Know Your Facts When it Comes to Hair Loss
Hair loss (alopecia) can be attributed to a variety of possible causes.
Unless specifically diagnosed with an associated condition, it can be hard to specifically pinpoint what the reason is for specific patients.
Every person loses hair every single day, and under normal circumstances, re-grows hair in the same spot.
When this process is interrupted with more hairs being lost and less being re-grown, the result is alopecia.
Hair loss, especially when severe, is noticed simply by looking in the mirror.
In more minor cases, especially in women, the size of your pony tail may be thinning.
Both men and women are known to suffer negative self-image and sometimes, depression as a result.
Hair loss in itself is not associated with any other medical condition or risk.
However, it is often an indication of another illness, and if you experience a sudden onset outside of the normal daily range, a visit to the doctor is warranted.
If you experience confusion, poor appetite, constipation, diarrhea, sudden weight loss, vomiting, fever or pain along with it, get immediate medical attention.
4 TYPES OF ALOPECIA Adrogenic: This is the most common type and is often referred to as "male pattern baldness".
Traumatic: For this type, hair is torn out due to trauma of some sort.
Drug-induced: caused by medication or drugs; there are a significant number of medications that have hair loss as a listed side effect.
Some examples are Allopurinol or Warfarin, otherwise known as Coumadin.
Alopecia Areata: in patches, but this condition is usually reversible.
TYPICAL CAUSES In addition to the possible causes listed above, certain chemicals can also cause hair loss.
It can become a problem through poor nutrition or an unbalanced diet.
Poor blood flow or stress can induce it.
Other illnesses, such as cancer, hormonal imbalance, kidney or liver failure, lupus or even syphilis can result in hair loss.
Some scientists believe that the amount of testosterone in one's system affects it.
Some believe a lack of blood flow to the scalp will cause it.
Still, others speculate that excessive oil on the scalp will cause it.
The actual cause is unknown and to date, there is no surefire treatment that works for all conditions.
ADDITIONAL FACTS: Some interesting demographic statistics are that Japanese men baldness, more commonly than Caucasian men do, and they experience it about 10 years before the typical age for Caucasian men.
Also, African-American men are four time less likely to experience it than Caucasian men, in general.
Women experience it as often as men do, but women tend not to lose the same amount of hair that men do, and therefore, less women experience actual baldness, although cases do exist.
More than 50% of the U.
S.
population will experience loss of hair, with 30% experiencing it prior to the age of 30 - and 50% will experience it by the age of 50.
Due to how common this condition is, it is not normally considered a "disease' but something common to many animals in general, including human beings.
It is only in the rare case that is usually tied in with a medical condition that any child will experience serious hair loss prior to puberty.
Unless specifically diagnosed with an associated condition, it can be hard to specifically pinpoint what the reason is for specific patients.
Every person loses hair every single day, and under normal circumstances, re-grows hair in the same spot.
When this process is interrupted with more hairs being lost and less being re-grown, the result is alopecia.
Hair loss, especially when severe, is noticed simply by looking in the mirror.
In more minor cases, especially in women, the size of your pony tail may be thinning.
Both men and women are known to suffer negative self-image and sometimes, depression as a result.
Hair loss in itself is not associated with any other medical condition or risk.
However, it is often an indication of another illness, and if you experience a sudden onset outside of the normal daily range, a visit to the doctor is warranted.
If you experience confusion, poor appetite, constipation, diarrhea, sudden weight loss, vomiting, fever or pain along with it, get immediate medical attention.
4 TYPES OF ALOPECIA Adrogenic: This is the most common type and is often referred to as "male pattern baldness".
Traumatic: For this type, hair is torn out due to trauma of some sort.
Drug-induced: caused by medication or drugs; there are a significant number of medications that have hair loss as a listed side effect.
Some examples are Allopurinol or Warfarin, otherwise known as Coumadin.
Alopecia Areata: in patches, but this condition is usually reversible.
TYPICAL CAUSES In addition to the possible causes listed above, certain chemicals can also cause hair loss.
It can become a problem through poor nutrition or an unbalanced diet.
Poor blood flow or stress can induce it.
Other illnesses, such as cancer, hormonal imbalance, kidney or liver failure, lupus or even syphilis can result in hair loss.
Some scientists believe that the amount of testosterone in one's system affects it.
Some believe a lack of blood flow to the scalp will cause it.
Still, others speculate that excessive oil on the scalp will cause it.
The actual cause is unknown and to date, there is no surefire treatment that works for all conditions.
ADDITIONAL FACTS: Some interesting demographic statistics are that Japanese men baldness, more commonly than Caucasian men do, and they experience it about 10 years before the typical age for Caucasian men.
Also, African-American men are four time less likely to experience it than Caucasian men, in general.
Women experience it as often as men do, but women tend not to lose the same amount of hair that men do, and therefore, less women experience actual baldness, although cases do exist.
More than 50% of the U.
S.
population will experience loss of hair, with 30% experiencing it prior to the age of 30 - and 50% will experience it by the age of 50.
Due to how common this condition is, it is not normally considered a "disease' but something common to many animals in general, including human beings.
It is only in the rare case that is usually tied in with a medical condition that any child will experience serious hair loss prior to puberty.
