Common Hair Conditions Among Males and Females
Hair Conditions
Except from The Institute of Trichologists.
https://trichologists.org.uk/
Male Pattern Hair Loss
Male pattern hair loss usually starts either with a recession to the temples or a diffuse thinning to the crown and can be followed in some cases by a gradual thinning, then a complete denuding of the top. Very rarely is the hair lost on the sides and back although men over seventy can lose hair in the neck area. Both the Hamilton and the Norwood scales classify Androgenetic hair loss in men.
Androgenic hair loss has three causative factors: genetic predisposition, the presence of the androgen testosterone and the age of the patient.
Male pattern baldness is more commonly inherited from the maternal grandfather.
At puberty, more of the male hormone testosterone circulates around the body causing hairs that are genetically programmed (in the pattern areas) to produce finer and shorter hairs with each new cycle of hair growth. Testosterone reaches the target organ, in this case the hair follicle, where the enzyme 5α-reductase changes testosterone into the highly potent hormone di-hydro testosterone, which causes the above affects.
Female Pattern Hair Loss
Female pattern hair loss presents a diffuse thinning to the front and crown area of the scalp (Ludwig pattern) and never at the sides and back from this reason alone. Partings seem wider and the scalp seems more noticeable at the front and the top of the head.
This is a slow, gradual process and rarely does it completely denude the area.
Androgenetic hair loss in women usually begins with the hormone changes after puberty, pregnancy or menopause and is fairly common in ladies over 80 years of age. Although there is normally no increased hair shedding noticed with this type of loss, there are cases of long-term excess shedding (telogen effluvium) that precede this condition. Androgenetic hair loss has three causative factors, age, inheritance and the presence of the hormone testosterone.
Postmenopausal thinning is related to oestrogen reduction.
