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.
One of the main causes for a woman to start losing her hair is because of her genetic makeup. All of us have hormones known as androgens, which work in perfect harmony with all other hormones in the body. However, for some women because they have a genetic predisposition these hormones can actually interfere with the way the body functions. One particular hormone that is part of the androgen group is testosterone, this can cause problems for certain women.
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 even though this form of baldness in women is similar to the version that men get there are some slight differences between them. In most cases for women, it will be very difficult to see because it is diffused and often is a thinning of the hair rather than them losing hair and becoming bald. As for men they will start to see the line of hair begin to thin and then recede altogether. The most common place it occurs on women is on the top of their scalps, as for men it happens at the crown, on the temple, or at the back of the head.
In addition, the other difference with this particular kind of hair loss in women compared to men is that in men not only is it related to their genetic makeup but also to their age. With women, however this particular form of hair loss can be suffered at any stage of their lives and may well be caused by some other underlying medical condition.
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.
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