Hair Loss and Baldness affect approximately 20 million women and 40 million men in the United States. In a society often obsessed with physical appearance, losing one's hair can be very painful and can negatively affect self-confidence and self-esteem. Fortunately, losing your hair does NOT mean you must also lose your attractiveness, self-confidence, and social life. There are many things you can do to feel better about your hair loss and yourself.
Hair Restoration Surgery encompasses numerous Procedures & Terms:
ALOPECIA: The medical term for baldness.
ANDROGENIC ALOPECIA: The most typical pattern of balding whereby the balding pattern is controlled by hormones and passed along via heredity.
ALOPECIA REDUCTION: A procedure that involves removal of a strip of balding upper scalp in the crown and vertex areas. The natural flexibility of the scalp is used to stretch the surrounding hairy scalp into place. It can be repeated in certain cases. See also "Scalp Reduction."
Women lose hair on an inherited (genetic) basis too, but the female pattern is more diffuse, with less likelihood of the frontal hairline being lost. Although some women may notice hair thinning as early as their 20s, the pace of hair loss tends to be gradual, often taking years to become obvious to others. (It's common to hear women with what appear to have a full head of hair exclaim, "This is nothing--you should have seen how thick it used to be!")
Notions about baldness being inherited through the mother's family, just like stories about hats choking off follicles or long hair pulling on the roots, are just folklore.
A Japanese medical team has found that a form of antibiotic could prevent cancer patients from losing hair during chemotherapy, a doctor involved in the research said Monday .
Toshiyuki Sakai said his team had found "alopestatin" reduced hair loss by 70 percent when used on rats also given etoposide anti-cancer drugs.
Etoposide is widely used to treat lung and other cancers but can cause hair loss.
Sakai, professor at Kyoto Prefectural university of Medicine, said his team was hoping to to put the agent to practical use in the future.
"I want people to know that few studies have been made on reducing side-effects of anti-cancer drugs," he said.
About 90 percent of hair on the scalp grows continually. The other 10 percent of scalp hair is in a resting phase that lasts two to three months. At the end of the resting stage, this hair is shed.
Shedding 50 to 100 hairs a day is normal. When a hair is shed, it is replaced by a new hair from the same follicle and the growing cycle starts again. Scalp hair grows about one-half inch a month.
As people age, the rate of hair growth slows.
What causes excessive hair loss?
Most hair shedding is due to the normal growth-rest cycle, and losing 50 to 100 hairs a day is no cause for alarm. When concerned about excessive loss of hair or dramatic thinning, consult a dermatologist.
There is a close relationship between infection outbreaks on teeth and the presence of alopecia areata or localized alopecia, a type of hair loss which has an unknown origin. Alopecia areata starts with bald patches on the scalp, and sometimes elsewhere on the body. The disease occurs in males and females of all ages, and experts believe that it affects 1 out 1000 people.
Research by professors José Antonio Gil Montoya and Antonio Cutando Soriano, of the Department of Stomatology of the University of Granada, advises going to the dentist when patients notice localized hair loss, in order to receive a careful examination of their oral health.
“Alopecia areata is a dermatitis which presents the following signs: The typical pattern is for one or more round bald patches to appear on the scalp, in the beard, or in the eyebrows, or to undergo a loss of eyelashes. Alopecia areata is thought to be an auto-immune disease”, stated the researchers. Hair re-grows in most patients after several months. However, in a quarter of all patients the condition recurs once or more. According to professors at the UGR, the affected hair follicles are not totally destroyed. Therefore, hair can grow back, although patients who have already suffered from alopecia areata may have recurrences.
Hair loss or alopecia can be caused by fungal infections, inflammatory conditions, trauma, or as a side effect to some medical conditions (like hypothyroidism) or their treatments (chemotherapy for childhood cancers).
Tinea capitis: is a scalp infection that is caused by a fungus. It can cause patches of hair loss, with broken off hairs (black dot ringworm), scales, enlarged lymph glands, or the formation of a kerion, a large, red, boggy nodule on the scalp. Your doctor may do a KOH examination of the hairs, have a fungal culture done, or he may just treat your child with an antifungal agent, such as griseofulvin. These medicines are taken for at least 6 weeks, usually with fatty meals which can help it to be absorbed better. You can also wash your child's hair with a shampoo that contains selenium sulfide at least twice a week to make him less contagious.
Tinea capitis presents with erythema, scaling and broken hair shafts on exam. Evaluation includes KOH or fungal culture of broken hair shaft and appropriate oral antifungal treatment.
