Do You Know the Causes of Baldness and Hair Loss?
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Do You Know the Causes of Baldness and Hair Loss? |
There are 100,000 hair follicles estimated to be in your head. Each of these follicles grows to an average of 20 individual hairs throughout your lifetime. It is a normal occurrence to lose around 100 strands a day. If you are experiencing more than this, you may be suffering from excessive hair loss that can lead to baldness.
Baldness means that hair is lacking where it would normally grow, especially in our head. Its nature and severity can vary greatly. It ranges from androgenetic alopecia (male or female pattern baldness), alopecia areata (loss of some head hair), alopecia totalis (loss of all hair from the head), and the most extreme which is alopecia Universalis (total loss of hair from the head and body). It can affect everyone, including men, women, and even children. People who are affected by these conditions not just suffer a negative impact on the physical side but on the emotional and psychological side as well.
The most common causes of baldness and hair loss are genetics. When you are still being formed in your mother’s womb, your eye color, skin type, and hair follicles are being genetically coded. If there is a gene for hair loss present during that time, then they will make the hair follicles on your head very sensitive to the DHT hormone.
Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is a male hormone that is produced by the human body, but it is more strongly present in men than in women. Together with the sebaceous glands, the hair follicles usually contain a high level of 5-alpha-reductase which is an enzyme responsible for converting testosterone into DHT through the blood.
DHT is a very powerful sex hormone that can affect hair loss by shrinking your follicles to become thinner and finer as you mature. This process is called “follicular miniaturization.” Soon enough, your hair will fail to grow to normal length as time goes by. When the shrinking follicles eventually stop producing hair, then your hair loss has progressed to baldness.
Other causes of baldness and hair loss are the following:
- Traction alopecia commonly occurs when you pull your hair with tight or excessive force like ponytails or braids.
- Traumas like chemotherapy, major surgery, childbirth, severe stress, or poisoning. This condition is known as Telogen Effluvium.
- Iron deficiency
- Hormonal imbalance of male and female hormones (androgens and estrogens)
- Post-pregnancy reduction of hormones
- Fungal infections
- Some medicines or treatments that may include anticoagulants (blood thinners), birth control pills, and antidepressants.