Baldness Emotional Impact Avoiding And Reversing Hair Loss

The most common form of baldness seen is male pattern baldness, in which the hair recedes from the lateral sides of the forehead, known as "receding brow". Additionally, a bald patch can develop on top (vertex). The trigger for this type of baldness, which is also known as androgenetic alopecia, is currently believed to be an enzyme, 5-alpha reductase, that converts the hormone testosterone into dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which inhibits hair growth. The age at which the enzyme appears, if it does at all, is genetically determined. Male pattern baldness is being classified on the Hamilton-Norwood scale I-VIII.

Female pattern baldness, in which the midline parting of the hair appears broadened, is less common. It is believed to result from a decrease in estrogen, a hormone that normally counteracts the balding effect of testosterone, which normally occurs in women's blood. Female pattern baldness is being classified on the Ludwig scale I-III.

Traction alopecia is commonly found in women with ponytails or cornrows that pull on their hair with excessive force.

Traumas such as chemotherapy, childbirth, major surgery and severe stress may cause a hair loss condition known as telogen effluvium.

Factors such as a regular lack of sufficient sleep can trigger the onset of hair loss in individuals who are genetically prone to the condition.

1 Emotional impact

Many men take an accepting approach to their hair loss. They see it as nature taking its course. They may not attempt to reverse or hide the hair loss. They may even shave off the rest of their hair. Some of them are proud to be bald, sharing the charisma of famous film actors, such as Yul Brynner, Telly Savalas and Patrick StewartPatrick Stewart (born July 13, 1940) is a famous British film and television actor. His bald head and classically trained vocal mannerisms are his trademarks. He was born in Mirfield, Yorkshire, England. His first appearance on stage was at a local outdoo, who have been considered handsomely distinctive, virile and epitomizing masculinity, in part, because of their baldness.

Others, however, see hair loss as a devastating event, perhaps due to a perceived loss of youth. For women, there can also be a feeling of loss of femininity. They might feel that baldness will make them unattractive to themselves or others.

2 Avoiding and reversing hair loss

Those considering treatment for hair loss should carefully consider the alternatives before proceeding, which may include consulting with a physician.

One method of hiding hair loss — a method which received U.S. patentThe United States Patent and Trademark Office PTO or USPTO is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that provides patent and trademark protection to inventors and businesses for their inventions and corporate and product identification. 4,022,227 [1] — is the comb-over, which involves restyling the remaining hair to cover the balding area. It is usually a temporary solution, possible only while the area of hair loss is small. As the hair loss grows, a comb-over becomes increasingly ineffective.

Another method is to wear a wigFor an article on stock index see WIG, for the Wing In Ground effect see Ground effect. A wig or toupee is a head of hair human, horse-hair or synthetic worn on the head for fashion or various other aesthetic and stylistic reasons, including cultural and, toupeeA toupee is a small hairpiece worn by men to cover partial baldness. See also Wig., or hairpiece. The wig is a layer of artificial or natural hair made to resemble a typical hair style. In most cases the hair is artificial. Wigs vary widely in quality and cost. The best wigs - those that look like real hair - cost up to tens of thousands of dollars. Some organizations collect individuals' donations of their own natural hair to be made into wigs for young cancerFor other meanings of Cancer: see Cancer (disambiguation . apoptosis; cancer cells, however, avoid apoptosis. Cancer is a group of related diseases characterized by uncontrolled cell division. Currently, it is believed that cancers arise from both genetic patients who have lost their hair due to chemotherapy or other cancer treatment.

Some drugs are used to avoid hair loss. RogaineRogaine is the brand name for Minoxidil, when used as a topical drug to treat male pattern baldness. The solution is applied to the scalp daily to stimulate hair growth and help prevent hair loss. It is available over-the-counter (OTC) in the U. in a 2% M and Propecia are prescription medications that are used to stop baldness and reverse hair loss in hereditary cases. Propecia is a pill that can work against baldness, but if the person stops taking it, the baldness usually returns. Rogaine is a solution that is rubbed directly into the head. The drug regrows hair less than a quarter of the time, however it has been shown to be generally effective in slowing hair loss. There are a number of other products that claim to stop baldness and regrow hair, many of which have not been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration.

