Sunday, September 11, 2011

Hair Loss Myths: You Ought to Know Better

Every year millions of men—and women—experience the signs of hair loss and balding. Any time a person begins to have suspicions of baldness (fine hairs on the pillow or in the shower), the reasonable reaction is to seek a remedy or ‘cure’. There is a sea of rumors floating out there that attempt to explain the ‘root’ of the baldness problem—a problem that affects more than 30 percent of men and women by age 30. These myths are not only often a waste of time and money, they obfuscate the existing treatments that actually work to halt hair loss and promote hair regrowth.

This article will point out the irrelevance of these myths and give you the straight facts.

Myth 1: Genes for hair loss come only from the mother’s side of the family
Although the inheritance of balding and hair loss genes from the mother’s side is slightly stronger, androgenetic hair loss (pattern baldness) can be inherited from the mother’s side of the family, the father’s side, or both.

Myth 2: Men who are bald have high levels of testosterone
This myth falls into the same category as another familiar myth: ‘the size of a man’s hands or feet determines . . .’ Hair loss is caused by a greater sensitivity of hair follicles in some parts of the scalp to DHT (dihydrotestosterone) rather than to increased levels of testosterone. DHT causes the hair follicles to shrink (miniaturize) and eventually disappear. If elevated levels of testosterone were the problem, then all of a person’s body hair would be susceptible to hair loss—not just the areas on the crown and front of the scalp.

Myth 3: A sign of genetic baldness is seeing hair fall out
In contrast to popular belief, going bald is not due to massive amounts of hair falling out but rather by normal thick hair gradually being replaced by finer thinner hairs—a process resulting from miniaturization of hair follicles. If large patches of hair suddenly start falling out it, is time to see your doctor. This is not a sign of balding but rather a more serious medical problem.

Myth 4: Wearing hats makes you go bald
People who accuse their hats as being the cause of their hair loss think that wearing hats all the time prevents the scalp from breathing. Actually hair follicles get oxygen from the blood stream rather than from the air (much like how a plant gets water from its roots and not its leaves).

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