Causes of Hair Loss

Roland Jo
4 min readJul 16, 2021

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Hair loss is one of the body changes that most people fear of. Just like menopause, hair loss can easily divulge a person’s age. But unlike menopause, which can be kept from everyone but yourself, hair loss can be detected or seen by almost everybody.

At about the age of 35, the effect of hair loss can already be seen in men — either their hair line recedes or a “dome” begins to appear at the back of their hair; some even experience both. 65% of all men are suffering from the effects of hair loss and a majority of them have Male Pattern Baldness.

Women, on the other hand, are affected by hair loss in a different way. Starting at the age of 30, their hair gradually thins out. By the age of 50 or shortly after their menopausal stage, the scalp becomes more noticeable because of lessened hair strands all over the head.

Different factors may cause hair loss. Aging and genetics are only a few. But in men, basically, it is caused by dehydrotestosterone hormone, or DHT. This hormone’s chief purpose is to develop the traits of men such as deep voice, larger muscles, and mustache. However, it also develops Male Pattern Baldness.

What this hormone does is it accumulates and develops in the DHT receptors found around the follicles of hair. As the hormone has established itself, it will eventually kill the hair as well as the follicle, making it hopeless for hair to grow back. According to Profollica.com, DHT production in women is as not as high as in men, hence, women do not suffer from the same radical hair loss as men do.

DHT increases as men age, killing more and more of the hair follicles. Excess production of DHT can lead to baldness. Although every person has this hormone, there are some who only produce enough amount of DHT. Fortunately, they are the ones not suffering from extreme hair loss.

Other factors for hair loss in both men and women are:

1. Disease or illness — Losing hair could be a sign of being unhealthy. Illnesses such as systemic lupus erythematosis and syphilis, or thyroid disorder show hair loss as a symptom. Chronic kidney dysfunction may also cause lots of hair to fall as it makes them unhealthy, dry, and breakable.

2. Side effects of medications — Drugs that contain lithium, beta-blockers, warfarin, heparin, amphetamines, and levodopa (Atamet, Larodopa, Sinemet) can cause numerous hair to fall off. In addition, some medications being used in treating cancer like doxorubicin can cause rapid but temporary hair loss.

3. Hormones — Different kinds of hormones compromise the human system and an imbalanced production of those could affect the normal growth of hair. An example of this is women’s menstrual cycle. Hormonal changes take place in the ovulation period that could cause some hair to lose, so as thyroid and pituitary disorders.

4. Zinc deficiency — Along with diarrhea and eczema, hair loss appears to be a symptom if one has inadequate intake or if the body poorly absorbs zinc.

5. Hair abuses — Too much treatments to hair such as coloring, perming, bleaching, corn rows, and usage of curling irons can wear out and eventually kill the hair. Even excessive use of comb and strong shampoo products can add up to hair loss. Combing the hair for about a hundred times will not really make it healthy; rather, it will lessen the strength of the hair and make it brittle. Shampoos’ strong chemicals, on the other hand, can dry the hair up.

6. Giving birth — About a month after a woman gives birth, some of her hair strands have the tendency to fall off easily. Hair strands that fall off are usually from one portion of the head, leaving moon crater-like hair. The falling off of hair in this instance actually does not lead to baldness and it is not permanent, though the recovery period will take up to a year.

These and some other factors cause hair loss. There may be a lot, but the good thing is, there are also quite a lot with regard to medical options of treating this condition. Medicating hair loss can be done by undergoing surgical treatments like scalp grafting, taking oral medications like finasteride pills, or using topical applications such as ProFollica™.

Each treatment is different in approaches, processes, requirements, and applications. For example, hair loss surgery is a proven effective method and so are pills. But both can only be applied to and taken by men. The surgery is usually recommendable to severe cases of hair loss, while pills like finasteride can cause harmful effects to women.

Perhaps, the most convenient way to address hair loss treatment, for both men and women, is through applying topical products. This kind of remedy, like ProFollica™, usually comes in a system. This system has natural ingredients, which make it safe for anyone’s usage with hair loss condition. It is up to the person and to the doctor, if he is to consult one, what treatment he’ll rather or willingly try.

Old beliefs, such as cap wearing bringing about hair loss or combing the hair more than one hundred times will make it healthier, have long been proven untrue. With some tips and causes given above, indeed, knowing the right causes will make one smart on choosing the right solutions.

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