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For many men, hair
loss can happen at
any time. If this is
happening to you,
you are not alone.
For many men, losing hair is
something will have to be faced as
part of the aging process. If this is
happening to you, you are not alone,
as a simple walk down the street will
show you. About 25 per cent of men
begin losing hair before they reach 30
and two thirds before the age of 60.
Sometimes men can begin losing hair
in their teens and can reach their early
twenties with very little, if any, hair left
on the crown of their head. Usually,
however, the hair loss is gradual,
developing over a period of twenty to
thirty years.
The most common cause of hair loss
in men is genetic:
Androgenetic alopecia (male pattern
baldness) has a characteristic pattern
of hair loss; it begins with a slight
recession at the front hairline and is
followed by thinning on the crown of
the head. The hair above the ears and
at the nape of the neck is unaffected.
This hair loss results from a complex
chemical reaction when the enzyme 5alpha-reductase converts the
testosterone in the system into DHT or
dihydrotestosterone. The hair follicles
are genetically predisposed to be
oversensitive to the DHT and become
smaller and smaller with time, leading
to the eventual hair loss.
If you are suffering from patchy hair
loss you may be suffering from
another form of alopecia:
Alopecia areata is an extremely
common condition and will affect 1%
to 2% of the population at some
point in their lives. Most sufferers are
children and young adults (below 40
years old), though it can affect people
of all ages. The hair loss is sudden and
manifests itself in small, smooth-
skinned patches that are likely to
gradually widen with time. It can also
affect the sufferer’s nails, giving them
a pitted, ridged or brittle appearance.
The exact cause is still unknown,
although current theories include an
auto-immune disease, stress or
suggest a genetic basis. If the hair loss
progresses until all the scalp hair is lost
this is known as alopecia totalis or
alopecia universalis if all the body
hair is lost as well.
Hair loss can also result from a scalp
problem. Inflammation of the scalp
leads to production of superoxide,
which causes hair shedding and will
lead to diffuse hair loss.
These are just a few of the reasons for
hair loss. It order to treat hair loss
effectively we would recommend that
you have a diagnosis made as soon as
possible by one of our experienced
trichologists. Stress can be an
aggravator in almost all cases of hair
loss and an accurate diagnosis will
always, at the very least, take some of
the stress away from you.
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