Going bald is a fact of life for millions of men. Adults lose about 10,000 scalp hairs each and every day. Hair normally lives for around five years. With male pattern baldness these hairs do not always get replaced and gradually bald areas appear. This process can however take a long time and the age at which you start to lose hair does not necessarily provide any clues as to how long it will be until you define yourself as bald. There are a number of reasons why men start to go bald, but if you are a man between the ages of about 20 to 45 and you start to lose scalp hair, then the chances are 95 per cent certain that you are experiencing male pattern baldness. As the term suggests, male pattern baldness follows a typical sequence or pattern.

The normal cycle of hair growth and loss

The normal cycle of hair growth lasts for 2 to 6 years. Each hair grows approximately 1 centimeter (less than half an inch) per month during this phase. About 90 percent of the hair on your scalp is growing at any one time. About 10 percent of the hair on your scalp, at any one time, is in a resting phase. After 2 to 3 months, the resting hair falls out and new hair starts to grow in its place.
It is normal to shed some hair each day as part of this cycle. However, some people may experience excessive (more than normal) hair loss. Hair loss of this type can affect men, women and children.

Excessive Hair Loss Reasons

A number of things can cause excessive hair loss. For example, about 3 or 4 months after an illness or a major surgery, you may suddenly lose a large amount of hair. This hair loss is related to the stress of the illness and is temporary.
Hormonal problems may cause hair loss. If your thyroid gland is overactive or underactive, your hair may fall out.
Certain infections can cause hair loss. Fungal infections of the scalp can cause hair loss in children.
Finally, hair loss may occur as part of an underlying disease, such as lupus or diabetes.

The common baldness

The term “common baldness” usually means male-pattern baldness, or permanent-pattern baldness. Male-pattern baldness is the most common cause of hair loss in men. Men who have this type of hair loss usually have inherited the trait. Men who start losing their hair at an early age tend to develop more extensive baldness. In male-pattern baldness, hair loss typically results in a receding hair line and baldness on the top of the head.

Male Pattern Baldness

The male pattern baldness form of androgenetic alopecia accounts for more than 95% of hair loss in men. By age 35, two-thirds of UK and EU men will have some degree of appreciable hair loss and by age 50 approximately 85% of men have significantly thinning hair. About 25% of men who suffer from male pattern baldness begin the painful process before they reach 21.
Most men who suffer from male pattern baldness are extremely unhappy with their situation and would do anything to change it. Hair loss affects every aspect of their life. It affects interpersonal relationships as well as their professional life. It is not uncommon for men to change their career paths because of hair loss.

The Causes of Male Pattern Baldness

Most men are genetically predisposed to male pattern baldness. It is the effect of hormones on the hair follicle that produces male pattern baldness. Testosterone, a hormone that is present in high levels in males after puberty, is converted to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) by an enzyme called 5-alpha reductase. DHT has an adverse affect on the hair follicles. Acting on a hormone receptor on the hair follicle it slows down hair production and produces weak, shorter hair, sometimes it stops hair growth from the follicle completely. This process gradually depletes your stock of hair and is normal hair loss.

Know about DHT

Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is a derivative or by-product of testosterone. Testosterone converts to DHT with the aid of the enzyme 5-alpha-reductase. While the entire genetic process of male pattern baldness is not completely understood, scientists do know that DHT shrinks hair follicles, and that when DHT is suppressed, hair follicles continue to thrive. Today, with proper treatment, this process can be slowed or even stopped if caught early enough.

Treatments for hair loss Online

Depending on your type of hair loss, treatments are available. If a medicine is causing your hair loss, your doctor may be able to prescribe a different medicine. Recognizing and treating an infection may help stop the hair loss. Correcting a hormone imbalance may prevent further hair loss.
Medicines may also help slow or prevent the development of common baldness. One medicine, finasteride (brand name: Propecia) is available with a prescription, it is a FDA-approved products have been clinically proven to stop or prevent hair loss. It comes in pills and is only for men. You can buy it online from the site propeciafinasteride.co.uk .
Propecia Hair Loss Treatment Pills
Finasteride is the generic name for the brand name drugs Propecia. Finasteride was originally developed by the pharmaceutical company Merck as a drug to treat enlarged prostate glands.
During the trials on men with prostate problems, researchers noted an intriguing side effect: hair growth. Since finasteride had already been approved by the FDA to treat enlarged prostates in men, Merck decided to pursue the possibility of developing finasteride as the first pill to treat male pattern baldness.
In December 1997, the FDA approved a 1mg dose of finasteride for the treatment of androgenetic alopecia (male pattern baldness) in men. Propecia is the first drug in history to effectively treat male pattern baldness in the majority of men who use it.

