What Causes Hair Loss in Women?

Common or “hereditary” baldness in women appears to be related to the same major factors that cause hair loss in men:

* Genes
* Hormones
* Age

As is men, the genes that cause hair loss can be inherited from either your mother or father. The expression of these genes is dependent on hormones called androgens, so common hair loss in women is called “Androgenetic Alopecia” (the same term is used for common balding in men).

There are a number of reasons to explain why hair loss in women presents differently than in men (although all of the factors are still not completely understood). Probably the most important reason is that men have a much higher level of the androgen testosterone. This is the hormone that is responsible for male sexual characteristics and, when the body converts it to DHT, it becomes the main culprit in causing baldness. Fortunately, the much lower levels of testosterone in women spare them from the extensive hair loss that is often seen in men.

Testosterone is converted to DHT by the enzyme 5-alpha reductase that is present in higher concentrations in the balding areas of the scalp. Women have only ½ the amount of this enzyme overall as men and have even less in the crown. In addition, women have higher levels of an enzyme called aromatase in all areas of the scalp that may block the formation of DHT. This enzyme is present in especially high concentration in the frontal hairline in women, possibly explaining why this area is fortunately resistant to balding in most females.

With age some normal degree of hair loss occurs in everyone so that total hair volume will decrease over time in both sexes. The hair loss associated with genetic balding is also dependent upon time to express itself. Hair loss tends to occur at different rates at different periods in one’s life with increased loss often occurring during periods of hormonal change, such as pregnancy and menopause.

Other Causes of Diffuse Hair Loss in Women

A number of “non-androgenetic” factors may be responsible for hair loss in women. Women’s hair seems to be particularly sensitive to underlying medical conditions. Since “systemic” problems often cause a diffuse type of hair loss pattern that can be confused with genetic balding, it is important that women with undiagnosed hair loss, especially of the diffuse or “un-patterned” type, be properly evaluated.

Among the many medical conditions that can cause hair loss, the most common ones are:

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Hair Loss Gene Found in Man Who Lived 4,000 Years Ago

Preserved by the permafrost in Greenland, a clump of hair belonging to a man who lived four millennia ago revealed his genetic tendency for male pattern balding. Archeologist discovered the hair 24 years ago among artifacts of the Saqqaq culture, the earliest known inhabitants of Greenland. Recently, eighty percent of hancient hair lossis DNA was sequenced, revealing his hair dark color, brown eyes, A+ blood type, and tendency toward androgenetic alopecia (male pattern balding).

A report on this ancient human appeared in the February 2010 issue of Nature. The man has been named “Inuk,” and his is the first whole genome of an ancient human to be analyzed. So far, only eight whole genomes of living people have been decoded.

Androgenetic alopecia is a common problem whose genetics is not fully understood. Male pattern balding involves gradual thinning and hair loss on the Continue reading →

Losing Your Hair? Your Genes are Only Partly to Blame, Says One of World’s Leading Experts on Hair Loss

Dr. Larry Shapiro, Hair Transplant Surgeon

Dr. Larry Shapiro, Dermatologist and Hair Loss Expert

–Other Culprits Run the Gamut from Menopause to Weight Loss Supplements and Steroids–

BOCA RATON, Fla., Feb. 18 /PRNewswire/ — In a study due to be released next month, the world’s leading hair transplant and hair loss expert Dr. Larry Shapiro will show that men and women have been losing their hair from using popular weight loss and work out products that contain whey protein isolate – and it’s not just their genes that are to blame.

Shapiro, who has spent 20 years treating over 11,000 men and women for hair thinning and loss, said, “My clinical practice shows a definite trend among people suffering from hair loss—they’re increasingly battling the effects of thyroid problems, anesthesia, cosmetic surgery, dietary deficiencies, prescription medications, male pattern baldness, use of growth hormone-based supplements during weight training, use of steroids for weight training, and use of weight-loss products and fat burners.  Years of clinical practice have shown that these factors play a far greater role than we thought before than just personal genetic characteristics alone and can accelerate hair loss in people who may not see this until later in life.”

