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.  

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 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.

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.

Androgenetic alopecia (AGA), commonly called pattern hair loss shares numerous hormonal factors with other diseases including benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Over the years, multiple European research studies have examined the use of saw palmetto in the setting of BPH. Until recently however, saw palmetto was not considered a tool against AGA.  Here's why...

For people concerned about hair loss, many myths and half-truths abound, but useful information can be difficult to put your hands on. Therefore, an objective overview of pattern hair loss is desirable.  

In healthy well-nourished males and females the most common form of hair loss is androgenetic alopecia (AGA), also known as pattern hair loss. The disorder affects approximately 40 million American men.  It may be a shock to learn that common pattern hair loss affects 20 million American women. The difference between the genders is that a woman suffering hair loss usually retains her juvenile hairline but experiences loss of density behind the leading edge. In men, a distinct pattern manifests where the frontal hair line recedes at the same time that a thinning zone expands from the posterior crown. In more pronounced cases, these zones meet and the person is said to be clinically bald.