heredity plays a big factor in the illness.
Telogen Effluvium
When your body goes through something traumatising like kid birth, malnutrition, a harsh infection, major surgery, or extraordinary stress, lots of the 90 p.c or so of the hair in the anagen (growing) phase or catagen (resting) phase can shift all at once into the losing (telogen) phase. About 6 weeks to 3 month after the stressful event is usually when the phenomenon called telogen effluvium can begin. It is possible to lose handful of hair at time when in major telogen effluvium. For most who suffer with TE complete remission is likely as long as severely stressed events can be avoided. For some girls however , telogen effluvium is a mysterious protracted disorder and can endure for months or perhaps years without any true understanding of any causing factors or stressors.
Anagen Effluvium
Anagen effluvium occurs after any insult to the follicle that damages its mitotic or metabolic activity. This alopecia is sometimes linked with chemical treatment. Since chemo targets your body?s quickly dividing cancer cells, your body?s other rapidly dividing cells such as hair follicles in the growing (anagen) phase, are also considerably influenced. Soon after chemical treatment starts roughly 90 percent or more of the hairs can fall out while still in the anagen phase.
The characteristic finding in anagen effluvium is the pointed fracture of the hair shafts. The hair shaft narrows on account of damage to the matrix. Eventually, the shaft fractures at the location of narrowing and causes the loss of hair.
Traction alopecia
This condition is due to local trauma to the follicles from tight hairstyles that pull at hair over time. If the condition is spotted early enough, the hair will regrow. Braiding, cornrows, tight ponytails, and extensions are the commonest styling causes.
Sadly, society has forced women to suffer in silence. It is considered far more satisfactory for men to go through the same hair loss process. More sadly, the medical community also treats the issue of women's hair loss as if it were nonexistent. Since baldness does not appear to be life-endangering, most physicians pay little attention to women's complaints about hair loss and fundamentally tell their patients that "it's no big deal", and that "you'll just have to live with it."
Of course what these physicians don't seem to realize is that the psychological damage due to baldness and feeling unattractive can be just as devastating as any significant disease, and in fact , can take an emotional toll that without delay affects physical health.
The North American Alopecia Organisation recognizes that baldness is girls is a rather serious life altering condition that can no longer be ignored by the medical profession and society as a whole.
Hair loss can be transient or long lasting. Transient alopecia can be simple to fix when its cause is identified and dealt with, or difficult when it is not straight away clear what the cause is. Alopecia that would doubtless have been transient, may become enduring because of a wrong diagnosis. The aptitude for such misdiagnoses is perhaps the most exasperating aspect of alopecia for women. The information in this section will help you in identifying the cause of your baldness and ideally lead you and your doctors to the right treatments for your individual sort of baldness, earlier, instead of later on.
Alopecia is the correct term for unnecessary or abnormal hair loss. There are different types of alopecia. What all alopecia has in common, whether it's in men or women, is that it's always a symptom of something else that is gone wrong in your body. Your hair will stay on your head where it belongs if hormone disequilibrium, illness, or some other condition is not happening. That condition might be as simple as having a gene that makes you at the mercy of male or female pattern balding or one of the sorts of alopecia areata, or it may be as complex in total host of illnesses. Luckily , baldness can also be an indication of a short term event such as stress, pregnancy, and the taking of certain medications. In these situations, hair will most likely (though not necessarily) grow back when the event has passed. Substances, including hormones, medications, and diseases could cause a change in hair growth, losing phases and in their durations. When this occurs, synchronous growth and losing happen. Once the cause is dealt with, many times hairs will go back to their random pattern of expansion and losing, and the alopecia problem stops. Unfortuantely, for some ladies, hair loss becomes a life long struggle.
Dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a derivative of the male hormone testosterone, is the enemy of follicles on your head. Simply put , in certain circumstances DHT wants those follicles dead. This simple action is at the roots of many sorts of hair loss, so we'll address it first.
