What Causes Hair Loss
Hair loss can be caused by a number of different factors; there is not one defined cause. However, the four main factors for hair loss are hormone levels, genes, age, and stress. Your lifestyleincluding your diet, where you live, alcohol intake, and how much you sleepcan also play a part in hair loss.
Sometimes it can be hard to determine why exactly you are experiencing hair loss, so its important to understand just exactly what hair loss is in order to address it.
Male pattern baldness is often genetic. Its called androgenic alopecia or androgenetic alopecia.
Another cause of hair loss is alopecia areata, an autoimmune skin disease causing hair loss on the scalp, face, and sometimes other areas of the body.
Hair loss can be one of the signs of andropause, the male equivalent of menopause. Like women, mens hormones fluctuate on a monthly and even daily basis. They also affect biological processes, moods, and emotions in many of the same ways they do in women.
As they age, men also experience a drop in hormone production, especially testosterone, which in some cases can lead to hair loss and the growth of hair in places where you dont necessarily want it, such as your ears.
DHT, or dihydrotestosterone, is a derivative or by-product of testosterone. While the entire genetic process of male pattern baldness is not completely understood, scientists do know that hormones such as DHT shrink hair follicles, and when DHT levels are suppressed, follicles continue to thrive.
Does Wearing Hats Increase Hair Loss
This is a common question, as there has been speculation that wearing a baseball hat all the time increased the risk of balding in men. Maybe this is because many people who are losing hair will wear a hat.
This notion has been disproved in the research. But the Case Western research, they found that wearing hats more was actually linked to less hair loss.
Hair Loss And Hormones And Prp
Worldwide, about 60% of men and 50% of women experience some form of hair loss. Healthline, Jan 2019;;
Hair transplants;are done to add more;hair;to an area that may be;thinning;or;balding. Its done by taking hair from thicker parts of the scalp, or other parts of the body , and grafting it to the thinning or balding section of the scalp. Healthline, Jan 2019;;
Did you know: Hair loss and thinning occurs all over the scalp in women; while in men, the hair on the sides and back of the head typically remains healthy, even when balding occurs on the top of the head . This makes women poor candidates for hair replacement or transplant as the hair follicles harvested from unstable donor sites are not healthy enough to support growth after transplant.
BEWARE: Any doctor who would attempt to transplant hair from an unstable donor site is potentially unethical and may just be trying to take economic advantage of the patient. WebMD.com
Androgenetic alopecia is the most common kind of hair loss in both women and men. This type of hair loss is caused by an imbalance of androgens. Androgens are male sex hormones and they are naturally present in women in very small amounts. Androgens and are essential for important functions in both sexes, including sex drive and regulation of hair growth.
Hair thinning and loss is common with aging. Women typically notice an increase in hair loss at menopause.
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Ferritin Not That Kind Of Store
If you think of iron as the merchandise in the front of the store, ferritin is the storage warehouse in the back. Serum ferritin is a powerful screening tool for iron deficiency. Low serum ferritin gives rise to a condition called anemia.
For those of us whove been anemic at one point or another , we are all too familiar with the symptoms of being really tired and pale. While hair loss is not the most common symptom of iron-deficiency anemia, it does affect approximately half of those with low ferritin stores . Hair follicles actually hang on to ferritin. When the body is low in iron, it can pull ferritin from places like hair follicles, deemed not as important as, lets say, red blood cell production. The resulting effect is diffuse hair loss.
If hair loss is related to insufficient iron in the body, correcting anemia should allow for hair to grow back. But first, screening for low serum ferritin levels is very important, because supplementing with iron when iron levels are normal or high can result in iron overload and toxicity . ;;
Male To Female Hormone Pills At Walmart
Walmart sells herbal pills that cause an insignificant feminization effect, these are not real male to female hormones.
If you are thinking about buying male to female hormone pills at Walmart you need to understand that an herb does not stop testosterone, you will still have testosterone which is going to keep your body masculine. Walmart is not equipped or interested in helping you transition or grow breasts. Putting a small amount of phytoestrogen in your body is not going to give you the results you are looking for.
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Why Dht Affects People Differently
Your proclivity to hair loss is genetic, meaning that its passed down in your family.
For example, if youre male and your father experiences male pattern balding, its likely that youll show a similar balding pattern as you age. If youre already inclined to male pattern baldness, the follicle-shrinking effect of DHT tends to be more pronounced.
The size and shape of your head may also contribute to how quickly DHT shrinks your follicles.
Treatments For Hair Loss
Several methods of treating MPB and FPHL involve interfering with testosterone and DHTs actions. Finasteride is a drug that inhibits the 5-alpha reductase enzyme that converts testosterone to DHT. Its dangerous to use in women who may become pregnant, and there may be sexual side effects of this drug on both men and women.
