Hair Loss Hormones- When Genetics And Body Chemistry Combine To Cause Hair Loss

The scientific term for hair loss is "alopecia." When caused by hair loss hormones, the term becomes "androgenic alopecia." There are many causes for hair loss, including heredity factors, aging, illness and infectious diseases, nervous disorders, toxic substances, injury, and severe radiation. But hair loss hormones, combined with genetic factors, are responsible for the most common types of baldness. What begins as a few lost hairs after shampooing progresses to a receding hairline and thinning hair. When hair loss occurs in a specific pattern on the head, it is called "male pattern baldness."

Male pattern baldness is genetic in cause, due to an autosomal dominant gene. Starting at the temples, male pattern baldness will progress until there is only a U-shaped fringe of hair around the head. Some men may have only a receding hairline and/or baldness at the top (crown) of the head. Hair loss hormones are the culprits here, assisted by heredity.

Hair loss is an inherited trait. If a man has the genetic code for hair loss, the follicles on the top his head are sensitive to the hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT), making them predisposed to shrinkage and to the actions of hair loss hormones. DHT is a potent and active form of testosterone that is produced by the action of the enzyme 5-alpha-reductase. This enzyme is produced in the prostate, adrenals and the scalp and actually converts the testosterone to DHT.
When DHT attacks a follicle, it sets up a reaction by the immune system that causes the body to react to the follicle as a foreign body. Here's how:

Everybody naturally loses a few hairs a day, from combing, brushing or shampooing. When a hair is shed, it leaves the follicle open and unprotected. If DHT is present in the sebum (oil) of the scalp, it will migrate into the empty follicle. What happens then is that this strongest of the hair loss hormones shrinks the hair root and follicle. The next hair that grows will be thin and subsequent hairs will be thinner and thinner. Eventually the follicle stops producing hair. This process will occur over a larger and larger area of the scalp, at first as thinning and patchiness
and later as baldness. About 40 million men in the U.S. are affected -- 25% of these will begin losing significant amounts of hair, due to hair loss hormones, by age 30.

Researchers and doctors have reasoned that if DHT and other hair loss hormones interrupt the normal physiological environment and function of hair follicles, then blocking the action of DHT might have the effect of slowing hair loss. To date, the FDA has approved only 2 such treatments, RogaineŽ and PropeciaŽ. There are a variety of other treatments available, including many cost-effective natural and herbal remedies that also block DHT. When seeking a solution to thinning hair or baldness, remember that genetic factors and hair loss hormones are the most common causes. It's important to determine the correct cause. If DHT is a factor in your hair loss, there are effective treatments to slow or stop it.