Androgenetic alopecia, commonly called male or female pattern balding, was only partly understood until the last few decades. For a number of years, scientists thought that androgenetic alopecia was caused by the predominance of the male sex hormone, testosterone, which women also have in trace amounts under standard conditions. While testosterone is at the center of the balding process, DHT is believed to be the primary culprit.
Testosterone converts to DHT with the aid of the enzyme Type II 5-alpha reductase, which is held in a hair follicle's oil glands. Scientists now believe that it's not the amount of circulating testosterone that is the problem but the level of DHT binding to receptors in scalp follicles. DHT shrinks follicles, making it impossible for healthy hair to survive.
The hormonal process of testosterone converting to DHT, which then harms follicles, happens in both ladies and men. Under standard conditions, women have a minute fragment of the level of testosterone that men have, but even a lower level could cause DHT- caused hair loss in ladies. And definitely when those levels rise, DHT is even more of an issue. Those levels can rise and still be within what doctors consider "normal" on a blood test, although they're high enough to cause a problem. The levels may not rise at all and still be a difficulty if you have the kind of body chemistry that is very sensitive to even its regular levels of chemicals, including hormones.
Since. Hormones operate in the most healthy manner when they are in a delicate balance, the androgens, as male hormones are called, do not need to be raised to kick off a difficulty. Their opposite number female hormones, when lowered, give an edge to these androgens, for example DHT. Such a disequilibrium can also cause Problems, including alopecia.
Hormones are cyclical. Testosterone levels in some men drop by 10 p.c each decade after thirty. Women's hormone levels decline as menopause approaches and drop abruptly during menopause and beyond. The cyclic nature of both our hair and hormones is one reason hair loss can increase in the short term even when you're experiencing a long-term slowdown of baldness (and a long-term increase in hair growth) while on a treatment that controls baldness.
These are the most typical reasons behind women?s hair loss:
Andogenetic Alopecia
The great majority of girls with androgenic alopecia have diffuse thinning on all areas of the scalp. Men from the other perspective, rarely have diffuse thinning but instead have more distinct patterns of hair loss. Some women may have a mixing of two pattern types. Androgenic alopecia in women is because of the action of androgens, male hormones that are usually present in only tiny amounts. Androgenic alopecia can be due to a selection of factors tied to the actions of hormones, including, ovarian cysts, the taking of high androgen index birth control tablets, pregnancy, and menopause. As in men the hormone DHT seems to be at least partially to blame for the miniaturization of hair follicles in ladies suffering with female pattern baldness. Heredity plays a big factor in the illness.
Telogen Effluvium
When your body goes through something traumatising like kid birth, malnutrition, a harsh infection, major surgery, or extraordinary stress, lots of the 90 p.c or so of the hair in the anagen (growing) phase or catagen (resting) phase can shift all at once into the losing (telogen) phase. About 6 weeks to 3 month after the stressful event is usually when the phenomenon called telogen effluvium can begin. It is possible to lose handful of hair at time when in major telogen effluvium. For most who suffer with TE complete remission is likely as long as severely stressed events can be avoided. For some girls however , telogen effluvium is a mysterious protracted disorder and can endure for months or perhaps years without any true understanding of any causing factors or stressors.
Anagen Effluvium
Anagen effluvium occurs after any insult to the follicle that damages its mitotic or metabolic activity. This alopecia is sometimes linked with chemical treatment. Since chemo targets your body?s quickly dividing cancer cells, your body?s other rapidly dividing cells such as hair follicles in the growing (anagen) phase, are also considerably influenced. Soon after chemical treatment starts roughly 90 percent or more of the hairs can fall out while still in the anagen phase.
The characteristic finding in anagen effluvium is the pointed fracture of the hair shafts. The hair shaft narrows on account of damage to the matrix. Eventually, the shaft fractures at the location of narrowing and causes the loss of hair.
Traction alopecia
This condition is due to local trauma to the follicles from tight hairstyles that pull at hair over time. If the condition is spotted early enough, the hair will regrow. Braiding, cornrows, tight ponytails, and extensions are the commonest styling causes.
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For more information on female hair loss treatments, visit Virginia Surgical Hair Center to register for a free online hair loss consultation.
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