Baldness typically refers to excessive hair loss fromyour scalp and can be the result of heredity, certain medications or anunderlying medical condition. Anyone-men, women and children can experiencehair loss.
Some people prefer to let their baldness run its courseuntreated and unhidden. Others may cover it up with hairstyles, makeup, hats orscarves. And still others choose one of the medications and surgical proceduresthat are available to treat hair loss. Before pursuing any of these treatmentoptions, talk with your doctor about the cause of and best possible treatmentsfor your hair loss.
Hair loss usually develops gradually and may be patchy ordiffuse (all over). Roughly 100 hairs are lost from your head every day. Theaverage scalp contains about 100,000 hairs.
Each individual hair survives for an average of 4-1/2years, during which time it grows about half an inch a month. Usually in its5th year, the hair falls out and is replaced within 6 months by a new one.Genetic baldness is caused by the body's failure to produce new hairs and notby excessive hair loss.
Both men and women tend to lose hair thickness and amountas they age. Inherited or "pattern baldness" affects many more menthan women. About 25% of men begin to bald by the time they are 30 years old,and about two-thirds are either bald or have a balding pattern by age 60.
Typical male pattern baldness involves a recedinghairline and thinning around the crown with eventual bald spots. Ultimately,you may have only a horseshoe ring of hair around the sides.
In addition to genes, male-pattern baldness seems torequire the presence of the male hormone testosterone. Men who do not producetestosterone (because of genetic abnormalities or castration) do not developthis pattern of baldness.
Some women also develop a particular pattern of hair lossdue to genetics, age, and male hormones that tend to increase in women aftermenopause. The pattern is different from that of men. Female pattern baldnessinvolves a thinning throughout the scalp while the frontal hairline generallyremains intact.
Causes:
Baldness is not usually caused by a disease, but isrelated to aging, heredity, and testosterone. In addition to the common maleand female patterns from a combination of these factors, other possible causesof hair loss, especially if in an unusual pattern, include:
•Alopecia areata -- bald patches thatdevelop on the
scalp, beard, and, possibly, eyebrows.Eyelashes may
fall out as well.
•Autoimmune conditions such as lupus
•Burns
•Certain infectious diseases such assyphilis
•Chemotherapy
•Emotional or physical stress
•Excessive shampooing and blow-drying
•Fever
•Hormonal changes -- for example, thyroiddisease,
childbirth, or use of birth control pills
•Nervous habits such as continual hairpulling or scalp
rubbing
•Radiation therapy
•Tinea capitis(ringworm of the scalp)
•Tumor of the ovary or adrenal glands
Forms of hair loss:
1. Telogeneffluvium: When the patient undergoes tremendous stress or tensions thisform of hair loss occur within two to three months as a protracted illness ofthe head scalp. The syndrome is also triggered by any sudden change in thehormones of the patient too. The patient can experience the hair fall at thepillow, at the hairbrush or comb and at the bathing tub of the bathroom. Thehair fall condition in this context isn’t severe by nature with a thin liningof the scalp only not having an outsized bald spot of the head.
2. Medical illnessof the body: The next form of illness for a hair fall syndrome is themedical illness such as: Lupus or syphilis (thyroid gland disorder) or a sexhormonal imbalance. These syndromes triggers the disease to enhance in the bodywith quiet seemingly advanced versions and thus causes the abrupt hair fall ofthe head scalp.
3. Deficiency ofthe nutrients: Nutritional deficiencies play a pivotal role in underminingthe hair fall form from the scalp of the head. The serious implications of thedeficiency can be caused due to the dearth of body nutrients such as: zinc,biotin, protein, iron and minerals etc. The people with restrictive diets andwomen with heavy menstrual period flow at the time of pregnancy experiences thehair fall more then in normal day-to-day jargon of life.
4. InfectiousTinea capitis of the scalp: This is a fungus that grapples the roots of thehair follicles and causes only a partial baldness of the scalp. The infectiousagent has a propensity to break the skin surface and makes the surface of thescalp look scaly by nature. This part of the infectious fungus is foundespecially in young children.
5. AlopeciaAerate: The disease is an autoimmune disease of the head scalp. One or moretiny patches fall out when in rest of the times if ill-treated can cause thetotal bald patch of the head scalp. The traumatic alopecia is the result ofhairdressing techniques that involves tight braiding of the hair follicles andexposing the delicate hair to heat twisting the hair with iron curlers orrollers and damaging the roots of the hair through strong chemicals which are:hair coloring or bleaching etc.
The people with psychiatric disorders tends to loose hairfaster and in larger quantities then others who aren’t at all worried aboutexcessive twisting and mesmerizing hair pulling. They relish their hair.Hereditary also causes the form of baldness of the scalp which is known upon asandroid-genetic disorder of the bloodstream.
