Hair loss advice

Is hair loss normal?   Everyone normally has some hair loss every day. In fact, it is normal to lose up to about 100 hairs a day. However, some people can lose a lot of hair early in life because it usually runs in the family, inhereted from a parent or grandparent or because of disease, medications, stress, injury, or damage to the hair.

What causes androgenetic alopecia  -  Androgenetic alopecia is caused by heredity. Although it's most common among men, it can also affect women. A history of androgenetic alopecia on either side of your family increases your risk of balding. Heredity also affects the age at which you begin to lose hair and the developmental speed, pattern and extent of your baldness.

Hair loss may lead to baldness when the rate of shedding exceeds the rate of regrowth, when new hair is thinner than the hair shed or when hair comes out in patches.

Alopecia areata With alopecia areata, baldness usually occurs in small, round, smooth patches. You may lose only scalp hair, or you may lose body hair as well.

What causes excessive hair loss? -  A number of things can cause excessive hair loss. For example, about 3 or 4 months after an illness or a major surgery, you may suddenly lose a large amount of hair. This hair loss is related to the stress of the illness and is temporary. Hormonal problems may cause hair loss. If your thyroid gland is overactive or underactive, your hair may fall out. This hair loss usually can be helped by treatment of the thyroid disease. Hair loss may occur if male or female hormones, known as androgens and estrogens, are out of balance. Correcting the hormone imbalance may stop your hair loss.

Signs and symptoms The medical term for hair loss is alopecia. Pattern baldness (androgenetic alopecia), the most common type of alopecia, affects roughly one third of men and women. It's typically permanent. Another type of alopecia, alopecia areata, can be temporary. It can involve hair loss on your scalp or other parts of your body.