Symptoms And Causes of Heriditary Hair loss And The Available Treatments (Part 1)
The ordinary kind of hair loss, called hereditary hair loss, can affect both men and women, but women are usually affected to a lesser extent than men.
The condition is so common that it nearly can be regarded as a part of the normal aging process.
Symptoms of Hair Loss
The pattern of hair loss and baldness are different for men and women. On men special areas on the head begin get totally bald. These areas are usually at both sides of the front, and the top back side of the head.
The hair loss then progresses with these areas extending, and at last most of the head can be totally without hair. However, a great area in the neck uses to remain unaffected and keeps a thick hair cover. The same is usually true about the area in front of each ear.
On women all the hair on the head begins thinning, and then gradually progress over the whole head for many years. Women seldom get totally bald areas on their head, but the hair often gets so thin that the scalp is clearly visible through the hair.
The Causes of Hair Loss
The skin has there layers: The outer layer, called epidermis, consists of epithelial cells. Under this lies the dermis consisting of connective tissue. At the bottom there is a layer called the hypodermis consisting mostly of fat cells.
The skin has narrow pores, hair follicles, extending from the surface down to the top of the sub-dermis, called hair follicles. A hair extend from a growth zone in the bottom of each hair follicle and out at the skin surface
By the common form of hair loss, a substance in the body, dihydroxy-testosterone (DHT), gives a signal to the cells in the hair follicles that make these cells divide less so that the production of hair slows or stops.
DHT is a metabolic product from testosterone, the male sex hormone. Also women have some amount of testosterone and DHT in their body, and therefore hair loss also affects women.
Only cells that are susceptible to the influence from DHT will slow the growth process. This susceptibility is inherited from the parents by some individuals, and not by other.
Follicle cells in the lower parts of the head are usually also resistant against the influence from DHT, and therefore these areas seldom get bald. The effectiveness of hair growth will not only be affected by DHT. (continue to part 2)