Hair loss in men is caused by heredity, hormones, and age. One of the main reason is the over production of the hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which causes them to shrink. This “shrinkage” results in overall thinning with time. This causes thinning and baldness in men.

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Most hair loss and baldness is hereditary and there really isn’t any way to prevent it. Other things, however, can cause you to lose hair and if you don’t have baldness in your family, you could find yourself getting a little light on top if you don’t prevent it. If you’re one of the lucky ones that don’t have a family history of needing a toupee, then take some simple precautions and be sure to take good care of your hair.

1. Childbirth. When a woman is pregnant, her hair continues to grow. The usual 50 to 100 hairs per day are not shed. However, after she delivers her baby, many hairs enter the resting stage of the hair cycle at once. Within two to three months after delivery, these hairs may all fall out together and be seen as large amounts of hair coming out in their brushes and combs.

2. High fever, severe infection, major surgery, significant life stressor. From four weeks to three months after a person has a high fever, severe infection, major surgery, or significant life stressor such as death in the family, he or she may be shocked to see a lot of hair falling out. This condition usually corrects itself but may require treatment.

3. Thyroid disease. Both an overactive and underactive thyroid can cause hair loss. The hair loss associated with thyroid disease can be reversed with proper treatment.

4. Inadequate protein in diet. Some vegetarians, people who go on crash diets that exclude protein, and those with severely abnormal eating habits, may develop protein malnutrition. When this happens, a person’s body will help to save protein by shifting growing hairs into the resting phase. Massive hair shedding can occur two to three months later. Hair can then be pulled out by the roots. This condition can be reversed by eating the proper amount of protein.

5. Medications. Prescription drugs can cause temporary hair shedding in a small percentage of people. Examples of such drugs are blood thinners, some drugs used to treat gout and arthritis, acne, or psoriasis, and some medications for heart problems.

6. Cancer treatment drugs. Most drugs used in chemotherapy will cause hair cells to stop dividing. Hair shafts become thin and break off as they exit the scalp. This can occur one to three weeks after beginning chemotherapy. The patient may lose all of his hair, but this will usually re-grow after treatment ends.

7. Birth control pills. Women who lose their hair when taking birth control pills usually have an inherited tendency towards hair thinning.

8. Low serum iron. Iron deficiency sometimes produces hair loss. Low iron can be detected by laboratory tests and corrected with iron pills.

9. Alopecia areata. In this type of hair loss, hair usually falls out, resulting in totally smooth, round patches about the size of a coin or larger. This disease may affect children, women or men of any age.

10.Androgenic alopecia. This is the most common type of hair loss and is often called “male- or female-pattern baldness”. The hair usually thins out first in the front of the scalp and moves progressively to the back and top of the head. It tends to be progressive. This type of hair loss also runs in families.

11.Infections. Ringworm, or tinea capitus, is a common fungal infection in children. Patches of hair may be lost and replaced with pink scaly skin.

Most hair loss and baldness is hereditary and there really isn’t any way to prevent it. Other things, however, can cause you to lose hair and if you don’t have baldness in your family, you could find yourself getting a little light on top if you don’t prevent it. If you’re one of the lucky ones that don’t have a family history of needing a toupee, then take some simple precautions and be sure to take good care of your hair.

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The hair growth cycle normally lasts for 2 to 6 years. Each strand grows approximately 1 centimeter per month during this phase. About 90 percent of the hair on your scalp is randomly growing. The remaining 10 percent of the hair on your scalp, at any one time, is in a resting phase. After 2 to 3 months, the resting hair falls out and new hair begins to develop in its place.

This resting phase makes it normal to shed some hair each day as part of the cycle. However, some people may experience excessive hair loss. Hair loss that is more than normal can affect everybody, and it is good to know what causes this.