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22 Most Bizarre Things Created Using Hair

While an average Joe has a hundred and fifty thousand hairs on his scalp, have you ever thought about what happens to the locks of hair as soon as they have been chopped off?

Listed here is a collection of twenty-two of the strangest uses for hair that we could find:

1. Chair Made From Hair

chair-made-from-hair

Human hair is actually stronger and much more robust when compared with all-pervasive fiberglass, hence it was just dependent on time before the material found its way directly into practical consumer items, home furniture and so on. Ronald Thompson, who used to be a hair stylist, has created an environmentally friendly material using hair clippings which could ultimately substitute products which contain considerable amounts of fiberglass, that carries a large environmental footprint. He could be presently creating an array of chairs utilizing his brand new material after getting involved in collecting over ten thousand tons of waste hair in London.

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2.  Solar Panel Using Human Hair

hair_solar_panel

A brand new kind of solar cell making use of human hair might supply the planet with inexpensive, eco-friendly electrical power, if all of us are too believe its teen creator.

Milan Karki aged Eighteen, whom comes from a town in rural Nepal, is convinced he has discovered the answer to the developing nations electricity requirements.

The adolescent inventor claims human hair is simple to use as an electricity conductor in solar power panels and may revolutionize renewable power.

Melanin, a pigment which gives hair its shade can also act as a kind of conductor. Due to the fact that human hair is far less expensive compared to silicon the solar panel is a lot cheaper.

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3. Pirate Ship Made Out of Hair

pirate_ship_hair

Suté is said to have been a dwarf who turned into a murderous pirate, who prowled the oceans searching for boats to plunder, but one day his crew turned on him and left him on an uninhabited tropical isle. His single claim to infamy was that he used his thick hair to produce himself a small 3 foot long pirate vessel, and after that endured a 3 week journey back to civilization, in the course of that time he was hounded at each and every turn by ocean birds trying to tear apart the tiny vessel so they could use it as nesting supplies.

Artist Carlos Dimas remade Suté’s vessel from the identical supplies, provided by his regular job at “Hair by Carlos” hair dressers in Fort Myers. “The bottom (of the vessel) is cable in order to provide it some overall flexibility. The remaining is simply human hair that is glued and sprayed with hair pins, again and again.” Carlos was encouraged to construct this when a documentary creator requested him to “create some thing imaginative.”

Feel free to watch the video of this creation here: Youtube.com

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4. Tiananmen Square Created Using Hair

Tiananmen Square Created Using Hair

I have seen a few fairly remarkable models through the years, such as a wooden helicopter, a matchstick model of LOTR Minas Tirith or even a tooth-pick town, yet certainly not something produced from human hair. Yet, they say there is a 1st time for every thing, so today I happened to come over a few photographs of well-known Chinese structures created completely from human hair.

Huang Xin, a teen Chinese hair stylist needed to commemorate the 60th anniversary for the PRC (China) in a very different way and utilized his expertise to make it happen. Making use of thrown away human hair, largely from ladies, he invested almost a whole year producing several very impressive designs of Tiananmen Square.

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Is Hair Transplant Surgery Only for Celebrities?

Perhaps you have heard of celebrities who may have had hair transplant surgery. Do only wealthy, famous actors, who depend on their looks to make their living, get hair transplant surgeries?

No. Many ordinary men, and women too, have utilized hair transplant surgery to look their best. Who can benefit from hair transplant surgery, and who can afford it?

Myth: Hair transplants look unnatural, so it is easy to tell which celebrities have had them.
Fact: Today’s Follicular Unit Transplant (FUT) surgery, conducted by a skilled hair transplant surgeon, looks very natural. Unlike the large grafts containing 8-50 hairs (“plugs”), follicular unit transplants use 1-5 hairs at a time. Since follicular unit transplants look so natural, then it’s likely that many, many celebrities have received hair transplants to maintain Continue reading →