July 20, 2008

Causes Of Hair Loss In Women

by Sarah Rowe

Although many people think that hair loss is predominantly a male complaint, this is just not the case. In fact, today one in four women are also likely to suffer from some form of hair loss at some point in their lives. Below we will look at what causes hair loss in women.

1. Female Pattern Baldness - Of all the kinds of hair loss problems women can suffer from this is the most common and is exactly the same type that men suffer from. As with men, woman will suffer from this particular hair loss problem when their body reacts to the male hormone testosterone that is naturally found in their body.

What happens is that testosterone, which women have small amounts of in their bodies, converts into DHT, which then affects hair growth. Although female pattern baldness may start later in life for a woman, and not be as extreme as in men because of the female hormones they have, it is still the same condition as that which men suffer from and is known as male pattern baldness.

2. Telogen Effluvium - This is the second most common type of hair loss problem for women today. But it is different from the above mentioned as rather than hair being lost completely from the scalp; this will cause hair thinning.

Often women who have suffered from some traumatic event in their lives find that they can start to suffer from this kind of hair loss problem. The reason being that their body has been placed under stress, which it finds difficult to cope with, and this results in hair growth being prevented or reduced. Some women, after having a child, may find that they suffer from this particular condition. Once their body is able to cope and starts to return back to normal, then normal hair growth usually resumes and the thinning stops.

3. Alopecia Areata - This is now the third most common kind of hair loss problem women can suffer from. You will find that where the above two kinds will be localized to a particular area of a woman's scalp; this type will cause hair loss to various different parts of the scalp. So hair loss is often somewhat patchy and can look very unsightly.

In the majority of cases where women are suffering from this type of hair loss disease, is related to their immune system being deficient. Certainly, it is quite common to see women who are undergoing or have undergone some form of cancer treatment to suffer from this kind of hair loss. Although for most women once their immune system returns to normal they will discover that hair begins to grow once more. Some women, one the other hand, may find if the condition is severe enough that the hair does not grow back.

Hopefully by understanding what causes hair loss in women you should be better able to judge whether you are suffering from such a problem or not. With this in mind you should take steps to prevent hair loss and to re grow your hair.

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Filed under health information by Sarah Rowe

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