Hair loss (Alopecia)

Alopecia – General Information about symptoms and treatment

Alopecia is disorder characterized such a disease of hair loss from areas of the body, in most of the cases, from all over the scalp. In the mens case, this disease is known to be a male’s pattern baldness.

Hair is usually lost in a defined way at every individual, starting above the temples. As the time goes, the hairline gets to a form, which is characteristic, and has an M shape. The hair also gets thinner near the top of the head (at the crown), and then, in most of the cases, progresses to a partial or complete baldness. The way that the hair is lost in women it is different from the male pattern baldness. In the women case, the hair thins all over the head, and their hairline does not recede.

Alopecia in women case rarely gets to a full baldness. This kind of disorder appears in people who are generally healthy and have no skin problems. The scientists are studying about the risk factors that can participate to the forming of this condition and a big part of these factors remain undiscovered. Doctors have determined that this condition of hair loss is in correlation with the male hormones also known as androgens, especially an androgen called dihydrotestosterone. The male hormones play an important role for normal male sexual development before birth and during puberty. There are many types of Alopecia, and each type has a different source. There is a vast variety of environmental and genetic factors that play a role in causing this disorder.

Symptoms of alopecia

Alopecia is in most of the cases discovered by a hairdresser, and that’s why there are usually no symptoms. The main symptom is that hair stops growing and after a while falls out from the roots. The evolvement of the disorder is halted if the post pubertal individuals are castrated. This type of skin disorder is considered to be a dominantly pattern disorder with variable loss and expressions. From the last studies, it was discovered that follicles from balding areas of patients with Alopecia are capable to produce terminal hairs when implanted into immunodeficient trial. This shows that a systemic or some external factors can be important in this disorder. Hair loss is a common and distressing symptom, affecting both men and women of all ages.

Men with this type of this disease usually have a pattern hairline and progress to a moderate to an extensive loss of hair, particularly on the front and top of the head. The remaining terminal hair gets to feel a little thinner and shorter than normal. Male baldness can also start at early age, as the teenage years. Women with this disease have the symptoms of an overall thinning of their hair. There are some cases when where there used to be five hairs, there get to be only two. The majority of the hair that is lost, in the women case, is from the crown of the head and even at the hairline. The female pattern baldness commonly starts around age of thirty years and becomes noticeable between forty and sixty years.

Alopecia – medical treatment

There are many types of Alopecia but almost all the types use the same treatment, and in each case, the result isn’t such satisfying as the patient would desire. Usually, it is used a topical application called minoxidil, also prescribed as Rogaine, but has no practical improvement, giving only hope. Rogaine have to be used for more than 4 months to see any results are, and the new hair growth is usually poor. If the therapy is stopped, the new growth hair falls out rapidly, and patients return to their first condition. Terazosin and finasteride are also known for their baldness reducing conditions, but any results have not convinced any patient that these medicines are therapeutic. There is also Spironolactone, which is in some cases helpful in the treatment of hirsutism, another baldness disorder, is not recommended for use in Alopecia and is surely not effective. In cases where the patient suffers severe hair loss, can exist medicines that has limited success treating this kind of disorder, and include clobetasol or fluocinonide, steroid injections, and cream. Finasteride is a medicine that is administered orally and is considered a 5 alpha reductase type 2 inhibitor, and it is not an antiandrogen. The medicine can be applied only on men because can produce some disorders, including genitalia in a producing male fetus.

Finasteride has shown some effects by diminish the bold progression, but are some cases in which the drug just stimulates the regrowth of the hair. And has also specific areas where is effective, it affects vertex balding more than frontal hair loss, where the medication has shown to increase the regrowth in the frontal area. The treatment with Finasteride doesn’t have to be stopped, because there are several discontinuation results in gradual progression of the baldness. There are no effects in women after menopause. There are also some non clinical treatments results have been noticed through the oral administration of some natural anti inflammatory agents, especially blackcurrant and borage oils in caplet composition, but there is also recommended the zinc supplement tablets. There is also a good option in treating Alopecia, which is surgical treatment and includes hair transplantation, macrografting and micrografting and some forms of scalp reduction and rotational movement of hair bearing scalp. These kinds of surgeries are surely better suited for pattern Alopecia than for more diffuse forms.

There are some studies which show that this treatment can develop more extensive Alopecia, which is first anticipated, which can lead to serious scars and rows of isolated grafts. The wig wearing can be indicated if the patients, particularly the female part, have a social discomfort. Most persons need the reassurance that they will not become bald right after the treatment, and the doctor need to make a precise and careful explanation, then most patients can easily accept the progression of their disorder. Patients suffering with this type of disorder can develop lately telogen effluvium, and the treatments for this disease, with anemia and hypothyroidismsymptoms, especially in patients with a rapid progression of their disease.