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Hair Loss can Affect Women Far More than Men
Hair loss is part of our daily lives, whether you realize it or not and is generally more common as people grow older, but can affect younger people as well. Hair loss is a gradual process, some research has indicated that it takes 5 years or more for follicle roots to fully cease.
For many patients, hair loss is a major emotional problem and is quite normal after major surgery, so it is important for patients to speak to their surgeon about this possible side effect before undergoing surgery.
Hair loss is quite a likely occurrence for children being treated for leukemia. In male- and female-pattern baldness, the culprit is something called dihydrotestosterone, or DHT, which is derived from androgen, a male hormone.
Women
Women's hair tends to thin all over and the pattern of hair loss in women is different to the typical receding hairline and crown loss that is common in men. Women develop hair loss as frequently as men do, but because of hormonal differences between men and women, women typically lose their hair in a more diffuse way than men. Women rarely experience loss of all their hair. A reasonably common cause of hair loss in women is birth control pills.
Women may be given minoxidil or a hormonal or iron supplement to help prevent hair loss. Women with hair loss due to androegenetic alopecia tend to have miniaturizing hairs of variable diameter over all affected areas of the scalp.
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