Hair Loss, Why We Lose Hair, Hair Loss Causes

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Why We Lose Hair

Balding is caused by a combination of hormones and genes.

The good news is that even people who are balding have a supply of non-balding hair that can be successfully transplanted to the balding or thinning areas.

A person’s head has tens of thousands of strands, and it’s normal for the average person to lose about 100 a day. This is known as “hair fall”.

However, hair loss is quite a different thing. It is often called “male pattern baldness”, as it generally affects men, and it is caused by the male hormone testosterone. When testosterone is changed chemically by an enzyme in the skin (5-alpha reductase), it becomes a more potent hormone known as dihydro-testosterone (or DHT).

Now we come to an important distinction: DHT acting alone does not cause hair loss. It occurs only when DHT comes into contact with strands that are genetically programmed to suffer under its influence.

This means that hair loss arises from a combination of two factors: the hormone DHT and the fact that you have inherited genes that cause you to be sensitive to DHT.

The good news is that this genetic disposition generally affects only certain parts of the scalp, typically the top of the head and the crown.

This is why balding people usually have the horseshoe-shaped fringe surrounding the bald area.

Strands in the fringe, and notably at the back of the head, are not genetically sensitive to DHT. This explains why hair transplantation which transfers non-balding strands, those that are not genetically sensitive to DHT, to bald areas, is so successful. Even in the new areas of the scalp, which were previously bald, these strands retain their non-balding qualities.

This is how transplantation provides a lasting solution.