Causes Of Female Hair Loss

by Sarah Rowe

There are a number of different reasons as to why a woman would suffer from hair loss in the same way as a man does. Yet even though some women will begin to lose their hair, they do not lose it to the same extent that a man does. Below we look at one reason which is the cause of female hair loss in women today and which is the most common of all the causes.

However, although we are learning more about female hair loss, many people still believe that it is something that is only a problem men have to face. You will find in the United States alone, there are around 30 million women who will suffer from some form of hair loss at some stage in their lives.

For some women the reason that they start to lose hair is because of their genetic makeup. This kind of hair loss comes down to the way that the hormones known as androgens in their body interfere with the natural processes. The hormones, which make up this particular group, are androstenedione, testosterone and Dihydrotestosterone or DHT. All of which both men and women produce, but a woman’s amounts are much smaller than those produced by a man’s are.

For some unknown reason because of a woman’s genetic makeup, there are times when the testosterone hormone in her body comes into contact with an enzyme that makes it convert easily into DHT. When it does this the DHT is able to bind to the receptors deep inside the hair follicles which prevents messages from being able to gain entry and so prevent them from growing as normal.

Generally, this build up of DHT on the hair follicles takes some time so a woman will only see a gradual increase in their hair loss. The build up also causes the hair follicles to shrink and so the pattern for natural hair growth in a person begins to alter. Often as this happens, a woman is likely to notice that they are beginning to suffer from female pattern baldness or androgenic alopecia if you wish to use its medical name.

Yet although the cause of female pattern baldness happens in the same way as male pattern baldness, the actual pattern that the hair loss takes is different. For women the hair loss is more diffused and will occur across the top of the scalp. Where as for men they can suffer from it in a variety of different places either the crown, temple, or at the back of the scalp.

As well as this difference in the two types of baldness, the other is that it only occurs in men as they grow older. Whilst for women they can start to suffer from female pattern baldness at any stage in their lives. For some women who get it when they are young it is because they may well be suffering from some other medical condition.

As well as the above, there are other reasons as to why a woman may suffer from hair loss. Certainly, when it comes to deciding what the cause of female hair loss is in a particular woman it may come down to a number of different factors. With Some women, the cause can be from a traumatic event in their lives, whilst for others it could be down to some kind of medical condition or treatment.

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