Pregnancy will also affect hair production

In today’s increasingly stressful world, the number of women suffering from hair loss is increasing. We all want to look our best and damage to a woman’s ‘crowning glory’ can be a uniquely upsetting affliction. Hair loss in woman can generally be seen evenly across the scalp, without definite bald patches. If this is happening to you, the following conditions may be affecting you: Diffuse hair loss is a gradual thinning of the hair as opposed to a straightforward bald patch and is the most common type of hair loss in women.

The replacement of old hairs by new hairs is slowed down so that the hair becomes sparse and the scalp can be seen clearly through the hair. The causes can be numerous and include stress, restriction of the blood supply, a poor nervous system and hormonal influences. Androgenetic alopecia (female pattern baldness) in women is often linked to hormonal changes with the hair loss following events such as the menopause, childbirth or as a result of stopping or starting oral contraceptive pills.

The hair loss is generally more uniform over the scalp than in the male counterpart, but also results from a complex chemical reaction when the enzyme 5-alpha-reductase converts the testosterone in the system into DHT or dihydro-testosterone. The hair follicles are genetically predisposed to be over sensitive to the DHT and become smaller and smaller with time, leading to the eventual hair loss.

Telogen effluvium occurs when the growing phase of the hair is interrupted prematurely causing the hair follicles to enter the telogen (resting) phase of the hair cycle earlier than normal. Two to four months later, following the normal cyclic pattern, diffuse shedding of the hair begins. When this happens there are not enough hairs left in the anagen phase, or growing phase, and the result is diffuse thinning of the hair. Pregnancy will also affect hair production.