Thursday, March 22, 2012

Types of alopecia in men and women

Alopecia is a term used to describe loss of hair, either form the head or from the body. There are several types of hair loss, depending on the rate or the pattern, as well as on what causes the alopecia in men and women alike. Sometimes the condition is genetic, sometimes it is a result of lifestyle, while others it's caused by medical conditions, such as iron deficiency. Treatments for alopecia in women and in men are as various as the causes are and range from different oral medications to surgery in the form of hair transplant or scalp reduction. However, many people go for natural remedies or pharmaceutical solutions that have proven effective in others or that they read about online, on dedicated websites like http://haircapixyl.com/. The most common type of alopecia in men, although it is fairly often met in women as well, is androgenic alopecia, which also goes by androgenetic alopecia or alopecia androgenetica. It causes hair thinning and eventually hair loss. Humans are not the only ones that can be affected by the condition, as you can also see it in chimpanzee and orangutans. This particular type of alopecia is frequently referred to as male pattern baldness, because hair loss is usually pretty well defined, starting above the temples and at the crown of the head. Androgenic alopecia in women is slightly different and it is called female pattern baldness. The pattern however is different from that of men, the hair thinning around the entire scalp. Researches have shown that it is not only genetics that causes androgenic alopecia, but several environmental factors may do that as well. But it is widely acknowledged that pattern hair fall is strongly related to DHT, a hormone with important functions in the male and female body. The excess of DHT affects the hair follicles, shortening their life. Another form of the condition is traction alopecia, which is a gradual loss of hair mainly seen in women. The main cause of traction alopecia in women is the application of a pulling force to the hair, which happens when a woman wears her hair in braids or tight ponytail very often. This type of alopecia is most frequently seen in African American women, due to their hair style, such as dreadlocks or extension braids. Traction alopecia is easily visible at the hair line, around the temple and the sides. Because it mainly thins the hair, you can counteract with using hair solutions that help strengthen your hair, many of which you can find over the Internet, on websites such as haircapixyl.com. Alopecia areata is what happens when the hair falls without pattern, from the body, but usually from the scalp. It is a medical condition that leads to bald spots, being commonly known as spot baldness. This type of alopecia in men or women rarely progresses to complete baldness, but in 1–2% of cases, it can actually spread to the whole scalp, leading to alopecia totalis. In even more rare cases it can spread to the entire epidermis, in which case it is called alopecia universalis. The causes of this type of alopecia in women or men are not quite clear, although stress is said to be a huge factor, as well as autoimmune disorders.

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