Male Hereditary Hair Loss
Hereditary hair loss in males is also known as male pattern baldness. It is more common with increasing age. The condition affects different populations at different rates and accounts for 99% of hair loss in men. It affects half the male population by the age of 50.
Hair loss starts in men from about the age of 30, but can occur at any age past puberty. How quickly or slowly baldness develops, and the pattern of hair loss, appear to be determined by the genes you inherited from your parents.
Your genes affect how sensitive your scalp is to a hormone called dihydrotestosterone , which shortens the growth phase of your hair. Your hair follicles also become smaller in response to DHT and you subsequently produce fewer and finer hairs.
What Causes Hair Loss
Hair loss, is known medically as alopecia and is fairly common. According to the NHS the most common type of hair loss is known as male and female pattern baldness, which is thought to be inherited.
Other known causes of temporary hair loss include: illness, stress, cancer treatment, weight loss and iron deficiency. Mothers may also experience post-pregnancy hair loss.
Male and female pattern baldness tends to happen as people grow older.
Hormone-related hair loss in women, divides itself between perimenopausal hair thinning and hair loss as a result of the reduction in production of oestrogen, and post-natal – after childbirth women often experience significant hair loss, Laura Sagen, founder of The Hair Fuel, tells Yahoo UK.
It is a result of elevated levels of oestrogen during pregnancy that now return to normal levels and all the hair that should have fallen out during pregnancy, but didn’t, now starts to shed at the same time and that can be a shocking experience for those unfamiliar with this phenomena.
Stress-related hair loss can occur in all genders and occurs during high-stress periods when the body focuses its provision of nutrients to life-supporting functions .
Sagen believes “managing stress becomes paramount” in relation to COVID-related hair loss.
“Hair growth is not one of the crucial life-supporting functions so our body reduces its support for it, Sagen explains.
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What Is Hair Loss
Hair loss is the condition of losing hair from certain areas of the body and not having the lost amount grow back. It can affect men and women at any age and can be caused by a number of factors.
But the biggest majority of hair loss cases are related to androgenetic alopecia, which most men and women go through in their adult life.
Mind you, Ive said not having the lost amount grow back, because hair loss happens when you either:
Consistently lose more hair than you can grow in a certain period of time, or,
Are unable to regrow the hair youve lost.
I know both sounds the same, so let me explain:
When you get down to the causes of hair loss, youre either going to end up with a variable reducing your hair growth, or a variable that is increasing the rate youre losing hair. So, while a part of the methods weve included on this list will focus on decreasing your hair loss rate, the other part of them will focus on increasing your hair growth rate.
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Use A Shampoo Thats Mild And Suited For Your Hair
The purpose of shampoo is to cleanse your hair of dirt and excess oil. But many commercial shampoos contain harsh ingredients. After just one use, they can strip your hair of the natural oil and fatty acids that make it strong and supple. Read the ingredients of your shampoo and purchase one thats as close to all-natural as possible. Try switching up products if youve been losing excess hair.
What Causes Hair Loss In Men
Male hair loss is caused by the hormone testosterone being converted to DHT, which causes hair follicles to shrink. Hair growth subsequently slows down or even stops altogether.
Male hair loss is usually genetic, although it can also be caused by:
- Extreme stress
- Side effects to medical treatment
- A major life event
- Skin disorders
- Hormone imbalance.
Its worth noting here that there is no correlation between the level of normal testosterone and baldness.
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How To Prevent Hair Loss After Pregnancy
Many women experience dehydration, fatigue, stress, and falling estrogen levels as their body adjusts to life after pregnancy. This causes increased sensitivity in hair follicles, which can lead to a period of increased hair loss. Some of this hair loss is often related to the stress and exhaustion of having a baby. This condition is temporary and should resolve within a year after the pregnancy has ended.
You can try to minimize hair loss after pregnancy by continuing to take your prenatal vitamins if you are breastfeeding, eating a healthy diet, and avoiding tight hairstyles that pull hair away from the scalp. Dermatologists recommend using lightweight shampoos and conditioners and seeing a stylist to make hair loss appear less obvious until your hair shedding slows down.
Is Hair Loss A Symptom Of Covid
Many people notice hair loss in the months after recovering from a COVID-19 infection. We now know that more than 20% of people hospitalized with COVID-19 lose hair in the 3 to 6 months after discharge. Other studies that include people with milder symptoms suggest that hair loss after COVID-19 may actually be much more common.
There are many reasons why you may lose your hair, and stress is a common cause. The clinical term for hair loss thats related to stress is telogen effluvium. It usually happens about 3 months after a stressful event, and it can commonly last for up to 6 months. Telogen effluvium often happens after other stressful life events such as having a baby or a major surgery.
Cases of telogen effluvium have grown a lot since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic they are up over 400%. And rates of this condition are highest in people of color and other groups disproportionately affected by COVID-19.
While we dont fully understand why this is the case, it is thought to be related to the stress of having COVID-19. Theres no evidence yet that the COVID-19 virus directly causes this hair loss.
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What Is Not Considered Hair Loss
According to the American Academy of Dermatologists, it is normal to lose 100 strands of hair per day.
Shedding some of your hair is part of your hair growth cycle. And since there are more than 100,000 hair follicles, it does not make any difference in appearance.
However, each person is unique and should be personally examined to find out whether their hair loss is normal or not.
Better safe than sorry, right?
