Causes of Hair Loss in Women

Hair loss is a cause of havoc in many women. One sensible idea will be to first know the right cause and then look for an effective treatment. There can be several causes of hair loss in women. It may be due to hormonal imbalance, nutrients' deficiency, traumatic conditions, and even due to genes.

Common Causes of Hair Loss in Women

Dihydroxytestosterone: Women have testosterone, a male sex hormone, in trace amounts. An enzyme called Type II 5-alpha reductase converts testosterone into dihydrotestosterone (DHT). High levels of DHT gets attached to hair follicles in the scalp. As a result, the hair follicles shrink and find it difficult to survive, hence hair loss. It is studied that even lower levels of DHT cause hair loss in women. Andogenetic alopecia is the medical term given to such a kind of hair loss.

Stressful Events: A strand of hair completes its life-cycle in three stages. The growing phase called anagen, resting phase called catagen, and shedding off phase called telogen. Under certain traumatic or stressful events, 85% of hair makes a shift from anagen and catagen phase to telogen phase directly and very early. Thus, you experience loss of hair. Stressful events, therefore, can be one of the causes of sudden hair loss in women. Such events can be childbirth, a severe infection, malnutrition, major surgery and extreme stress. This type of hair loss is called Telogen effluvium. It is generally reversible.

Chemotherapy: Any impairment in the mitosis or metabolism process in the hair follicle, leads to a kind of hair loss called Anagen effluvium. Mostly, such impairments are caused by chemotherapy. The reason is, that chemotherapy targets rapidly dividing cancerous cells. However, other rapidly dividing cells in your body, which are absolutely normal, also get affected. Cells in the hair follicles, which are in the anagen phase of growth, are one of them. Anagen effluvium is the term assigned to such a type of hair loss.

Tight Hair Styles: Some tight hair styles such as braids, cornrows, ponytails and hair extensions constantly pull at hair. Over a period of time, a localized trauma is produced on the hair follicles, which eventually leads to hair loss. Such a hair loss can be avoided by detecting and stopping the cause on time. This type of hair loss is medically called Traction alopecia.

Drugs and Medications: There are a number of drugs that can be the cause of hair loss in women. A few of them are mentioned here.

• Diet pills
• High doses of vitamins
• Cocaine
• Anti-coagulants such as heparin and warfarin
• Birth control pills or Oral contraceptives, particularly the ones high in progesterone
• Seizure medication such as dilantin
• Thyroid medication
• Medications that reduce lipid's level
• Medication for controlling blood pressure such as Inderal
• Mood altering medicines, most commonly, Prozac and Lithium
• Diuretics
• Anti-inflammatory drugs like Prednisone

Auto-immune Disorder: There is an auto-immune disease called Systemic lupus erythematosus. It causes inflammation of many organs in your body. The major symptoms of this disease are fever, skin eruptions on the face, neck and hands, hair loss. This disease mostly occur in women between 20 to 50 years of age. Heredity is the main reason for the development of Systemic lupus erythematosus.

Genetic Predisposition: Heredity is one of the common cause of hair loss in women. Some women inherit the genes responsible for hair loss from their ancestors. Family history can give a clue. If any of your immediate family members have baldness, or patchy hair loss, you might also be at a risk of hair loss in your life.

There are effective female hair loss treatments available. It will be good if you approach a dermatologist on time. As hair loss is directly related to malnutrition and many diseases, it is better to follow a healthy diet to prevent deficiency of nutrients, as well as strengthen the immune system. High protein diet helps in both hair loss prevention, as well as its treatment.