Even if the beautiful half of humanity looks with interest at men with a shaved skull, and even if baldness does not affect the activity of social life at all, nevertheless, most men perceive the gradual disappearance of hair on their heads extremely painfully and strive to find out two fundamental question: what is to blame for the developing baldness and, most importantly – what to do.
The emperor used a laurel wreath to hide... his bald spot
Alopecia is called pathological hair loss, leading to partial or complete disappearance of hair on the head or torso. Translated from Latin, the word alopecia means "baldness", "baldness". This disease has been known to physicians since time immemorial. Even in the countries of the Ancient East, the loss of hair on the head was equated with the loss of male power, and therefore all sorts of means and spells were sought to get rid of this diabolical scourge.
Scientists suggest that the fashion to wear a laurel wreath on the head was introduced by Julius Caesar, who thus hid the growing baldness, and Napoleon Bonaparte first began to practice combing his hair forward to hide the balding skull. e. Roman physician and philosopher Aulus Cornelius Celsus first described two forms of baldness as a disease caused by infection or stress. And Hippocrates was the first to point out the specific symptoms of alopecia – baldness of the frontal and lateral plots of the skull. In the 111th century, a hypothesis about the hormonal nature of baldness appeared and the term "alopecia" was introduced, and only in the middle of the 20th century did alopecia begin to be explained by genetic and autoimmune causes.
Until now, the causes that trigger the process of hair loss are not fully understood. In essence, alopecia – this is a collective term that means several options for the development of the hair loss process, each of which can eventually lead to baldness.
Traditionally, the following main causes of hair loss are distinguished:
- genetic – baldness is transmitted through the female line through the generation, but manifests itself in men. Due to the specific susceptibility of the hair follicles to the active form of the hormone testosterone;
- autoimmune – when the immune system of the human body begins to mistakenly identify hair follicles as a foreign protein and destroy them. Presumably, the impetus for such an immune failure can be viral and bacteriological diseases, vaccinations, poor environmental conditions;
- psycho-emotional stress – a nerve ending approaches each hair follicle, and therefore, if the nervous system fails, the functioning of the follicles is inhibited and stops, and the hair falls out and temporarily stops growing;
- symptomatic – the most common cause of alopecia, when hair falls out due to poor care, adverse external conditions, hormonal failures, diseases of some internal organs, beriberi.
Causes of alopecia: curlers and wigs
Most often, the causes of hair loss (alopecia) are the genetic characteristics of the body, congenital malformations of hair follicles, neurological and hormonal disorders in the body, tumor and infectious diseases, physical and chemical effects on the scalp.
Hair can also fall out due to poor hair care. Alopecia often occurs due to frequent hair coloring and the use of perm; the use of low-quality hair dyes, varnishes, foams and shampoos; abuse of hot styling tongs, curling irons, hair dryers, curlers; too tight weaving of braids and tightening of the "tail"; permanent wearing of wigs.
Among the key causes of alopecia are the following:
Androgenetic (congenital alopecia). The cause of hair loss is damage to the hair follicles by dihydrotestosterone (this is the active form of the male sex hormone testosterone). Dihydrotestosterone penetrates the cells of the follicles and gradually causes their degeneration. As a result, hair grows thin, loses color, turns into vellus and falls out. And then the mouths of the follicles are tightened with connective tissue, and the hair generally stops growing. The increased sensitivity of hair follicles to the hormone dihydrotestosterone is determined by the genetic characteristics of the organism. Since testosterone is produced in both male and female bodies, alopecia congenita can also occur in women.
Diffuse (symptomatic) alopecia. Baldness can be explained by the transition of hair follicles to a state of rest (telogen form of alopecia), when the development of the hair and its growth is temporarily stopped. The reason for this cessation of hair growth can be stress, hormonal disorders (thyroid disease, taking hormonal drugs, pregnancy), taking certain medications (for example, antibiotics, antidepressants), acute infectious diseases, and strict diets. Hair loss can be caused by the influence of strong and at the same time fast-acting factors that affect the hair growth phase (anagen form). These factors usually include severe poisoning, chemotherapy, radiation exposure.
Alopecia areata. The causes of hair loss lie in the violation of the human immune system, when the body's own immune defense cells begin to attack the hair follicles, recognizing them as foreign and leading to hair loss. Possible explanations for autoimmune baldness are stress, environmental factors, severe diseases of internal organs and systems.
Scarring alopecia. Hair can stop growing due to irreversible damage to the hair follicles, which occurs with injuries, burns, due to the consequences of a fungal or bacterial infection. In this case, the skin around the follicles becomes inflamed and gradually replaced by scar (connective) tissue, and the hair stops growing.
Risk groups
- Particular attention should be paid to the condition of the hair of people in whose families from generation to generation there are relatives with baldness.
- The risk group for alopecia includes employees of enterprises in the chemical and technological industry who directly work with aggressive substances.
- The condition of the hair should be carefully monitored during pregnancy, when taking hormonal drugs, as well as in the case of frequent infectious diseases when you have to take strong drugs.
The effectiveness of the treatment of alopecia depends on the correctly and timely recognized cause of hair loss, therefore it is important to know its symptoms and correctly diagnose it. Only a qualified trichologist can do this.
Source estet-portal.com
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