Hair Loss: Essential Facts to Go By

Hair loss is a condition in which the hair falls out at an abnormal rate and eventually leads to baldness.

A healthy scalp sheds hair continuously and new hairs replace them. Baldness occurs when the scalp is not able to produce new hair to replace the shed hair.

The medical term for hair loss is ‘alopecia’. There are different types of alopecia. The most common is androgenetic alopecia, also known as male pattern baldness or female pattern baldness. This is a type of permanent hair loss, which is incurable and is caused by heredity and genetics.

The normal cycle of hair growth lasts for 2 to 3 years. Each hair grows approximately one centimetre per month during this phase. About 90 per cent of the hair on your scalp is growing at a given time.

About 10 per cent of the hair on the scalp, in turn, is in a resting phase. After 3 to 4 months, the resting hair falls out and new hair starts to grow in its place.

Causes of Hair Loss

1. Poor diet or lacking nutrient intake

2. Medications to treat diseases, such as chemotherapy

3. Diabetes

4. Lupus

5. Any kind of hormonal changes, ranging from symptoms of PMS, menopause, and the median crisis

6. Infections of the scalp

7. Iron deficiency

Symptoms of Hair Loss

1. In men, thinning hair on the scalp, a receding hairline, or a horseshoe-shaped pattern that leaves the crown of the head exposed.

2. In women, thinning hair in general, but especially in the crown, complete baldness is uncommon.

3. In children or young adults, sudden loss of patches of hair, called alopecia areata.

4. Complete loss of all body hair, a rare disease called alopecia universalis.

5. Especially in children, patches of broken hairs and incomplete hair loss, usually on the scalp, but sometimes the eyebrows; the child is more likely to rub or pull hair, a condition known as trichotillomania.