Let's face it, some of us live very healthy lives and still wind up loosing our hair early in life. So is baldness hereditary or is there something else that is causing your hair to fall out? This article discusses what is most likely causing your hair to fall out so you can find a treatment that addresses the right problems.

Is Baldness Hereditary or What?

Believe it or not, around 95% of all cases of balding and hair loss are cases of androgenetic alopecia, which is the medical term for male or female pattern baldness. And the cause of androgenetic alopecia is almost always genetics and heredity. So I hate to say it, but when your parents or grandparents would tell you as a child that wearing a hat all the time would cause your hair to fall out is unfortunately not true....

What happens is you actually inherit a certain gene from one or both of your parents before you are even born. It's strange to think about, but it was determined a long time ago that you were going to loose your hair early in life. This gene that you inherit gives your hair follicles a much higher sensitivity to a certain androgen/hormone called dihydrotestosterone, or DHT. And as a result, DHT is able to bind to your follicles and shrink them at a much faster rate than normal, causing them to fall out of your scalp.

So in order to treat hair loss and baldness, you must use a treatment that inhibits DHT to avoid future damage and loss of hair. And thankfully, the FDA has done extensive testing to help us out with this matter.

Out of all the different substances and medications they have tested, the FDA has only approved two specific substances to be effective at stopping hair loss and balding.

The most recently approved medication is Finasteride, which is better known as Propecia™. This option is considered to work in the highest percentage of people that take it, and it's only for men. You need to talk to your doctor and get a prescription in order to take it, most likely because of the potential adverse sexual side effects that come with taking it.

The other option to treat hair loss is using a topical cream containing Minoxidil. This solution is for both men and women and there's no real serious side effects that come with using it. If used consistently, it can really help stop future loss of hair and even help stimulate new hair growth. I know that when I need to invest in a solution for treating alopecia, this will be the first option I try since it's the safest and it's approved to be effective.