Learn the different Hair Loss Causes
Women’s Hair Loss Causes
Androgenetic Alopecia
The majority of women with androgenic alopecia have diffuse thinning on all areas of the scalp. Men on the other hand, rarely have diffuse thinning but instead have more distinct patterns of baldness. Some women may have a combination of two pattern types. Androgenic alopecia in women is due to the action of androgens, male hormones that are typically present in only small amounts. Androgenic alopecia can be caused by a variety of factors tied to the actions of hormones, including, ovarian cysts, the taking of high androgen index birth control pills, pregnancy, and menopause. Just like in men the hormone DHT appears to be at least partially to blame for the miniaturization of hair follicles in women suffering with female pattern baldness. Heredity plays a major factor in the disease.
Telogen Effluvium
When your body goes through something traumatic like child birth, malnutrition, a severe infection, major surgery, or extreme stress, many of the 90 percent or so of the hair in the anagen (growing) phase or catagen (resting) phase can shift all at once into the shedding (telogen) phase. About 6 weeks to three month after the stressful event is usually when the phenomenon called telogen effluvium can begin. It is possible to lose handful of hair at time when in full-blown telogen effluvium. For most who suffer with TE complete remission is probable as long as severely stressful events can be avoided. For some women however, telogen effluvium is a mysterious chronic disorder and can persist for months or even years without any true understanding of any triggering factors or stressors.
Anagen Effluvium
Anagen effluvium occurs after any insult to the hair follicle that impairs its mitotic or metabolic activity. This hair loss is commonly associated with chemotherapy. Since chemotherapy targets your body’s rapidly dividing cancer cells, your body’s other rapidly dividing cells such as hair follicles in the growing (anagen) phase, are also greatly affected. Soon after chemotherapy begins approximately 90 percent or more of the hairs can fall out while still in the anagen phase.
The characteristic finding in anagen effluvium is the tapered fracture of the hair shafts. The hair shaft narrows as a result of damage to the matrix. Eventually, the shaft fractures at the site of narrowing and causes the loss of hair.
Traction alopecia
This condition is caused by localized trauma to the hair follicles from tight hairstyles that pull at hair over time. If the condition is detected early enough, the hair will re-grow. Braiding, cornrows, tight ponytails, and extensions are the most common styling causes.
Men’s Hair Loss Causes
Androgenic alopecia or male pattern baldness (MPB)
MPB is responsible for the vast majority of hair loss in men. While there are many possible reasons people lose their hair, including serious disease, reaction to certain medications, and in rare cases extremely stressful events, most hair loss in men can be blamed on heredity.
What male pattern baldness sufferers are actually inheriting are hair follicles with a genetic sensitivity to Dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is a derivative or by-product of testosterone. Testosterone converts to DHT with the aid of the enzyme Type II 5-alpha-reductace, which is held in the hair follicle’s oil glands. Hair follicles that are sensitive to DHT begin to miniaturize, shortening the lifespan of each hair follicle affected. Eventually, these affected follicles stop producing cosmetically acceptable hair.
Male pattern baldness is generally characterized with the onset of a receding hairline and thinning crown. Hair in these areas including the temples and mid-anterior scalp appear to be the most sensitive to DHT. This pattern eventually progresses into more apparent baldness throughout the entire top of the scalp, leaving only a rim or “horseshoe” pattern of hair remaining in the more advanced stages of MPB. For some men even this remaining rim of hair can be affected by DHT.
Drug induced hair loss
Many commonly prescribed prescription drugs can cause temporary hair loss, trigger the onset of male and female pattern baldness, and even cause permanent hair loss. Note that the drugs listed here do not include those used in chemotherapy and radiation for cancer treatment. your doctor may not mention hair loss as a side effect of some drugs, so don’t forget to do your own research and read the drug manufacturer’s complete warnings. Your pharmacist can provide you with this information even before you fill a prescription.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy hair loss may occur on the scalp, face, underarms, and other places on the body. It is the most common side effect of chemotherapy treatment.