Pills To Prevent Hair Loss
Finasteride blocks the enzyme that converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone , a hormone considered the major culprit in male pattern baldness. DHT thins the hair of men who have inherited a baldness gene because it shrinks genetically sensitive hair follicles until those follicles can no longer grow hair. Finasteride slows hair loss in as many as 90% of men, and most men who take it regrow some hair.
You can use minoxidil and finasteride together, often for better results. Whether you use one or both, Penstein says, you must stick to that treatment.
“You’re not curing the problem. You’re just keeping it at bay, and that takes commitment,” Penstein says. “The moment you stop, you start losing hair again, sometimes faster than before.” Learn more about what you can do to help prevent a receding hairline.
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How Common Is Hair Loss In Women
Many people think that hair loss only affects men. However, it is estimated that more than 50% of women will experience noticeable hair loss. The most significant cause of hair loss in women is female-pattern hair loss , which affects about one-third of susceptible women, which equals out to some 30 million women in the United States.
Whats Hair Loss In Women
Hair loss in women is just that when a woman experiences unexpected, heavy loss of hair. Generally, humans shed between 50 and 100 single hairs per day. Hair shedding is part of a natural balance some hairs fall out while others grow in. When the balance is interrupted when hair falls out and less hair grows in hair loss happens. Hair loss is different than hair shedding. The medical term for hair loss is alopecia.
Hair grows on almost all of your skin surfaces not the palms of your hands, soles of your feet, lips or eyelids. Light, fine, short hair is called vellus hair. Terminal/androgenic hair is thicker, darker and longer.
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Common Reasons For Hair Loss
Not every person who is experiencing hair loss or thinning hair does so in the same exact way. There are many different reasons for hair loss, and discovering the root cause of your thinning hair can help you determine what approachâwhether itâs making a change in diet, working to reduce the amount of stress from your life, or taking hair loss vitamins â is most likely to be successful at reversing the effects of hair loss. Here are some common reasons for hair loss…
Be Very Gentle While Drying Your Hair
If you dry your hair by vigorously rubbing it with a towel, you are setting yourself up for failure. This will leave your hair tangled, broken, dry, and weak none of this will help you to stop hair loss. Try to squeeze the excess water using a microfiber towel , and then allow your hair to air dry. If you cant live without your blow dryer, you can also compromise by setting its temperature at low or cold, if possible.
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How Do You Stop Hair Loss In The Elderly
You can follow a few hair hygiene tips to make your hair less likely to fall out.
Can Hair Loss Be Reversed
Yes and no. It depends on what type of hair loss youre experiencing.
Some types, like cicatricial alopecia, are permanent, while others that may be caused by stress or a medical condition are temporary. Once the cause has been identified and eliminated, your hair should start growing back.
Generally speaking, if the trigger goes away or whatever caused the injury to the hair follicle, then the hair will recover over a period of four to six months to a year, says Dr. Bergfeld.
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Heat Out Of The Shower Is Not So Great Either
The shower is not the only place where your hair is potentially being damaged by heat. When your hair is wet “the cuticles swell with water and weaken” and are more prone to snap off, Dominic Burg, PhD, chief scientist, hair biologist, microbiologist, and trichologist for evolis Professional told She Finds. But getting it dryor curly or straightcan also be in an issue. “Using hot styling tools on wet hair after showering can also lead to damage and breakage, as this ‘flash drying’ is essentially boiling the water residue inside your hair,” Burg noted.
Any excessive heat styling, whether blowdrying, straightening, or curling, can contribute to hair loss. If you’re concerned about thinning hair, it’s best to let your locks air dry or use a microfiber towel to get them as dry as possible before you blow dry. If you can’t live without your heat tools, Townsend says to make sure to turn the heat down to “help prevent more dryness and damage.” He keeps his irons under 300 degrees.
Liquid Hair Loss Treatment
Initially used to treat high blood pressure, minoxidil was the first medication approved by the FDA to treat male pattern baldness. By applying Rogaine directly to the scalp twice a day, a man in the early stages of hair loss can often stimulate growth. The American Hair Loss Association points out that results of treatment with minoxidil are limited, but it still endorses using it in combination with other treatments or as an alternative if finasteride doesn’t work.
“I caution patients to try it for a limited time,” Bernstein says. “Because it’s not as simple as a pill, use isn’t always regular, and you end up losing whatever you gained.”
Side effects of minoxidil are limited to occasional itchiness and dry scalp.
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Why Does Hair Fall Out
The hair on your head goes through a life cycle that involves growth, resting, and shedding. Its common for people to lose around 100 hairs a day.
If you experience more sudden loss, loss in patches, or overall thinning, you may want to see your doctor.
Some shedding is temporary and may respond well to changes in diet, certain treatments, or lifestyle changes. Other loss may be more permanent or not stop until an underlying condition is treated.
It’s Nature Not Nurture
Despite what people may say about hair washing and hat wearing, patterned hair loss is a result of genetic and hormonal factors.
It’s the androgen hormones in our body that we think make hair follicles shrink and stop growing in people with a genetic susceptibility.
Whether or not this happens in a particular person, at what age it starts, as well as how extensive it will be is determined by the person’s genes.
It’s thought that several genes determine how susceptible you are to losing your hair, and these can come from your mother’s and father’s side of your family.
“It’s how those genes interplay that determines what’s happening in the offspring,” Professor Sinclair says.
“It’s not an all or nothing phenomena it’s not like brown eyes or blue eyes. It’s a quantitative trait so the question is not will you go bald, but how much baldness will you get.”
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