Common Causes of Hair Loss: Baldness is not usually caused by a disease, but is related to aging, heredity, and testosterone. In addition to the common male and female patterns from a combination of these factors, other possible causes of hair loss, especially if in an unusual pattern, include: - Alopecia areata -- bald patches that develop on the scalp, beard, and, possibly, eyebrows. Eyelashes may fall out as well.
- Autoimmune conditions such as lupus
- Burns
- Certain infectious diseases such as syphilis
- Chemotherapy
- Emotional or physical stress
- Excessive shampooing and blow-drying
- Fever
- Hormonal changes -- for example, thyroid disease , childbirth, or use of birth control pills
- Nervous habits such as continual hair pulling or scalp rubbing
- Radiation therapy
- Tinea capitis (ringworm of the scalp)
- Tumor of the ovary or adrenal glands
What are the symptoms? Hair loss can occur as thinning (you may not notice hairs falling out) or as shedding, with clumps of hair falling out. It can be general-you lose hair all over your scalp-or focal, which means you lose it in one area only. In inherited hair loss, men generally develop bald spots on the forehead area or on the top of the head, while women have an overall thinning of the hair throughout the scalp. Because hair is an important part of appearance, hair loss can result in loss of self-esteem and feeling unattractive, especially in women and teens. Hair loss usually develops gradually and may be patchy or diffuse (all over). Roughly 100 hairs are lost from your head every day. The average scalp contains about 100,000 hairs.However, some people lose a lot of hair early in life because it runs in their family (inherited) or because of disease, medications, stress, injury, or damage to the hair. Each individual hair survives for an average of 4-1/2 years, during which time it grows about half an inch a month. Usually in its 5th 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 not by excessive hair loss. Both men and women tend to lose hair thickness and amount as they age. Inherited or "pattern baldness" affects many more men than 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. |
