Premature hair loss or alopecia may be considered a lesion, like the detriment in other body parts. Impairment of hair growth and loss of hair can be caused by a number of factors. The great majority of hair loss both in man and woman governed by genetic factors and influenced by hormonal changes, which are known as androgen-dependent, androgenic, or genetic hair loss, which are by far the most common form of alopecia. About 30% of Caucasian females develop the symptom of hair loss before the onset of menopause. Genetic hair loss is also called common baldness, diffuse hair loss, male or female pattern baldness. Male pattern baldness has noticeable signs including receding hairline or loss of hair, especially on the crown, to a varying extent. Signs of female pattern baldness include general thinning of hair all over the head and moderate loss of hair on the crown or at hairline. Male pattern baldness is the most frequent form of hair loss, which usually starts with the hair at the temples, gradually receding to form an "M" or horseshoe shape. The hair may be thinner and wouldn't grow as long as it used to. Female pattern baldness usually begins in age 30's, and becomes more noticeable around the age of 40, and develop further into menopause. Female hair loss is usually an overall thinning, i.e fewer hairs, rather than an area of baldness top of the head, since many hair follicles stop growing hair. Nearly 20 million American women are estimated to have such hair loss. Use of certain drugs or medications is a major non-genetic, environmental cause for hair loss and impaired hair growth. While male and female pattern baldness lead to permanent hair loss, these environmental factors are usually conditional and temporary. For instance, the drop in the level of estrogen at the end of pregnancy may cause the woman to be more likely to shed hair. Two or three months after a woman stops taking birth control pills, she may experience similar effects, since birth control pills hormone changes that mimic pregnancy. Another well known case that causes hair loss and baldness is the use of cancer chemotherapy medications. Examples of other drugs that may cause hair loss are: Allopurinol (Loporin, Zyloprim), drugs for gout; cimetidine (Tagamet), ranitidine (Zantac) and famotidine (Pepcid), drugs for ulcer; clofibrate (Atromis-S) and gemfibrozil (Lopid), drugs for lowering cholesterol; Coumarin and Heparin, anticoagulent drugs; penicillamine, auranofin (Ridaura), and indomethacin (Indocin), naproxen (Naprosyn), sulindac (Clinoril), and methotrexate (Folex), drugs for arthritis; atenolol (Tenormin), metoprolol (Lopressor), nadolol (Corgard), propranolol (Inderal) and timolol (Blocadren), beta-blockers for hypertension; amphetamines and tricyclics, antidepressant drugs; carbimazole, Iodine, thiocyanate, and thiouracil, anti-thyroid drugs; levodopa (Dopar, Larodopa), a drug for Parkinson's disease; trimethadione (Tridione), an anti-convulsant drug for epilepsy; and other drugs such as isotretinoin (Accutane) and etretinate (Tegison), blood thinners, and male hormones (anabolic steroids). |