A partial of complete hair loss is called baldness. When the normal hair falls out from the hair follicles, it grows new hair. A failure of growing new hair results in baldness. The cause of the failure to grow new hair Baldness is commonly known as hair loss. Its medical name is Alopecia. To understand hair loss it is necessary to know the anatomy and physiology of hair.
The Anatomy and Physiology of hair:
- The lifeof each hair is approximately 4 to 5 years. During its life time each hair grows about half an inch every month. The hair falls out in its fifth year.
- Within six months only this fallen hair gets replaced by a new grown hair.
- Only when body fails to produce new hair it results in baldness not the hair falling
- More than 30% men start getting bald during their early 30s
- Baldness occurs more in men then in women
Hair follicles:
Every human being has approximately 100,000 hair follicles in the scalp. These are minute sac like structures in skin. The function of these follicles is to simply grow hair. In a person’s life each follicle grows arround 20 hair. A person losses approximately 100 hair every day.
There are two types of baldness:
1. Male baldness also known as Male pattern baldness
2. Female baldness also known as Female pattern baldness
Male pattern baldness:
- It starts in puberty
- The main feature is that the hair start receding from the lateral side of the scalp. This side is known as “Receding Hairline”. This line can be seen in males in their mid twenties.
- Androgenetic Alopecia: This type of baldness is caused by a male sex hormone called DHT. Which is responsible for the growth of hair on various parts of the body. Persons who are genetically prone to hair loss suffer from shrinking of hair follicles because of action of DHT. Gradually such shrunken follicles fail to grwo normal healthy hair.
- Male baldness is medically categorized on the basis of Hamilton-Norwood scale.
Female pattern baldness
It can be caused by aging, hormones and even genetic reasons
- There are many patterns of baldness in women.The alrarming symptoms is when you start lossing your scalp hair you should seek help of a qualified specialist. Other simple signs could be When you can not understand the the sudden and continuous loss of your hair.
- It is very difficult to recognize baldness in women as compared to men. In women it begins during early fifties. It might not even be linked to heredity also.
- A relevant expert only can diagnose female hair loss. Self-diagnosis can be misleading and harmful.
Treatment:
There are many hair loss treatment products available to prevent hair loss and growing new healthy hair. Like Herbal hair treatment, Laser hair treatment, Hair growth medicines and lotions and even Hair grafting.