Alopecia areata presents as smooth round bald patches in the scalp, beard area, or eyebrows. Evaluation includes TSH, CBC, and RPR to evaluate for associated autoimmune disease or syphilis. The condition is self limited but referral for treatment is appropriate for multiple areas of involvement or large surface area involved.
Traumatic alopecia includes trichotillomania and traction alopecia. Treatment involves pinpointing the underlying cause and emphasizing behavior modification.
Patient history of alopecia: onset of hair loss, hair loss pattern (diffuse or focal), rate and timing of hair loss, other scalp symptoms (itching, burning, tingling)
Personal history: dietary changes, diet, hair-care routine, hygiene products, medications (prescription medications, vitamins, over-the-counter [OTC] medications, and herbal remedies), stress, major illness
Female patient: menstrual and reproductive histories
Any family history of alopecia, patient's concurrent systemic/chronic illness, physical stress, medication, environmental exposure, psychiatric disorders, hairstyle, signs and symptoms of hormonal abnormalities
Physical examination:
1. Scalp exam for any scars, erythema, scaling, or inflammation
2. Density and distribution of hair
3. Hair shaft exam for caliber, length, shape, and fragility
4. Thyroid palpation to determine thyroid size, nodularity, or vascularity
Use "pull test" technique for hair loss. Grasp about 60 hairs between the thumb, the index, and the middle fingers. The hairs are then gently but firmly pulled. A positive test (2–10 hairs obtained) indicates an active hair shedding.
If a patient demonstrates positive hair-pull tests all over the scalp, he/she may be warned he/she will most likely lose all of their hair. Next, provide anticipatory guidance during the period of extensive hair loss as the cycle reestablishes and regrowth begins.
Finally, determine if eyebrow, eyelash, axillary, or body hair is affected. Examine hair density in other areas such as the face and extremities. A female patient who presents with thinning scalp hair and demonstrates increased facial, thigh, chin, or chest hair may have an androgen excess.
The most effective current solution for baldness is hair-replacement surgery, in which follicles are painstakingly moved in small bunches from the thick hair on the back of the head to the barren acreage on top.
But what if it were possible to move an entire, full and durable scalp from another person, albeit a dead one, all at once?
That prospect set hundreds of hair-restoration specialists atwitter at a late-September scientific conference in Las Vegas, where transplantation expert Maria Siemionow presented research that many believe will make such a thing a reality one day.
Siemionow, who is renowned for her groundbreaking work in the field of facial transplants, said her team at The Cleveland Clinic has developed a treatment in lab animals that reduces the length of time any recipient must be on immunosuppressant drugs to just a week. Today, the recipient of any transplant must stay on fairly toxic and expensive medication for life, which makes it untenable to do transplants for anything less then life-essential organs. It remains untested in humans.
The scientist told her audience at the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery's convention that her aim is to make full-scalp transplants possible for severe burn and trauma victims. But that didn't keep listeners from imagining the cosmetic applications.
Baldness is loss or lack of hair, usually from the top of the head. It may also occur on other parts of the body where hair normally grows. Baldness is usually part of the aging process. Some diseases and drugs may also cause baldness.
Hair loss may be either temporary or permanent, depending on the cause.
How does it occur?
There are several types of baldness: male and female pattern, local, and general.
Male-pattern baldness runs in families. This hereditary baldness usually happens above the forehead, causing a receding hairline. It also happens at the crown of the head. Over time, the bald spots increase in size until the entire top of the head is bald and there is hair only on the sides of the head.
Sometimes female-pattern baldness occurs in women. Usually it causes the hair to thin in the front, on the crown, or on the sides.
"It's one of the leading ways people can establish their individuality and express their style," says Jerome Shupack, M.D., professor of clinical dermatology at New York University Medical Center in New York City. "Hair has had sociological importance throughout the ages."
Because of its importance, anything that happens to our hair that we can't control--falling out or turning gray, for instance--can be the source of much anxiety.
In the United States, some 35 million men are losing or have lost their hair from male-pattern baldness, according to the American Hair Loss Council. Approximately 20 million women have experienced a similar loss of hair (from female-pattern hair loss), and an estimated 2.5 million Americans have lost their hair due to other causes.
Hereditary-pattern baldness is the most common cause of hair loss. Hereditary-pattern baldness is not really a disease, but a natural condition caused by some combination of genetics, hormone levels and the aging process.
Almost all men and women will notice hair loss or hair thinning as they age. However, up to 40% of men and women will experience a more obvious form of this condition. Hair loss typically begins in the 20s and 30s, although in women the changes are most noticeable after menopause. The condition is also called androgenetic alopecia and, in men, male-pattern baldness.
