FIVE --- EMOTIONAL/PHYSICAL STRESS

It's often said that it isn't stress that kills but it is how one deals with stress that matters.  Recent data shows that stress can  contribute to hair loss, particularly in early middle age and beyond. Our bodies react differently and at times, surprisingly. The dictionary defines stress as a "demand upon physical or mental energy".  Stress puts demands on us to perform well above our capacity. Stress happens to all of us, and typically each day. Stress can also be related to change.  Loss of a job or divorce, death in the family, or even something as seemingly benign as a residential move can trigger hair loss causing stress.  Most times, its temporary.  Sometimes though, it isn't.  

Before we review a number of treatment choices available to female hair loss patients, it is important to recognize that in women, as well as men, disparate factors can cause scalp hair loss.  These factors include underlying genetic susceptibility, hormonal changes, epigenetic factors, local inflammation, defects in hair cycling, defects in hair morphology, immunologic triggers, and so on.  Thus, for example, the treatment for alopecia areata (AA) will differ markedly from appropriate treatment choices used to address androgenetic alopecia (AGA).  

In our previous installment, we laid the groundwork for hair loss that affects women.  In this chapter we will focus upon the various forms of hair loss women experience, and further on we will discuss treatment options.  Finally, we will culminate with an overview to explore the cutting edge of hair loss research.

As unfair as pattern hair loss seems to be, at least when it affects a man, society generally accepts bald men as a normal part thereof.  However, balding women constitute another matter altogether.  Stares and whispers often accompany such a woman as she goes about her daily tasks.  "What is wrong with this poor lady?".  "Is she sick?". For such women, just glancing in a mirror, previously a chance to preen, to enjoy a moment of pride, turns to gut-wrenching shame and, sometimes self-loathing.  

In 2002 a published double blind clinical study undertaken to examine the utility of HairGenesis® demonstrated safety and efficacy in a botanically-based, natural hair loss treatment.  This was the first time a naturally-derived hair loss treatment was proven to work.  Saw palmetto extract was one of the active ingredients used in the 2002 HairGenesis® formula, proven in this study.

Snake oil originated in China where it was used as a remedy for inflammation and pain.  Snake oil is still used as a pain reliever in China. 

Purported to reverse aging and grow hair, snake oil also played a role in ancient Egyptian medical practice, where it was mixed with fat extracted from lions, hippos and other indigenous species.  

In our most recent segment we briefly described several viable treatment options for the most common hair loss disorders affecting patients of either gender.  In this installment, let’s narrow our focus to hair loss experienced by women.  

As a man, I know how debilitating hair loss can be.  However, I cannot begin to imagine what it must be like to be a woman losing her hair.  The emotional torment and sense of helplessness must be profoundly wrenching.  Society is also less tolerant of female hair loss.  A woman’s hair is described as her glory.  It is a mark of pride, and also a source of attraction.  Many, if not most, women invest a share of their identity in their hair.  Thus, when hair loss strikes it can be devastating indeed.

Until recently, scientifically-validated hair loss treatments consisted entirely of compositions formulated to block a key precursor enzyme (5 alpha-reductase).  This enzyme precipitates the conversion of testosterone (T) to dihydrotestosterone (DHT).  DHT has been compellingly and repeatedly demonstrated to represent an important negative factor in the onset and progression of pattern hair loss, also known as androgenetic alopecia (AGA).

As disruptive as pattern hair loss is to a man, when it happens to a woman it is far more disruptive.  Here's why. Research shows that scalp hair in a woman constitutes one of the primary visual signals of health and fertility.  Therefore, when a woman's hair thins so may her potential to find a long term mate.  Fortunately, hair loss in females is actually quite rare prior to age 35 - 40.  Nonetheless, statistically speaking, the most common reason why a 39 year old healthy woman begins to lose her hair is due to the same genetic and biochemical processes that cause common pattern baldness in men.  This is not to say that women lose hair just the way men do.  Obviously this is not the case. 

Statistically speaking, the most common reason why a 39 year old healthy woman loses her hair is due to androgenetic alopecia (AGA), also known as common pattern hair loss.  This is not to say that it is an absolute certainty that you are suffering from AGA and not another kind of loss.  Merely, I point out that the statistical odds favor AGA over the less common disorders.