Forget About Vanity, Hair Loss is Hard on Sanity

By Gabby Hyman gabby.hyman@hqpublications.com Pharmavita Columnist October 11, 2004

I have suffered my share of bald jokes throughout much of my adult life. Just like the estimated 40 percent of my American male counterparts, I have the genetic predisposition of male pattern baldness.

Hair loss of this type is not limited to us fellows. Genetic hair loss in women affects an estimated 20 million this country. While everyone loses around a hundred hair strands a day as natural part of cell death and regeneration, a great many people find that the replacement strands just don’t show up anymore. Then the jokes start.

Hair Loss Just Comes Naturally

Science today agrees that male pattern baldness and hair loss in women stems from natural aging, genetic factors, and hormone levels. If you have the genetic predisposition, the real culprit in hair loss is your body’s production of a hormonal byproduct called dihydrotestostrone (DHT). DHT causes hair to thin. Worse, it blocks production of replacement hair in scalp follicles after your falling hair goes on permanent leave.

Hair Loss Treatments Abound If You Start Early

If you detect male pattern baldness, oral supplements like Propetia can block the production of DHT, enabling fresh hair to repopulate your dome. Propetia is not recommended for hair loss in women because of potentially dangerous ormonal side effects.

Topical agents like Rogaine foster safe hair production in both sexes. Hair loss in women occurs at the center of the head, while male pattern baldness occurs from front to back. Doctors say that you have a good chance of keeping much of your hair if you start treatment once you see the patterns.

About the Author
Gabby Hyman has written for print and online media for more than 20 years. He has created online content for eToyds, GoTo.com, Siebel Systems, Avaya, and Nissan, UK. He has also been a web consultant to the Governer of California. As an author of fiction, journalism, and poetry, Gabby is a former English professor for the University of Illinois, Universityu of Alaska, and Old Dominion University. He holds an MFA in fiction writing from the University of Alabama.