Researchers have begun to understand more about the cause of this type of hair loss. Under the influence of a form of the male hormone testosterone, the normal cycle of hair growth changes, resulting in shorter, thinner or "miniaturized" hair. Eventually, hair growth in certain parts of the scalp stops entirely, which causes the typical pattern of hair loss. Contrary to the folk wisdom that baldness is inherited from one's mother's family, the condition seems to depend on genes contributed by both parents.
Female pattern hair loss is the most common type of hair loss in women. The condition is genetically predetermined, though factors such as age and androgen (male sex hormones) levels are commonly associated with the timing of its onset and how far it progresses. It most often begins during menopause (end of menstruation) but may begin as soon as puberty in very rare cases.
Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and an enzyme (a complex protein found in body cells) known as 5-alpha reductase are involved in the androgenic alopecia process. Women with large amounts of this enzyme produce excess amounts of DHT, the hormone primarily responsible for hair loss. This subsequently reduces levels of estrogen, a hormone that naturally counteracts the affects of DHT. Over time, this excess DHT causes the hair follicle to shrink or even stops hair growth.
In ancient Egypt physicians used the electric catfish that inhabit the Nile River to shock their patients into good health. Since then, electric and magnetic stimulation devices have fallen in and out of favor with the medical establishment. By the mid-20th century, almost every form of electromagnetic therapy, including electroshock treatments for patients with mental disorders, had been put on the same shelf with leeches and blistering cups. There was no question that electric therapy occasionally produced results. The problem was that no one could explain how exposure to an electromagnetic field did the body good.
Your hair loss may have started with a few extra hairs in the sink or in your comb. But now you can't look in the mirror without seeing more of your scalp.
Baldness typically refers to excessive hair loss from your scalp and can be the result of heredity, certain medications or an underlying medical condition. Anyone — men, women and children — can experience hair loss.
Some people prefer to let their baldness run its course untreated and unhidden. Others may cover it up with hairstyles, makeup, hats or scarves. And still others choose one of the medications and surgical procedures that are available to treat baldness. Before pursuing any of these treatment options, talk with your doctor about the cause of and best possible treatments for your hair loss.
If clumps of your hair start to fall out from a common form of baldness, a new review of existing research unfortunately offers little comfort.
Patients who are afflicted by the condition known as alopecia areata -- patchy hair loss -- should understand that there is "no reliable, safe, effective, long-term treatment," said review co-author Dr. Mike Sladden, a dermatologist and senior lecturer at the University of Tasmania in Australia.
Alopecia areata accounts for an estimated one in every 50 dermatologist visits in the United States and the United Kingdom, and one study suggests that 1.7 percent of people will be afflicted by it during their lives.
The condition often causes patchy hair loss; meaning hair in some parts of the body falls out while remaining in others. In some cases, however, affected patients can lose all of their scalp hair or even all of their body hair.
Most affected people begin developing bald spots before the age of 20. Many cases of alopecia areata get better over time, although hair loss often returns.
Hair restoration patients with more advanced patterns of hair loss usually desire to have the maximum number of hair grafts transplanted in as few surgeries as possible. At Hasson & Wong we classify any hair transplant surgery requiring 2000 or more grafts a megasession. Our patients enjoy more dramatic results with fewer hair transplant procedures when we perform these megasessions.
Follicular unit transplantation combined with dense packing in megasessions are providing patients with previously unimagined results in a single surgery. At Hasson & Wong we believe this type of surgery represents the future of surgical hair transplantation and we continue to push the envelope to achieve even more profound results.
Baldness, also known as alopecia, is hair loss, or absence of hair. Baldness is usually most noticeable on the scalp, but can occur anywhere on the body where hair grows. The condition is more common in men than in women.
There are a number of hair replacement techniques that are available, although hair replacement surgery cannot help those who suffer from total baldness. Candidates for hair replacement must have a healthy growth of hair at the back and sides of the head. The hair on the back and sides of the head will serve as hair donor areas where grafts and flaps will be taken.
There are many causes of hair loss in men and women, including disease, nutritional deficiency, hormone imbalance, and stress. However, by far the most common cause is what is called adrogenetic alopecia. Alopecia is simply the medical term for hair loss. Androgenetic refers to the fact that both a genetic predisposition to balding, and the influence of androgens, or male hormones, play a part in this type of hair loss.
In fact, there is a third factor, which is the passage of time, or aging.
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