Reasons Why People Lose Their Hair

There are different reasons why people lose their hair.

Common reasons include male baldness and chemotherapy but there are in fact many different reasons.

For men the most common reason is a type of baldness known as male pattern baldness which has a characteristic M-like shape where the hair line recedes. It is thought this is caused by the chemical or hormone called dihydrotestosterone which forms when testosterone is broken down.

For women there are many different reasons for baldness with non-pattern types of hair loss being more common. Although hair loss is less common in women than in men, the social embarrassment can be more because it is less common.

Non pattern hair loss in women can be treated with hair restoration. Hair restoration is a routine out-patient procedure done under local anaesthesia to reduce discomfort during the procedure. It typically takes from 2-4 hours depending on the area to be covered, and results in hair that is naturally growing again.

The causes of baldness in women may be hormonal and these types of hair loss can be temporary with some or all of the hair growing back once the hormonal state changes.

Other factors have been reported to effect hair loss and these include the environment that the hair is exposed to. A study reported in the Telegraph (in May 2008) showed that men living in polluted areas were more likely to go bald than those breathing cleaner air. This research was carried out by by academics at the University of London. They have linked the onset of male pattern baldness to environmental factors, such as air pollution and smoking. They believe toxins and carcinogens found in polluted air can stop hair growing by blocking mechanisms that produce the protein from which hair is made.

Susceptibility to losing your hair appears to be hereditary, but environmental factors as well mean disruption in the process of hair growth, caused by oxidative stress, which destroys cells and is made worse by the effects of smoking and air pollution.
For women the drug ketoconazole is sometimes used as this decreases the amount of testosterone produced by the ovaries.

Some women also use hair extensions to try and disguise areas of balness, and this can work for women who still have a lot of hair in some places. Hair extensions can take a lot of maintenance and also risk causing more hair loss from existing growing hair.

Mesotherapy is one type of recommended hair loss treatment for women and men. Mesotherapy involves a series of painless injections into the scalp. These injections contain vitamins, DHT blockers and minerals. This is usually a series of eight to twelve microinjections given once a month and this enhances the existing hair. It appears it also reduces future hair loss. There is no evidence of it causing hair to start growing again.