Far from my crown, my hair was the nightmare of my life. But one question still plagued me: my problem is that in the head or in my head? Although I suspect my hair has thinned for decades, few people believed me and sometimes even questioned me.
There were years when my hair seemed more complete, when it rubbed into the loops and pleasure of its apparent thickness. At other times, especially in my 30 years, I worry about the thin strands in the front of the head or when I saw too much scalp in the mirror.
My friends have always assured me that I had good hair. Most of the doctors I've seen have reacted in the same way despite my tears and protests. I had no visible voids or areas of baldness so I had tested the stress or my iron and thyroid levels, which seemed normal.
Part of my hair loss in recent years is easily explained. I developed an eating disorder and I remember collecting piles of hair on my carpet in the pink room when I was under-eating in my teens.
Weight loss, low iron levels, poor diet and stress as well as thyroid and hormonal imbalances can cause hair loss all over, say technologies. Hair needs a healthy diet and an endocrine system that works to flourish.
But Glenn Lyons, clinical director of the Clinical Clinic Philip Kingsley in London, said that diffuse hair loss related to problems of weight, anemia, diet and thyroid are temporary. The hair follicle is not damaged and the hair grows back or automatically once it is directed to an imbalance.
It is the same for hair loss after childbirth or after cancer treatment - in most cases, hair is restored. Even with alopecia Arcata, the sudden loss of TV presenter experienced Gail Porter hair that leaves patches of baldness, hair regrown, although the problem may reappear.
There is another type of hair loss in women, however, it is less dramatic and less visible, but it can be very painful. Flowering hair gradually, often for decades, around the upper front region that extends back to the crown. It can begin at any age, is progressive and hereditary.
"Genetic hair loss is the only hair loss in which the follicle progressively converts smaller and thinner and smaller producers and finer hair until it stops completely and then you get thinning," says Lyons.
"He has a huge psychological impact on women because they present baldness and thinning in a similar way to men," says Lyons, who sees women in their teens at age 80 with the disease. "There is not a week goes by when we do not get the woman in tears here. It affects self-esteem, confidence, quality of life and relationships."
Ontogenetic alopecia, as the condition is known, is related to the male hormone, but is not caused by too much testosterone. Instead, hair follicles become sensitive because of genetic predisposition, to normal levels of male hormones in a woman's body.
But hair loss in women is complex and Dr. Hugh Reston, a Harley Street technologist, says that 72% of women with male hormone-related hair loss are also deficient in iron: "The key is to Obtain an accurate diagnosis and to eliminate all other possible factors. "
Stress can aggravate genetic hair loss as adrenal glands or stress secrete male hormones into the body, Lyons said. Polycystic ovaries can also speed up the condition and genetic hair loss will worsen at menopause, unless treated as low estrogen levels.
I have some ovarian cysts and I have suffered with an irregular consumption, low iron content and stress. But I always suspected that there was more to it than my lightened hair. The idea that genetics finally makes sense.
My mother's hair has been thinning for years, and her mother did too. The gene can be transmitted by one or both parents, and can affect only one sibling - my brother has a large head of hair.
Fortunately for women, female baldness is less severe than the male variety.
Lyons treats patients with scalp drops that aim to stop male hormones or androgens from damaging the follicles. For some women, technologies recommend oral contraceptives, but only those who have anti-androgens. Some contraceptives exacerbate hair loss, as some hormone replacement therapies.
Dermatologists may prescribe over-the-counter drug monoxide for the scalp, but Lyons said lotions need to contain anti-androgens to fight against genetic hair loss.
The correct treatment can restore some hair if the follicles are still alive, but if they are dead, the hair does not grow back, according to experts. The existing hair can however be maintained. The key to women's health and self-esteem, is to take the condition early - some women may lose up to half of their hair before they even realize it.
In my case, it is clear that I have lost some of my hair forever. I have to be brief, feel good and thin and I can see too much of the scalp on top. But maybe I can do something in what remains. And even if I lose my hair, at least now I know I do not go crazy.
Facts About Hair Loss
Telegenic effluvium - general effusion of the whole head. Usually, we lose about 100 hairs a day, but sometimes accelerate speed due to stress, illness, drugs or hormones. Hair usually grows back within six months.
Ontogenetic alopecia - in women, usually fine hair at the top, front area, just behind the hairline, but it is thick at the back. An enzyme causes conversion of the male sex hormone testosterone to another hormone, dehydrates (DT), causing the hair follicles to produce finer hair until they stop.
Alopecia Arcata - an autoimmune disease that affects up to 2% of the population. It causes round patches of hair loss and can lead to total baldness. In many cases, the hair grows again.
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