Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Hair Loss Causes and Treatment

Hair Loss-Causes and Treatment

There is a wide range of male hair loss causes, and thanks to modern medicine, many choices of hair loss treatment for you to consider. The majority of men lose their hair thanks to inherited genes and the normal aging process, but there are other causes as well. The key to selecting an effective hair loss treatment is to determine the underlying cause of hair loss and then select among the assortment of hair loss solutions to find the most appropriate treatment.

Up to 90% of all male hair loss is due to male pattern baldness, also called androgenetic alopecia. In this situation, the cause of hair loss is due to genes inherited from the father, the mother, or both. The older a man gets the more likely balding is to occur, although some men begin to lose their hair as early as their late teens or early twenties.

Cause of Male Pattern Baldness

Experts say that as many as 50% of all men will experience hair loss, ranging from mild to moderate, by the time they turn 50 years old, and 65% of males will have perceptible baldness by the time they are 60 years old. Whether due to aging, genetics or a combination of the two, why exactly is it that hair loss occurs?

The answer is a chemical called dihydrotestosterone, or DHT. It is a male hormone that collects and builds up around hair follicles, eventually causing the follicle and the hair growing out of it to be killed. As DHT levels rise with aging, more and more follicles are affected by it and hair loss becomes more pronounced.

Understanding Hair Loss Treatments

For the 90% of men whose hair loss is due to causes such as common male pattern baldness, there are several treatment options to consider. These range from topical medications to oral medications to surgical techniques, all of which come with varying advantages, disadvantages, costs, and other considerations.

The key to selecting an appropriate treatment for a male’s hair loss is considering convenience, short term and long terms impacts to daily life, cost, effectiveness and ongoing maintenance requirements. The best solution for one man may be very different from the best treatment for another man, so it is important to make a decision based on personal circumstances and desired outcome.