Another 5-alpha reductase inhibitor called dutasteride is currently being looked at as a potential treatment for MPB. Its currently on the market for treatment of an enlarged prostate.
Other treatment options that dont involve testosterone or DHT include:
- minoxidil
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Baldness And Hair Loss
Male pattern baldness is also referred to as androgenetic alopecia. For those with male pattern baldness, about two-thirds will start showing symptoms by age 60, and about a quarter will start by age 30. About 95% of hair loss cases are due to mal pattern baldness, according to a review by the American Medical Association. About 40 million American men have male pattern baldness.
Premature baldness is not an accident. It is also not necessarily genetic. Certainly there are genetic factors, but research is increasingly showing that epigenetic factors things we do now that switch on those genes often have a bigger influence.
More specifically, scientists have confirmed that baldness and premature hair loss are associated with a number of lifestyle choices, including diet, alcohol use, smoking, caffeine use and others. Other research has found that certain nutrients and herbs can slow and even reverse hair loss, hair thinning and even baldness.
The Evidence: Trans Hrt Can Lead To Significant Hair Regrowth
Remember those studies on men who suffered from male pattern baldness and were then castrated? They stopped losing their hair, but didnt regrow much of their lost hair. But thats not the entire story
Because those same studies showed that when castrated men were injected with estrogen, they began regrowing significant amounts of hair. Or in other words, men suffering from pattern baldness who 1) stopped DHT production, then 2) increased estrogen made major hair recoveries.
Those studies were done decades ago, and now their results are also;occurring in male-to-female hormone replacement therapy patients who are basically doing the same thing .
In fact, heres another example of the efficacy of increasing estrogen + reducing DHT production. While the following hair loss sufferers intention wasnt to transition from male to female, they did end up taking the same drugs many use to gender transition, and as a result, saw similar hair regrowth:
So whats the explanation behind these results? Why does stopping DHT production + increasing estrogen lead to major hair regrowth, while simply stopping DHT production only stops hair loss?
The short-answer: stopping DHT production + increasing estrogen may slightly change skull bone structure and atrophy the muscles surrounding the galea. In doing so, this therapy may indirectly relieve;chronic tension in the scalp skin the;same chronic tension that precipitates scalp inflammation and thereby the DHT-hair loss cascade.
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What Are The Common Causes Of Hair Loss In Women
What causes hair loss?
- Hair style: Your style of hair can cause hair loss when your hair is arranged in ways that pull on your roots, like tight ponytails, braids, or corn rows. This type of hair loss is called traction alopecia. If hair follicles are damaged, the loss can be permanent.
- Vitamin deficiency.
- Over processed scalp hair .
What causes anagen effluvium hair loss?
- Toxic substances, including chemotherapy, radiation therapy and some medications. These cause sudden hair loss that can occur anywhere on your body. It happens to hair in the growth stage. Sometimes, this type of hair loss can be permanent if your hair follicles are damaged.
What causes telogen effluvium hair loss?
- Extreme physical stress or shock to your body: This causes temporary hair loss. This category includes events like losing a lot of weight, surgery, anemia, illness and having a baby.
- Extreme emotional stress: mental illness, the death of a loved one, etc.
- An abnormal thyroid.
- Medications and supplements: blood pressure medicines, gout medicines and high doses of Vitamin A.
- Hormone changes caused by pregnancy, menopause or birth control pills.
What causes FPHL ?
- Genes: Your familys genes can cause thinning of hair along the top of your head.
- Aging: Hormone changes as you age can cause balding.
- Menopause: This type of hair loss often gets worse when estrogen is lost during menopause.
There are also some conditions that affect hair loss:
Where Can I Buy Male To Female Hormones
Transfemme® male to female hormones in pill and cream forms are available online on this website. Transfemme is a completely natural system to feminize the male body to varying degrees depending on which products you use and the dosages. We recommend calling one of our advisors on our Customer Success Team at or email us at
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What Other Hair Restoration Options Are There
Hair thickeners there are a range of hair thickeners which can help to reduce the appearance of alopecia areata occurring over time. These products work through hair thickening fibres which stick to your hair using static electricity creating the appearance of a fuller head of hair.
Hair loss hair products the most popular and widely-used hair restoration product is still Minoxidil 4% and Minoxidil 5%.;Minoxidil reactivates and revitalises shrunken hair follicles by increasing their size. With continued applications on the scalp, the follicles gain greater volume so that longer and thicker hairs are produced.
Hair loss medication again there is favourite among hair loss sufferers which is called and is a medicament in the form of tablets, to be taken on a regular basis.; increases hair growth on the scalp and prevents further hair loss in men.
