Alopecia is the technical name for hair loss, but that’s just the beginning of the story. There are so many complicated and multifaceted factors that affect hair growth the subject is too vast and complex for this book to tackle in detail.
For example, reasons for hair loss can include scarring alopecia (also referred to as pseudopelade, a condition where for no known reason the hair follicle is destroyed, resulting in permanent hair loss); nonscarring alopecia (also referred to as alopecia areata, which results in hair loss that can grow back); androgenetic alopecia (more commonly known as male pattern baldness); scleroderma (a chronic connective-tissue disease believed to be an autoimmune rheumatic disease); some tick bites; lichen planopilaris (an inflammatory disease of unknown origin that usually affects the skin but can also affect hair and can result in permanent hair loss); psoriasis; lupus (an autoimmune disorder causing chronic inflammation, especially of the skin, but that can also affect hair growth); seborrheic dermatitis; trichotillomania (an impulse-control disorder that causes people to pull out their own hair); traction alopecia (resulting from inadvertent pulling on hair from styling hair too tightly); physical injury (particularly burns that destroy hair follicles); hemochromatosis (an inherited disorder that causes the body to absorb and store too much iron, damaging the organs in the body); surgery; cancer; rapid weight loss; thyroid abnormalities; and high blood pressure are all contributing factors.
There is also a long list of medications that can cause hair loss, and there are no cosmetic products that can reverse their effect, though hair growth is almost always restored once the drug is not being taken. These include the cholesterol-lowering drugs clofibrate (Atromis-S) and gemfibrozil (Lopid); the Parkinson’s medication levodopa (Dopar, Laro – dopa); the ulcer drugs cimetidine (Tagamet), ranitidine (Zantac), and famotidine (Pepcid); the anticoagulants coumarin and heparin; drugs for gout treatment, including allopurinol (Loporin, Zyloprim); anti-arthritics penicillamine, auranofin (Ridaura), indomethacin (Indocin), naproxen (Naprosyn), sulindac (Clinoril), and methotrexate (Folex); drugs derived from vitamin-A isotretinoin (Accutane) and etretinate (Tegison); anticonvulsants for treating epilepsy like trimethadione (Tridione); beta-blocker drugs for high blood pressure such as atenolol (Tenormin), metoprolol (Lopressor), nadolol (Corgard), propranolol (Inderal), and timolol (Blocadren); and the anti-thyroid medications carbimazole, iodine, thiocyanate, and thiouracil.
But by far, the most typical cause of hair loss is something called male pattern baldness caused by certain androgens (male hormones) destroying the hair follicle. Yes, despite the name, more then 21 million women are affected by male pattern baldness.
Before you even begin to think about what products to use for hair growth, you must know the source of your hair loss. Each of these causes requires medical evaluation and a determination of treatment. Hair loss is not merely an aesthetic issue, it can also be a health issue.
(Sources: European Journal of Dermatology, May-June 2007, pages 220-222; Facial and Plastic Surgery, November 2008, pages 414-427; Cosmetic Dermatology, December 2003, pages 48-51; Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, October 2003, pages 667-671, and April 2000, pages 549-566; “Anagen Effluvium,” August 14, 2000, www. emedicine. com; American Academy of Dermatology, www. aad. org; and American Hair Loss Council, www. ahlc. org.)