Hair Loss
Alopecia is the medical name for this condition, which may take many forms. It may even be total, where all head and body hair is lost, a condition called alopecia universalis. Total hair loss doesn't usually respond to treatment. Occasionally hair regrows as a soft down, often white or blonde for no obvious reason.
Hair loss may occur in small patches, often due to stress or fungal infection. Males in particular may show hair loss from quite an early age, which is usually noticed as a receding hairline over both temples and the crown. It may occur in women, too. Usually this type of hair loss runs in families.
Loss of hair in patches may occur in those who pull out their own hair; a condition usually associated with extreme stress and anxiety but does sometimes happen in children. It is particularly difficult to treat without curing the underlying mental illness.
What causes hair loss?
There are many reasons for hair loss, but the following tend to cause generalized hair thinning rather than patches of baldness:
- Genetics
- Iron deficiency and other forms of Anaemia
- Thyroid gland disorders
- Immune system problems
- Pregnancy
- Rapid weight loss
- Certain drugs
- Hormonal imbalance
- Lichen planus (a type of wart)
- Shock
- Stress
- Down's syndrome
Male-pattern baldness
Male-pattern baldness is the progressive loss of scalp hair, usually in a characteristic pattern. Hair is lost over several years, beginning at the temples and spreading to the crown until it leaves a ring of hair like a monk's tonsure around the scalp. Male-pattern baldness affects most men to some extent after the age of 30. It is thought to be hereditary and caused by an imbalance in the hormone testosterone, which is why it mainly affects men.
Hair loss in men is common after the age of 30 but may start at an even earlier age, and begins with a receding at the temples or forehead.
Over the next few years, probably due to an imbalance in hormones, hair continues to be lost from the sides of the head and the crown.
The condition rarely ends in total baldness but seems to arrest when the top of the head is hairless. The only permanent solution is a wig or hair transplant.
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