Shutterstock
The Will Smith slap of Chris Rock at the Academy Awards has highlighted the issue of hair loss and alopecia. Here is a look at a few types of hair loss, the causes, and effects, as well as treatments and cures.
Before discussing alopecia, it’s helpful to first discuss hair loss in general.
A certain amount of hair loss is average. All mammals shed hair. Human beings lose somewhere between 50-100 hairs per day, according to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD).
However, hair loss beyond this is considered excessive and is referred to by the medical term telogen effluvium.
Sometimes certain stressors in life can contribute to extra hair loss, which can be temporary. Such factors are: Giving birth, losing 20 pounds or more, high fever, excess stress, an illness, or discontinuation of birth control pills.
The body will usually adjust, and normal carefulness will occur within 6 to 9 months.
For some people, especially if the stress-causing factor(s) remains, it can result in long-term excessive hair shedding.
Both men and women can suffer from pattern baldness, which is medically referred to as androgenetic alopecia. It typically results in a receding “M” shape. Over 50% of men over the age of fifty suffer some degree of male pattern baldness. It may be surprising to learn that for women over the age of forty, 40% of them also suffer from some form of female pattern baldness.
Certain hairstyles or hair treatments can also cause hair to fall out. Hairstyles that pull your hair tightly, such as braids or cornrows, can create a traction hair loss known as traction alopecia.
The word alopecia means a partial or complete absence of hair from areas of the body where it normally grows. Simply: baldness or a bald spot.
In terms of medical conditions, there are different types of alopecia, as we’ve already mentioned the types that cause pattern baldness and traction loss above.
The most common type people refer to when saying alopecia is alopecia areata, which is a condition that causes small, round patchy hair loss, most commonly occurring on the skull. However, it can affect hair loss in other areas over the entire body.
Another type is alopecia totalis, where a person loses all the hair on their scalp. The most advanced form is called alopecia universalis, where people can lose all the hair on their body, IFL Science reports.
Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks the hair follicles, resulting in one or more circular bald patches. It is believed it is brought on by severe stress, according to the Mayo Clinic.
In most cases, alopecia areata is temporary and resolves itself within months. Many different root causes can trigger hair loss, including hormonal changes, medical conditions, medications, supplements, radiation therapy to the head, a stressful event, or pregnancy.
There is no cure for alopecia areata. However, treatment for some of the underlying conditions and topical scalp medications can help.
