In a society where a woman's hair is such an important part of what other members
of society define as 'beautiful', it is a traumatic experience for any woman to realize that she has started to lose some of her hair. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, about 20% of all women will at some or other stage be faced with hair loss problems. Let us briefly look at the causes of hairloss in women.The causes for losing hair and the patterns which it follows, are not always the same for women as for men. While men tend to lose hair on specific areas of their heads, hairloss for women is usually more uniform and occurs all over the head. Hair loss among women can also occur at a very young age. Girls of 16 or 17 sometimes have problems with this.In the old days doctors used to think that the causes for baldness among both men and women were the same. Science has now taught us that this is not necessarily the case.In a normal person a hair will grow for about two to six years. After that it will go into a resting period and eventually fall out. The follicle from which the hair grew soon starts to produce a new hair. This cycle is repeated over and over again until old age.Where a person however suffers to a genetic predisposition to baldness, something goes wrong. As soon as testosterone comes into contact with the enzymes present in the hair cell, it produces a very potent androgen. This androgen then binds with receptors that are found in the hair follicles and eventually shrinks or even destroys the hair follicle. This condition is commonly known as androgenic alopecia.Not all hair loss problems in women are caused by androgenic alopecia, however. It has lately been found that there can be many contributing factors. One of these is hormonal problems. A condition called polycystic ovary syndrome is often the result, the primary symptom of which is hair loss.It has also been found that certain auto-immune disorders can result in an inflammatory hair disease which causes hair to come out in patches or clumps.Various other causes of hair loss have been identified. Some of them have to do with your diet, others with illness or sudden trauma. Thyroid disorders and certain types of medicines have also been found to cause hair loss in some women. The problem of hairloss in women is therefore a complicated one and it's important to find the root cause before recommending a solution.