Women Suffer From Hair Loss Too
young woman worried about hair loss
But its not just men who suffer from hair loss; women can experience it too. For women, an underactive thyroid can be one of the factors contributing to hair loss, but in most cases, for both men and women, androgenic alopecia occurs because of a genetically determined shortening of anagen, a hairs growing phase, and a lengthening of the time between the shedding of a hair and the start of a new anagen phase.
About one-third of women experience hair loss at some time in their lives; already struggling with hot flashes, as many as two-thirds suffer hair thinning and bald spots. Hair loss often has a greater impact on menopausal women than it does on men, because society is more accepting of men with thinning hair. A womans emotional wellbeing and quality of life can be severely affected due to alopecia.
Hair loss in women can be due to a hormonal imbalance called hypothyroidism, when the thyroids production of body-regulating hormones decreases, and which can be addressed with the application of suitable bioidentical hormones to replace the thyroid hormone that your body is no longer producing or is producing in diminished quantities.
- Feeling cold when other people do no
- Constipation
- More than usual menstrual bleeding
- High LDL or bad cholesterol, which can raise your risk for heart disease
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Is Hair Loss Related To Menopause
Two things can happen to a womans hair during menopause. First, and certainly unwelcome, is the growth of new hair where you didnt have it before, such as the chin. Second, the hair you have will begin to thin. Its thought that both of these changes in hair growth are due to changing hormone levels during menopause. Estrogen and progesterone levels fall, meaning that the effects of the androgens are increased. This is the reason for new hair in odd places.
The aging process often causes female-pattern hair loss, or androgenetic alopecia. This type of hair loss can worsen with the hormone changes of menopause. Unlike male-pattern hair loss, which occurs usually on the front crown of the head, female-pattern hair loss begins along the part in the center.
During and after menopause, hair might become finer because the hair follicles shrink. When this happens, hair grows more slowly and falls out more easily.
The Zrt Laboratory Blog
A symbol of femininity for so many women, our hair demands attention. Both deeply personal and superficially public, changes in the looks of our hair can inspire a range of emotions, driving us to willingly partake in its cutting, straightening, curling, bleaching, darkening, or other aggressive chemical treatments. Hair is part of who we are and how we present ourselves to the world. This is why thinning hair is kind of a big deal it can be a very frustrating topic for many women as there is no quick solution to getting more hair instantly.
Losing hair is utterly dreaded and distressing, and unfortunately something we all eventually come to face as we get older. As hair thins over the years and the shower drain clogs almost on a daily basis, the scalp becomes so vivid when hair is a dash too oily, and now the hair part has been;moved over to a different spot, thereby concealing the thinned out patches next to the temples you find yourself on the internet in search of answers, bombarded with innumerable articles offering anywhere between 3 and 33+ helpful tips on how to get your luscious mane back. Some are obvious eat right and exercise to provide nutrients and stimulate blood flow, while others are less straightforward like sleeping on a silk pillowcase or wrapping your hair in a T-shirt. Whatever the suggestions may be, achieving strong and healthy hair extends way beyond keeping your locks away from heat and dyes.;
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What Causes Hair Loss In Women
When most people hear the words hair loss, they think of balding men. However, hair loss can also be a significant problem for women. Female hair loss can occur for several reasons, from a genetic sensitivity to certain androgenic hormones to reactive factors.
Weve listed the most common causes of female hair loss below, as well as the specific ways in which each cause can affect your hairline.
Biochemical Roles Of Testosterone And Epitestosterone To 5
In establishing a theory to predict male-pattern baldness, we investigated the correlation of testosterone, epitestosterone, and dihydrotestosterone with 5-reductase in hair using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. One hundred milligram hair samples were obtained from a group of balding subjects and their sons, as well as from a corresponding aged-matched, nonbalding group. The ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone was significantly greater in the hair of balding fathers and their sons than in the hair of the nonbalding control subjects . These findings demonstrate that analysis of terminal hair may not only provide a basis for predicting baldness when the subject is still young, but also for preventing and treating male-pattern baldness by controlling the steroid hormone balance.
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The Genetics Of Male Pattern Baldness Testosterone Isnt The Cause
Some of the most notorious low testosterone myths center around male pattern baldness.
Some myths say, on the one hand, that too much testosterone causes balding. On the other hand, some myths say that low testosterone leads to balding.
Is testosterone really causing men to lose the hair on their head?
What the evidence shows is pretty interesting. If youre concerned about hair loss, you should be looking into the genetics of male pattern baldness.
Hair Loss And Low Testosterone One Connection You Should Watch For
After having said all of that about genetics determining male hair loss, there is a different kind of hair loss you should keep an eye on: Thinning body and facial hair .
If youve found that your beard is thinning or that youre losing body hair, it could be a symptom of low testosterone.
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