While men's hair loss usually follows a well-defined pattern, women experiencing hair loss often find their hair becomes thinner all over the head, and the hairline does not recede. Female thinning hair rarely leads to total baldness. The amount of hair loss can differ greatly from person to person and can happen at all ages. Generally research confirms that female thinning hair increases with age and affects at least fifty percent of women. There are about one hundred thousand hairs on the scalp, and it is normal to lose about fifty to one hundred hairs everyday. One of the causes of hair loss in women is high androgen levels. This is usually genetically determined. The androgen receptor is located on the X chromosome and so is always inherited from the mother's side. There is a 50% chance that a person shares the same X chromosome as their maternal grandfather. Because women have two X chromosomes, they will have two copies of the androgen receptor gene while men only have one. However, research has also shown that a person with a balding father also has a significantly greater chance of experiencing hair loss. Older women with high androgen levels often exhibit female thinning hair as opposed to male patterned baldness. While genetic factors seem to the main cause of female hair loss, lifestyle choices can also also make a difference. For example in Japan after World War II there was a change to a more sedentary lifestyle, coupled with dietary changes such as an increase in calories and daily fat intake. This coincided with a massive increase in male patterned baldness and female hair loss. This alerted researchers to a probable link between lifestyle changes and signs of baldness. Also if you are already genetically susceptible, that is you have a balding father or maternal grandfather, the type of exercise you do could have an impact on female hair loss. This is linked with the creation of the hormone DHT. Baldness hair loss is really a weakening of the hair follicle. DHT is the hormone chiefly held responsible for this follicular weakness. Without a strong healthy follicle the hair itself becomes fragile and eventually falls out. DHT is an abbreviation for Dihydrotestosterone. It's what the hormone testosterone converts to, which in some people can be excessive and can clog and weaken the hair follicles. Some exercise raises the DHT, while some exercise decreases it. Research is certainly not conclusive but it would appear that vigorous regular aerobic exercise is better for lowering DHT. Baldness on the other hand can sometimes be increased by sporadic, muscle building exercise like weight lifting. Emotional stress has also been shown to accelerate baldness in genetically susceptible individuals. Stress reduction can be helpful in slowing hair loss.
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