Posts Tagged ‘alopecia’

Living with hair loss can be hard, especially in a culture that views hair as a sign of youth and good health. Even so, most people with alopecia areata are well-adjusted, contented people living full lives.
The key to coping is valuing yourself for who you are, not for how much hair you have or don’t [...]

The comforting news is that androgenetic alopecia is not a painful disease and does not make people feel sick physically. It is not contagious, and people who have the disease are generally healthy otherwise. It does not reduce life expectancy and it should not interfere with the ability to achieve such life goals as going [...]

Only 2 proven, food and drug administration (FDA) approved medications are currently available for treatment of androgenetic alopecia: minoxidil and finasteride.

Minoxidil (5%): Rogaine: Topical minoxidil solution promotes hair growth in several conditions in which the hair follicle is small and not growing to its full potential. Minoxidil is FDA-approved for treating male and female [...]

Men and women should look at both sides of their family tree for relatives with hereditary hair loss. The condition can be inherited from their mother, their father, or from both parents.
In the United States, 30 million women—or one in four—experience hereditary hair loss. Less frequent causes for hair loss in women include stress, illness, [...]

Hair follicles contain androgen receptors. In the presence of androgens, genes that shorten the anagen phase are activated, and hair follicles shrink or become miniaturized. With successive anagen cycles, the follicles become smaller (leading to shorter, finer hair), and nonpigmented vellus hairs replace pigmented terminal hairs. In women, the thinning is diffuse, but more marked [...]

Hereditary balding or thinning is the most common cause of hair loss. The tendency can be inherited from either the mother’s or father’s side of the family. Women with this trait develop thinning hair, but do not become completely bald. The condition is called androgenetic alopecia and it can start in the teens, twenties, or [...]