What Men need to know about hair loss

Visitors to this page also went to:

By David Salinger. Director, International Association of Trichologists.

ARE YOU LOSING YOUR HAIR?

If you are, then maybe you are anemic or swallowing your mouthwash or have been dieting or knocked your head or have a fungal infection OR PERHAPS you are on steroids or marijuana or have bad teeth or take too many aspirins or wear your ponytail too tightly or you have had a fever or eat too many nuts or your tonsils are infected or you have syphilis OR POSSIBLY you are pulling your own hair out or you have had an operation or you are zinc deficient or someone close has died or you have just separated from your partner or you are a diabetic UNLESS PERHAPS you have a bird in the house or you suffer malabsorption or you have been exposed to X-rays or you have a thyroid imbalance ASSUMING OF COURSE that your hair loss is not normal.

Loss of hair does worry people and when you realise that any of the aforementioned factors can be responsible for hair loss, you can appreciate that it is important and right that you should worry.

The first thing we have to say is that even though you want a fabulous physique don't take steroids if you want to keep your hair. Both male hormones such as testosterone or hormones such as cortisone can trigger or aggravate genetic hair loss, the most common type of hair loss experienced by men. Genetic hair loss is characterised by either recession at the temples, thinning in the crown area or both. Eventually it can lead to baldness on the top and front of the scalp. It is "genetic" because you must inherit the genes for baldness from either your dad or mum to be affected by the baldness yourself. If your dad carries the genes, he will show the baldness and your chances, then, of inheriting the baldness genes from him are at least 50%. If your mum carries the genes, she will not show the baldness because her male hormones are at too low a level. The bottom line is that just because your dad is bald doesn't mean you will be, and just because both your parent have wonderful hair doesn't mean that you won't go bald. However, it still pays to chose your parents carefully.

On a positive note, if you still have a good head of hair at the age of 30, you probably always will have. And for those who do suffer genetic baldness and want to do something about it, it is worth trying Propecia (a prescription medication that reduces one of the male hormones) or rubbing in Regaine 5%, available from the chemist, to see if they help. If either one helps, you will have to continue the therapy for life or until you are married, when you'll be loved, hair or no hair. Other alternatives are hairpieces or hair transplants. "Single hair" transplants can look excellent. Hair can even be transplanted from your body to your scalp, but pubic hair tends to look out of place on the scalp.

For those of you who suspect your partner is trying to poison you, analysis of the hair is the best way to measure such minerals as arsenic, aluminium, cadmium, lead and mercury. It can even be determined which month you were poisoned, when you died, and whether your partner was found guilty. Hair is sent to a laboratory where it is analysed by atomic absorption spectroscopy or emission spectroscopy. In the case of Napoleon, who died from arsenic poisoning, his partner was never caught.

What about drinking and smoking? Do they cause genetic hair loss? Fortunately not, but they can aggravate such problems as alopecia areata that normally exhibits as circular patches of baldness. Marijuana and/or excessive alcohol intake can cause a general loss of hair through their effects on the liver and blood sugar levels. Excess alcohol intake also increases your female hormones that, in turn, should reduce the genetic balding process in those predisposed. The possible choice is therefore to drink lots and die young with a full head of hair or to refrain from drinking and die bald.

And what about sex and hair loss? Don't worry, there are no studies that link the two. However, there was a study that found a relationship between the anticipation of sex and the rate of hair growth; the closer the anticipated event, the greater the rate of growth (of hair). One university in America was given funding for a clinical study on the relationship between the frequency of sex and hair loss. When they advertised for volunteers, they were inundated with responses. Unfortunately, selecting the right men cost so much that there was no money left to conduct the actual study.

Talking of sex, many medications can cause general hair loss. Amongst these are some anticoagulants and beta-blockers. And what about stress? Stress is blamed for everything so can it also cause hair loss? The sad truth is that it can but it is one amongst many causes. Stress increases the levels of such hormones as cortisone, which can trigger or worsen genetic hair loss. Stress can also trigger a general hair loss or alopecia areata. Trichologists are increasingly seeing patients who combine long working hours with poor eating habits. This is a recipe for disaster (including heart attacks), not only causing hair loss but also leading to dry brittle hair. The positive side of excessive diffuse hair loss is that the hair is replaced, even while it is falling, and that the hair will thicken up once the internal imbalance (whatever it be) is corrected or corrects itself.

Hair reflects what we eat and nutritional deficiencies commonly cause hair loss. Iron, zinc, protein and essential fatty acid deficiencies can all cause a general hair loss. Other minerals, such as calcium, magnesium, chromium, silicon, sulphur, manganese, iodine, sodium and potassium, are all essential to normal hair growth and normal hair structure. It is therefore critical to eat a balanced diet. The hair is mainly protein but minerals and vitamins are critical to the structure and growth of hair.

Don't let birds walk all over you (the feathered variety). Fungal infections leading to ringworm (tinea) are easily caught from birds, puppies and kittens. Ringworm of the scalp usually shows as circular patches of hair breakage, with scaling, redness and itching. It is very contagious but easy to treat with internal medications. And be careful with your investments. At the time of the last big share crash, there was a big increase in the number of patients suffering alopecia areata. This baldness problem is an autoimmune one, in other words a group of white blood cells is attacking your hair follicles. Viral or bacterial infections, stress and many other factors can trigger such problems. Fortunately, the hair often grows back without any therapy, and there are several therapies if needed.

Frequency of shampooing will not affect hair loss one way or the other. Daily shampooing is advised with an "everyday" shampoo (see your hairdresser), and make sure you shampoo after exercising or working up a sweat. Chemical treatments do weaken the hair and can cause hair breakage if administered too frequently or incorrectly. Cutting or shaving the hair will not make any difference to the hairs' thickness or rate of growth. Hair lonely looks thicker because it's blunt at the ends.

What about hanging upside down every day to get the blood to your hair? While this may give you a different perspective on the world, it will make no difference to your hair. Our skin is supplied with more blood than the hair would ever need and I have never come across a hair loss problem due to poor circulation. The fact that, in men with genetic baldness, hair that is transplanted from the back of the scalp to the bald area grows normally for the rest of your life proves that circulation has nothing to do with genetic hair loss.

Other areas of hairloss in this section you may be interested in:

By David Salinger. Director, International Association of Trichologists.