Causes Of Female Hair Loss
There are many different reasons as to why women would suffer from hair loss, although probably not to the same extent that men do. Yet because a woman’s hair is very important to her concerning her looks, she can often quickly become desperate if she starts to see more hair in the sink than she would consider normal after washing it. Below we will look at one reason for what is a cause of female hair loss.
Although it has always been considered to be predominantly a male problem, today you will find that some women are just as likely to suffer from serious hair loss as well. In fact, according to the American Academy of Dermatology, it is a problem that now affects around 30 million women in the United States alone.
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.
Slowly as the build up of DHT happens on the hair follicles, they gradually begin to shrink and this is what stops her hair from growing correctly. Over this time, the woman will then start to notice that more hair is falling out when they wash or brush their hair and they begin to notice areas of their scalp showing through. Often called female pattern baldness or Androgenic Alopecia is a thinning of the hair.
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.
The other main difference between the female version and the male version of pattern baldness is that men usually only start to suffer from it as they grow older. However, for women they can suffer from this kind of hair loss at any stage of their lives. In some cases it may well be that the loss has been caused by some other underlying medical condition that they have.
Along with the reason above, as to what can be the cause of female hair loss in women, there are other factors that may be the cause of this problem. Some women may, as previously mentioned, may have an underlying medical condition. Whilst for others the reason that they have begun to lose their hair is that they have suffered some kind of traumatic event in their lives.