Women commonly describe hair loss as one of their worst fears in life, even though they know their hair will grow back after treatments in many cases. The worst scenario is when they start losing their hair for no apparent reason, and the resulting emotional distress can be severe.
While hair loss in women, as in men, has long been attributed to the effects of "a bad body chemical called dihydrotestosterone, or DHT", many recent studies found that the factors which cause hair loss in women often differ from those in men, and thus may warrant different forms of treatment.
Many dermatologists opined that women experience different types of hair loss, and that the best solution really depend on proper diagnosis, including an examination and often biopsy.
In the case of genetically-influenced hair loss in women, it should be noted that this type of hair loss can be inherited from both sides of the family.
In a normal full head of hair, roughly 90 per cent of the hairs are in a growing phase, called anagen, that lasts between one to seven years. The remainder are in a resting phase (telogen) that lasts only about three months, after which hair starts falling out. If the anagen phase is somehow shorten, or there is an increase in the proportion of hairs in telogen, then excessive hair loss will occur.
Chemotherapy, for example, interferes with anagen, the growing phase, because the drugs used disabled fast-growing cells. Once the drugs are stopped, normal hair will grow again, meaning hair loss due to chemotherapy is only a temporary setback.
Other factors that can cause excessive hair loss in women are thyroid hormone deficiency, surgery, crash diets, severe infection, high fever, autoimmune disease like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis, and certain drugs, such as beta blockers and oral contraceptives. A high stress level can also precipitate hair loss.
The good thing about hair loss in women is that it is seldom as obvious as it is in men. Women with so-called female-pattern hair loss only rarely develop true baldness over a big region of the scalp.
Women also seldom develop receding hairlines and bare spots on the tops of their heads. What typically do happen though is an overall thinning of the hair on top of the head.
Finasteride is highly effective in treating young men with male-pattern baldness, but it generally ineffective with female pattern hair loss although some women have reported successes with it. In any case, finasteride is not approved for use to treat hair loss in women. It also must not be taken during pregnancy because of the risk of causing hypospadias in the developing male fetus (note: hypospadias is a malformation that affects the urethral tube and the foreskin on a male's penis). Finasteride is also ineffective for postmenopausal women.
Another effective and safe drug which is often used to treat hair loss in women and men is topical minoxidil 5% solution Minoxidil is sometimes used with two other drugs to further enhance its efficacy. Read all about it at this popular site => http://www.hairlossmentor.com