Hormonal changes are a major cause of hair loss in women. Most women would have guessed that to be the case.  What is more surprising perhaps is that it's testosterone that's the main culprit.

Specialists divide the causes of hair loss in women into traumatic or stress-related hair loss and non-traumatic - which includes just about everything else. The most accepted cause of non-traumatic hair loss in women is an androgen called DHT or dihydrotestosterone.

DHT is formed in the hair follicle from the male hormone testosterone which women possess as well as men. During most of our lives estrogen acts as a blocker to testosterone and prevents the production of excess levels of DHT. Before the menopause women naturally have high levels of estrogen but there is a rapid decline after the menopause and this is when age-related hormonal hair loss can be at its worst.

The result of more DHT in the hair follicle is a shorter hair growth cycle, finer hair and eventually general "effluvium" or hair loss resulting in thinning hair or patchy hair loss.

Women with 'androgenetic alopecia' - as this kind of  hair loss is known - lose hair in a different way than men with male-pattern baldness. In women, the hair becomes thinner all over the head, and the hairline does not recede. Androgenetic alopecia in women rarely leads to total baldness as it often does for men.

There are other factors which can contribute to androgenetic alopecia - or certainly make it worse.  Genetics may play a role - if your mother had the condition it may be that you are more likely to develop it. Another possible contributor is a high fat, high calorie diet.  Just how all this works together is still not yet properly understood by hair specialists.

Hair loss is extremely distressing for women but treatment can be very effective.  The most common and most effective treatment for hair loss in women is the drug minoxidil which is available over the counter as Rogaine.  Minoxidil has a long history of positive results for women with hair loss. 

So - don't dispair.  Although the treatment is not a quick solution - if you are suffering at least you know that there is a possible solution for your hair loss freely available. 

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