Understanding Hereditary Hair Loss
Hereditary hair loss typically affects men but it can also affect women. For the person who starts losing hair, the experience is usually unnerving. Obviously, no one wants to see hair fall out but when faced with this problem, people need to understand that options for help do exist. In addition to hair loss being hereditary, it can be the result of stress, poor diet, medication, and some illnesses. For this reason, when someone notices that hair is falling out, it is important to see a doctor so the underlying cause could be identified and the proper treatment offered.
In the case of hereditary hair loss, this is the result of DHT or Dihydrotestosterone causing problems for hair follicles. Numerous studies have been conducted over the years to understand this type of hair loss better and it has been discovered that change in DHT is usually in associate with hormonal changes within the body. For this reason, hair loss of this type is commonly seen as the person ages, a time when hormones are building and changing.
One of the interesting facts about hereditary hair loss is that the pattern is actually predicable. In fact, doctors will often look at the person’s family history of baldness and based on pattern, age of hair loss, and severity, it can be determined what the individual could expect. An easier method would be for the person dealing with this kind of hair loss simply to look at photographs of grandparents, uncles, and parents. With this, the pattern, as well as degree of the loss would be easy to spot. Additionally, looking back at the family history the person would have an indicator as to the age when hair loss would begin.
In men, hereditary hair loss is usually called “male pattern baldness”. With this, the reference is to a receding hairline in the front while hair on the back and sides are healthy and dense. This kind of hair loss is more prominent in men, with about 50% of the male population having hair loss of some degree by age 50. Now for women dealing with hereditary hair loss, the pattern is usually different. In this case, balding patches near the front of the crown are more common. For the number of women affected, experts believe that 40% of the female population deals with this condition, again affecting women by age 50.
The thing about hereditary hair loss is that whether a man or woman, it is frustrating, discouraging, and even embarrassing for some. Depending on how the person feels, he or she may resort to wearing hair pieces, using chemical compounds rubbed into the scalp to promote hair growth, or going through hair transplant surgery. In fact, new medications are now on the market designed to slow or even stop the process of balding. In some cases, treatment can only prevent the person from losing more hair while not replacing what has already been lost but in the case of hair transplant surgery, new hair actually grows in the balding areas.