As we grow older changes take place in our hormones and with this comes a decrease in the number of active hair follicles that a person has. However, although this is a change which will take place in us all as we grow older for some people they will lose their hair earlier in life because of either a hormonal change, their genetics or a disease. Through this article we hope to explain just what the causes of hair loss are.
The most common cause of hair loss is known as androgenetic alopecia. It can be found in both men and women and in the US between 7 and 15% of men by the age of 25 will experience it and by the time they reach 35 almost 40% will suffer from it to some degree. This is natural age related problem and will represent over 95% of all hair loss that is found in men. However, the exact cause for this form of hair loss in men is not known but it is clear that the genetic makeup of a person plays a huge part in their having it. Unfortunately those people who have more of the hormone androgens in their body then the faster they will lose their hair. The easiest way of assessing a man's chances of whether they will develop male pattern hair loss is by looking at their male relatives. They should start by looking at their own father's and grandfather's and then at their mother's father as well. If your mother's father suffers from it then you at a high risk of suffering from male pattern hair loss as well. Certainly the male pattern hair loss gene can easily come from a man's mother as well as the father, but it may not be as noticeable in the mother as it often is much slower to develop in women than in men.
Next we will take a look at telogen effluvium. This is often caused through stress it may be a death in the family, pregnancy, illness, a crash weight loss program or that you are worrying about something serious happening that can affect the hair follicles. It is believed that stress causes a major change to a large portion of the hair follicles and moves them from the growing stage to the rest stage. When hair follicles go into the rest stage they then let go of the hair that is already in place but does not actually provide new hair to replace that which is lost. This is the second most common cause for hair loss after androgenetic alopecia.
Above we have shown the two main causes of hair loss that women and men can suffer from and there are others which we will discuss later on in another article.
By: Staggerlee Phillips