Why hair loss? In the case of chemotherapy, hair loss occurs because some anticancer drugs are made to kill fast-growing cancer cells. However, certain normal cells, like hair cells, are also fast growing; chemotherapy affects these cells, too. For almost everyone, hair begins to grow back several months after chemotherapy ends. While the hair may initially be of a different texture and even a somewhat different color than your original hair, this difference is usually temporary.
Children’s Hair Loss Causes
The vast majority of children suffering with hair loss do so because of the following conditions. All of these conditions should be easily diagnosed by your pediatrician or by a pediatric dermatologist.
Tinea capitis
Tinea capitis (ringworm of the scalp) is a disease caused by a superficial fungal infection of the skin of the scalp, eyebrows, and eyelashes, with a propensity for attacking hair shafts and follicles. The disease is considered to be a form of superficial mycosis or dermatophytosis. Several other names are used when referring to this infection, including ringworm of the scalp and tinea tonsurans. In the US and other regions of the world, the incidence of tinea capitis is increasing. The tinea capitis infection is the most common cause of hair loss in children.
Children with tinea capitis usually have patchy hair loss with some broken-off hairs visible just above the surface of the scalp. The patches of hair loss are usually round or oval, but sometimes irregular. Sometimes the hairs are broken right at the surface, and look like little black dots on the scalp. Sometimes gray flakes or scales are seen.
Alopecia Areata
Alopecia Areata is the sudden appearance of round or oval patches of hair loss. These patches are completely slick bald or smooth without any signs of inflammation, scaling, or broken hairs. They appear literally overnight, or sometimes over a few days.
Alopecia areata is thought to be caused by the body’s immune system attacking the hair follicles. At any given moment, about 1 in 1,000 children has alopecia areata. About 25% of these children will also have pitting or ridging of the nails.
With appropriate treatment, a large percentage of patients will have all of their hair back within one year — many will have it sooner. Children with alopecia areata should be under the care of a dermatologist. About 5% of children with alopecia areata will go on to develop alopecia totalis — the loss of all the hair on the scalp. Some of these will develop alopecia universalis — the complete loss of body hair.
Trauma
Trauma to the hair shaft is another common cause of hair loss in children. Often the trauma is caused by traction (consistently worn tight braids, pony-tails, etc.) or by friction ( rubbing against a bed or wheelchair for example). Chemical burns can also cause it.
Another misunderstood cause of trauma hair loss is called trichotillomania, the habit of twirling or plucking the hair. Trichotillomania is thought to be an obsessive-compulsive disorder that can be extremely difficult to treat since the patient usually feels compelled to pluck their hair. The hair loss is patchy, and characterized by broken hairs of varying length. Within the patches, hair loss is not complete. Some children with trichotillomania also have trichophagy — the habit of eating the hair they pluck. These patients can develop abdominal masses consisting of balls of undigested hair. As long as the hair trauma was not severe or chronic enough to cause scarring, the hair will re-grow when the trauma is stopped.
Telogen effluvium
Telogen effluvium is another common cause of hair loss in children. To understand telogen effluvium, one must understand a hair’s normal life cycle. An individual hair follicle has a long growth phase, producing steadily growing hair for 2 to 6 years (on average 3 years). This is followed by a brief transitional phase (about 3 weeks) when the hair follicle degenerates. This in turn is followed by a resting phase (about 3 months) when the hair follicle lies dormant. This last phase is called the telogenphase. Following the telogen phase, the growth phase begins again — new hairs grow and push out the old hair shafts. The whole cycle repeats. For most people, 80% to 90% of the follicles are in the growth phase, 5% are in the brief transition phase, and 10% to 15% are in the telogen phase. Each day about 50-150 hairs are shed and replaced by new hairs. In telogen effluvium, something happens to interrupt this normal life cycle and to throw many or all of the hairs into the telogen phase. Between 6 and 16 weeks later, partial or complete baldness appears. Many different events can cause telogen effluvium, including, extremely high fevers, surgery under general anesthesia, excess vitamin A, severe prolonged emotional stress such as a death of a loved one, severe injuries and the use of certain prescription medication such as accutane for acne