There are a number of things that can cause excessive hair loss. For example, about 3 or 4 months after an illness or a major surgery, a patient may abruptly lose a large amount of hair. This hair loss is associated to the stress of the illness and is temporary. Another example is when women just had a baby. This loss, that may occur 3 months after giving birth to most women, is also related to hormones. During pregnancy stage, high levels of certain hormones make the hair more attached to the body which minimizes hair loss. After birth, the hormones return to pre-pregnancy levels making that hair fall out. Then the normal cycle of growth and loss starts again.

Hormonal problems may cause hair loss too. For example, if your thyroid gland is overactive or underactive, your hair may fall out. This hair loss usually can be helped by treating the thyroid disease. Hair loss may also happen if male or female hormones, known as androgens and estrogens, are having an imbalance state. Correcting this hormonal imbalance may stop the unwanted hair loss.

Some medicines can also cause hair loss. But the moment you stop taking the medicine, hair loss stops too. The medicines that we are talking about include blood thinners (anticoagulants), medicines used for gout, medicines used in chemotherapy to treat cancer, vitamin A (if too much is taken), antidepressants and birth control pills.

Certain infections can also cause hair loss such as fungal infections of the scalp. The infection is easily treated with antifungal medicines. Improper hair care may cause hair loss as well. Wearing pigtails, cornrows, or tight hair rollers put much stress on your hair that can cause hair loss. Minimize using these regularly to avoid scarring of the scalp. Scarring can cause permanent hair loss.

Finally, hair loss could be part of an underlying disease you are suffering, such as lupus or diabetes. Since hair loss may be an early sign of these diseases, your urgency is to find the cause so that it can be treated. Examples of hair treatment that can scar your scalp in the process are hot oil treatments and chemicals used in permanents (commonly known as perms).

You may address your hair loss depending on the of type you are experiencing. If a medicine is causing your hair loss, your doctor may be able to prescribe an alternative. Spotting and treating an infection may help prevent hair loss. Correcting a hormone imbalance may stop further hair loss.

Medicines may also help slow or stop the occurence of common baldness. One unisexual medicine, minoxidil (with brand name: Rogaine), is available over the drugstore counter. Just apply it simply to the scalp. Another medicine (however, for men only), finasteride (brand name: Propecia) is available with a prescription and comes in pills. Effectivity of these medicines may take up to 6 months.

If the type of your hair loss has no adequate treatment available for your type, you may consider trying different hairstyles or wigs, hairpieces, hair weaves or artificial hair replacement.

The hair growth cycle normally lasts for 2 to 6 years. Each strand grows approximately 1 centimeter per month during this phase.

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Is hair loss really THAT normal? Hair loss is normal if the hair cycle is going smoothly but if it is disrupted by some factors, it will already be abnormal. Alopecia or baldness is a condition that has no cure. What you can get in the market are only remedies; products and solutions that can prevent further hair loss. In order to discover the right treatment that is suited to your condition, you must understand the cause of hair loss.

The hair cycle is divided into phases; the prominent phases are the dormant and growing phase. When your hair is already in the dormant phase, it will eventually fall off after some time. After the hair falls off, a new hair will grow. Every day, you shed approximately 1000 strands of hair. This is but normal but if new hair doesn’t grow back, you definitely have a problem.

Hair loss can happen to anyone, men and women, young and old. There are various causes of hair loss and it differs from one person to another. In order to discover the cause of your hair loss, you must consult a doctor. For information purposes, here are some of the major causes of hair loss. Familiarize yourself with the causes and if you experience any one of the causes, visit your family doctor immediately.

• Infection

Topical medications can be used if the cause of your hair loss is an infection. Only a licensed doctor can tell if the hair loss is caused by an infection, so don’t disregard your problem.

• Hormones

Pattern baldness is caused by hormones and this can happen to both men and women. If there is a change in the androgen or estrogen levels, hair loss can set in. An under-active or over-active thyroid gland may also be the cause of hair loss. In order to correct the hormonal imbalance, the doctor may give you steroid or hormone injections.

• Illness

If you have a prolonged illness, hair loss may be an effect. Even major surgery and stress can lead to hair loss. This only means that hair loss may be an indication of a certain health condition or illness. You can’t prevent hair loss if the illness is left uncured.

• Pregnancy

For women who have just given birth, you may be able to notice hair loss after three to four months of giving birth. Pregnancy is a period wherein hormonal changes take place in high levels. This is only temporary and new hair will grow back again. Styling your hair more often can correct the hair thinning.

