Baldness: The Different Forms & their Causes
August 3, 2011 by Den
Filed under Causes of Hair Loss
The clinical terminology for baldness is alopecia. It can be of two types according to its nature: partial or complete loss of hair. This chronic syndrome primarily affects the scalp. Again baldness may spread across the head or it may affect certain portions of the scalp.
THE TARGETED GROUP: Men become bald more than women. Normally, inherited female pattern baldness affects menopausal women – that is, women around the ages of 45 to 50 years old. This suggests a link to hormonal changes.
However, women do carry the genes that determine pattern baldness and pass them on to their children.
CAUSES: There can be varied reasons and factors causing alopecia. The most common ones are some diseases, scalp disorders, aging, reaction to drugs and treatments, and ionizing radiation, besides hereditary factors.
DISEASES CAUSING BALDNESS: These ailments are generally characterized by prolonged illnesses. Drug poisoning, disorders of the endocrine system, malnutrition, and some other ailments can lead to baldness. Long bouts of scarlet fever or typhoid can lead to sudden loss of hair from the scalp and also from the entire body.
ALOPECIA UNIVERSALIS: This severe form of baldness causes total and permanent loss of hair from the entire body. This includes even the eyelashes and eyebrows. Studies are on to ascertain the exact cause of alopecia universalis.
HEREDITARY BALDNESS: When hereditary baldness occurs, the oil glands in the scalp and the hair follicles deteriorate. As a result, the hair slowly becomes thinner. With time, only a few strands of fine, downy hair remain.
MALE PATTERN BALDNESS: It is the most common form of inherited baldness. It appears most frequently in men in the 30 plus age group. However, it may also occur prematurely even in the mid-teens.
Male pattern baldness usually begins with a partial loss of hair on the upper temples and on the crown of the head. Finally, it spreads evenly. This heredity baldness can be due to the hormonal changes that accompany the aging process.
TEMPORARY BALDNESS: Baldness can also be due to certain extraneous factors. Temporary baldness may be due to exposure to ionizing radiation as from explosions of nuclear materials, and also from X-ray machines and other equipments used to treat cancer. Chemotherapy also used in cancer cases destroys all rapidly dividing cells including those in the hair follicles and thereby cause temporary baldness.
