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Definition
Common baldness, sometimes called male- or female-pattern baldness, accounts for 99 percent of hair loss in men and women. Although its exact causes are unknown, researchers believe heredity, hormones and age play roles. Unlike hair loss resulting from disease or other non-hereditary factors, hair loss due to common baldness is permanent.
Male baldness usually begins with thinning at the hairline, followed by the appearance of a thinned or bald spot on the crown of the head.
Women with common baldness rarely develop bald patches. Instead, they experience a diffuse thinning of their hair.
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Description
Hair is a conspicuous element in many cultural definitions of fashion, youth and sexuality. So, it is not surprising that many cringe at the first sign of thinning hair.
Most people lose between 50 and 100 strands of hair daily, with little impact. As hairs fall out naturally, new hairs grow in. So there is no need to despair if you spot a hair or two in your sink. However, with age this natural regrowth process may slow or stop, and thinning and baldness may occur. If you are concerned about it, see your doctor for an evaluation to find out if your hair loss is due to an underlying medical disorder.
Like your skin and nails, your hair goes through a finely tuned cycle of growth and rest. Excessive hair loss can occur at any time this delicate cycle is upset.
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Causes and Risk Factors
Factors such as diet, medications, natural hormones, pregnancy, improper hair care and certain diseases can cause hair loss. Once the underlying cause is pinpointed and eliminated, the hair may grow back.
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Treatment
There is no cure for common baldness, but surgical hair replacement can give you back a head of your own hair. Available since the 1950s, surgical hair replacement is a low-risk procedure.
Surgeons remove tiny plugs (grafts) of your hair-bearing skin and transplant them into tiny holes made in your scalp. They take these plugs from the band of hair extending from above your ears around the back of your scalp.
During one session, your surgeon may transplant between 60 and 100 hair plugs, each about the diameter of a pencil eraser. Local anesthesia and mild sedation minimize discomfort during surgery.
Hospitalization usually is unnecessary. Within a few days after the operation, tiny scabs form around each hair graft. When the scabs disappear, the donor hairs usually fall out. New hairs generally start to grow within a few months.
If the baldness and thinning is extensive, one should not expect to walk out of the first surgery with a full, natural-looking head of hair. Even after the transplanted hairs begin growing, these widely scattered clumps may look conspicuous. Additional surgeries may be needed to fill the void. It may take a year or two before you will be pleased with your new appearance. The quest for a new look may cost in the range of $2,000 a surgery. Typically, it takes three or fours sessions to cover a bald area.
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Treatment with Minoxidil (rogaine)
This prescription drug, marketed by the Upjohn company, is approved by the FDA for stimulating hair growth. Rogaine is the topical form of minoxidil, a potent oral medication for high blood pressure. When minoxidil was being tested, it was found serendipitously to promote new hair growth, sometimes in places where hair was unwanted. Next it proved to stimulate hair growth when applied to the skin as a solution.
Nobody knows how and why Rogaine works - when it does work. It was first tested on men: in clinical trials, 39 percent of the men using it experienced at least moderate hair growth (a thin fluff), and only 8 percent did better than moderate. The majority - 61 percent - had little or no hair growth. Younger men did better than older ones.
Some men did report a slowing of hair loss around the temples and the hairline. However, Rogaine stimulates new hair growth only on the top of the head. According to Upjohn, a man who still has some hair in the balding area is most likely to respond. If you are entirely bald, Rogaine will probably not help.
In some people, Rogaine causes itching and skin irritation. Its long-term side effects remain unknown.
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Use of Proscar
Propecia (finasteride) the same medication that made big news as the first non-surgical treatment for shrinking enlarged prostates, is showing potential as a baldness treatment as well. Finasteride appears to work by reducing levels of a male hormone thought to play a role in hair loss.
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Questions to Ask Your Doctor
Is the baldness caused by a medical disorder rather that the regrowth process stopping?
If baldness runs in the family, will the male family members evidently start going bald?
Will certain kinds of medicine cause hair loss?
Do you recommend hair replacement? Is this procedure successful?
Do you recommend using Rogaine or Propecia?
What are the side effects of using these drugs?
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