Causes Of Female Hair Loss
Thursday, August 7th, 2008There are a number of different reasons for why a woman may find that she starts to lose her hair. Yet although some women do suffer from hair loss, it is not to the same extent that men do. In this article, we look at one reason that is the cause of female hair loss and is the most common.
Yet even though we still think that hair loss is predominantly a male problem, today quite a few women are likely to suffer from some form of serious hair loss. In fact, according to the American Academy of Dermatology around 30 million women in the United States alone are troubled with hair loss of one sort or another.
For some women the reason that they start to lose hair is because of their genetic makeup. This kind of hair loss comes down to the way that the hormones known as androgens in their body interfere with the natural processes. The hormones, which make up this particular group, are androstenedione, testosterone and Dihydrotestosterone or DHT. All of which both men and women produce, but a woman’s amounts are much smaller than those produced by a man’s are.
Although all women have this hormone in their bodies, when it is able to connect with a particular enzyme it can then convert easily into Dihydrotestosterone (DHT). This then binds itself to the woman’s hair follicle receptors and starts to interfere with the growth of hair on her body.
Over time, there will be a build up of DHT in the hair follicles, this then will begin to cause them to shrink. This in turn results in the disruption of the natural hair growth patterns and often results in hair loss occurring. This will then result in suffering from female pattern baldness or referred to medically as androgenic alopecia.
Yet even though this form of baldness in women is similar to the version that men get there are some slight differences between them. In most cases for women, it will be very difficult to see because it is diffused and often is a thinning of the hair rather than them losing hair and becoming bald. As for men they will start to see the line of hair begin to thin and then recede altogether. The most common place it occurs on women is on the top of their scalps, as for men it happens at the crown, on the temple, or at the back of the head.
In addition, the other difference with this particular kind of hair loss in women compared to men is that in men not only is it related to their genetic makeup but also to their age. With women, however this particular form of hair loss can be suffered at any stage of their lives and may well be caused by some other underlying medical condition.
Along with the above, there are other reasons as to what is the cause of female hair loss in women. For some women the cause may be from some kind of medical condition. Whilst the cause for others may have been because a traumatic event has taken place in their lives and considerable stress has been placed on their bodies.