Women suffer from hair loss nearly as commonly as men. While most older men suffer from hair loss, at least 50% of women do as well. Typically, the hair loss women experience begins during or after menopause, in the 50’s and 60’s, but others start losing hair as early as the teenage years.
Androgenetic alopecia is a fancy way of saying “inherited hair loss.” This is the most common form of hair loss affecting women. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, it is a disorder that currently affects 30 million women in the U.S.
One of the first ways a physician will check to see if this might be the cause for a female patient’s hair loss is to ask about her family history. If there are other women in her genealogical line who have suffered from noticeable hair loss, it may be genetic.
A more direct way of looking for this disorder is to examine the hairs under magnification. If a woman’s hairs vary in thickness, this may be an indicator of androgenetic alopecia. The hair follicles, in this disorder, shrink slowly away until the hair growth in the affected follicles stops altogether.
Other less common causes for hair loss in women include polycystic ovary syndrome, autoimmune diseases, psoriasis, seborrheic dermatitis, extreme dieting, vitamin or mineral deficiencies, protein deficiencies, stress, and excessive hair treatments.
