As disconcerting as hair loss is to a man, when it affects a woman it can be downright devastating. Statistically speaking, the most common reason why a 39 year old healthy woman begins to lose her hair is due to androgenetic alopecia (AGA), also known as common pattern hair loss --- the same process that causes baldness in men. This is not to say that women lose hair just the way men do. Obviously this is not the case.
In men, pattern hair loss happens earlier in life, often with signs and symptoms occurring by age 21 to 24. In women, the disorder tends to occur later at around age 40 or 45. Men often show bitemporal recession where the front hair line begins creeping back. At the same time a thin spot may emerge in the crown. Commonly, those two areas meet and the entire top of the scalp is denuded of hair. In women things happen differently. The feminine juvenile hair line is retained but a gradual loss of density occurs and soon the affected woman begins to notice that her scalp is visible when her hair is wet or when the hair blows. Eventually, and over years, the problem may become so bad that she seeks tools and prostheses (wigs for example) to mask the hair loss.
Biochemically as well as genetically, the triggers that cause hair to thin in women are remarkably congruent with those found in men. In essence, it is the same disease process, manifesting differently depending on gender.
The spectrum of pharmaceutical treatment choices available for women offer options (e.g. spironolactone) unavailable to males, but there are also treatments for men (e.g. finasteride) that are not indicated for women. In any case, all pharmaceuticals present risk for side effect, some worse than others. Transplant surgery, where hair bearing grafts are moved from thick areas of the scalp to thin areas may not work well in women. This is because the pattern of loss may actually extend into the scalp area directly above and behind the ears --- where hair generally remains vibrant in AGA affected males.
There are four important reasons, non-drug, botanically-based treatments such as HairGenesis® may represent a useful therapy for females. First, the utility of such treatment is there for both sexes. In other words, HairGenesis® works equally well, and sometimes even better in women. Second, with over fifteen years of clinical history, HairGenesis® has demonstrated safety and efficacy in widespread usage. Third, HairGenesis® represents the sole non-drug hair loss treatment supported with published clinical research, and published university-based study. And fourth, the latest generation of HairGenesis® has been shown to operate through a dual-mechanism, by inhibiting pathologic inflammation in susceptible hair follicles and also blocking the deleterious effects of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in the same susceptible hair follicles.