3 Common myths and beliefs about baldness

There are several common myths and beliefs regarding the possible causes of baldness and its relations with one's virility, intelligence, ethnicity, job, social class, wealth etc. Most of them can be dismissed by the existence of many counterexamples or by the plain lack of any official scientific/statistical research on it.

Some of these myths are:

"Intellectual activity or psychological problems can cause baldness."

This myth probably was inspired by the fact that the human brain is located inside the skull, very close and just below from where hair grows, and so it was thought that the use and abuse as well as mental diseases could have negative effect on hair growth and number.

This is sometimes used as a stereotype in movies, where the more intellectual or rather frustrated characters are most usually portrayed as bald and generally unattractive, as opposed to the main characters which are usually portrayed as attractive, fit, mentally stable and generally with no apparent hair problems.

This same myth normally extends to considering people having intellectual jobs more prone to baldness problems compared to manual laborers, sometimes further extending the myth to male college or university students when compared to workers of the same age.The myth crumbles because counterexamples can be found in any case.

"Baldness can be caused by emotional stress, sexual frustration etc."

While emotional stress can have a part in causing baldness, again it is easy to find counterexamples like non-frustrated and non-stressed people with hair loss problems as well as stressed and/or frustrated people with no hair loss problem at all. This myth also suggests that a vicious circle between hair loss and emotional stress/sexual frustration can take place, although only one one part of it can be scientifically explained (hair loss causing low esteem and then frustration, but not vice versa).

"Bald men are more "virile" or sexually active than others."

This myth probably stems from the fact that some forms of baldness in some predisposed individuals are caused by androgens, and removal of androgens (by castration) prevents baldness or stops it from progressing further. Yet counterexamples can be found, like men with perfect hairlines and similar levels of androgens or men with sensitivity to androgens causing hair loss but which are not very sexually active.

"Shaving hair makes them grow back stronger"

Proposed as a popular "remedy" against baldness, it's very probably just an illusion similar to the one perceived after shaving one's beard or mustache. Shaving one's head doesn't increase the number of healthy hair present on the scalp, and, when the remaining hair has grown a few millimeters, no enhancement in thickness or overall quality can be observed.

"Some human races or ethnic groups are less prone to baldness problems then others."

It is true that by observing many pictures of men of European descent and then comparing them to pictures of men of Asian or American Indian descent it is very likely that a random observer will deduct that baldness problems seem to be much more frequent among the "European" group then in the "Asian" one. Similar observations can be done regarding the people living in most Western countries when compared to people living in "underdeveloped" or Third World countries, but lacking any official anthropological, medical and scientific research to back them up, such observations degenerate into a racial/social stereotype, that of the office-dwelling and stressed western citizen as opposed to the happy and carefree African or South American one.

A very similar stereotype exists even between the various European ethnic groups, when comparing people of Southern European descent with those of Northern European, Germanic or Slavic origins, with the stereotype summarily describing the "Southern Europeans" as darker-skinned, with more body hair, with the women more prone to cellulite problems and the men more prone to baldness, a stereotype probably developed under times of war or diplomatic tensions between European countries.

4 Trivia

John D. Rockefeller had an extreme case of alopecia that caused him to lose all of the hair on his face, including his eyebrows and eyelashes. Another famous person who suffers from similarly severe alopecia is Italian football referee Pierluigi Collina.
Eunuchs do not go bald. [2]
Baldness is not solely a human trait. Some other primates, such as Chimpanzees, stump-tailed macaques, and South American nakari show progressive thinning of the hair on the scalp after adolescence. [3]

5 See also

Alopecia areata

Human appearance Human image Dermatology

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