• Medicines

Anticoagulants are medicines that can be the reason of your hair loss. If you’re taking pills, antidepressants, and excessive vitamin A, then you may suffer from hair loss. If you have cancer and gout and you’re undergoing a series of treatments, hair loss may be a side effect.

It pays to familiarize yourself with the causes of hair loss. Treat it as a warning sign so that you can act on the problem immediately and maintain your beautiful hair. Well of course, as you age its but normal to experience thinning of hair. That’s part of life and all you can do is to live with it. Know the true cause of hair loss and use the appropriate remedy or treatment to maintain your existing hair, and probably grow some hair back.

It pays to familiarize yourself with the causes of hair loss. Treat it as a warning sign so that you can act on the problem immediately and maintain your beautiful hair.

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Over the years male pattern baldness has received a lot of attention in the media and online, but how much have you heard of “female pattern baldness”? Do you know the causes of female hair loss? Do you know what you can do to combat it?
Today I want to talk to you about a condition that afflicts 25 million women in the United States alone and millions more women worldwide, it’s a condition that largely goes under reported and sometimes unrecognized until the later stages of life, but can begin to occur even early in a female’s life and that is “female pattern baldness”.
While this condition may not be as prevalent as the male version, it certainly demonstrates a problem today. The loss of hair can have profound effects, as psychologically stressful hair loss is for men, studies have shown the psychological impact on women can be greater. Women tend to put a stronger psychological value on their appearance and thinning hair, as they regard it as an attack on their appearance.

Common Causes Of Female Hair Loss-

1. Pregnancy- this one is the easy one ladies; during your pregnancy your body produces an excess of certain hormones. These hormones help you to keep hairs that normally would have fallen out during the regular hair growth cycle. The thinning occurs when your hormones return to pre-pregnancy levels, the normal cycle of hair growth and loss will return.

2. Medications- again the cure for this type of loss is normally simple, see your doctor to either stop taking the medication that is effecting your hair, or change the medication your on. Common medications that can cause hair loss include: blood thinners (anti-coagulants), medicine for gout, chemotherapy medications, vitamin A (if used in too large of amounts), birth control pills, and antidepressants.

3. Surgery- another temporary condition, after an illness or major surgery it is possible to experience significant hair thinning 3-4 months after the surgery due to the stresses involved.

4. Female Pattern Baldness- as in men, perhaps the most common cause of thinning is a condition called androgenetic alopecia. This is simply an inherited sensitivity to the effects of androgens (male hormones). The culprit is DHT or Dihydotestosterone, this hormone forms a waxy substance around hair follicles and starves them of the needed vitamins and minerals they need. The follicles produce thinner and thinner hairs, until the follicle burns out and no longer produces any hair.

Treatments-

Female pattern baldness normally manifests differently then that of the male version. In the female version thinning normally occurs all over the head, but the frontal hairline normally remains, in addition there may be mild to moderate loss at the crown of the head. However women rarely experience total or “cue ball” baldness such as men do.
Depending on the female’s comfort with her level of thinning the treatments can vary, from doing nothing to major restoration surgeries.

Hair Transplants- can cause minor scaring, and often requires multiple transplantation sessions. This procedure carries a moderate risk of infection, and may be expensive.The results often however are excellent and are permanent.

WARNING- the use of hair implants made of artificial fibres has been banned by the FDA because of high rates of infections.

Stitching- the act of suturing hair pieces to the scalp is not recommended, this procedure can result in sever scarring, infections, and abscess of the scalp.

Natural Medications- Only one drug or medication has been approved by the FDA to treat the causes of female hair loss Minoxidil. Studies have shown medications containing Minoxidil DO help to halt thinning and re-grow lost hair.

WARNING- Pregnant women should not use any product containing the drug Finasteride (Brand name: Propecia). This drug is not approved for use with women and has been shown to cause birth defects.

So there you have it, I have tried to arm you with the facts of the causes of female hair loss. I hope I have helped you to better understand your options for treatment. Your goal now that you have this important information should be to find the treatment that works best for you and to attack.

Over the years male pattern baldness has received a lot of attention in the media and online, but how much have you heard of “female pattern baldness”?

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