hair

[S. A. Samisch]

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Once you get over the initial shock of losing hair, the next thing to come to mind is: "why am I losing hair?" There can be many reasons, a new medication or exposure to chemical contaminants is an obvious answer; but the most common reason for losing hair is androgenic alopecia. Most people know this type of hair loss as male pattern baldness, but most people don't know that losing hair by this process is both preventable and reversible. The reason you are losing hair is a hormone called DHT, and in people with the right genetic conditions it is produced in abundance and stored in the scalp. But it can be removed from the scalp so that hair can regrow, and with a herbal supplement this can be done without the negative sexual side effects associated with most pharmaceuticals. Losing hair is a huge blow to one's self esteem, but it does not have to be permanent.

Hair loss in men is extremely common, as you may have noticed either in others or yourself. Hair loss in men will affect about a quarter of the male population before the age of thirty, and about two thirds before the age of sixty. The reason hair loss in men is so much higher than other groups like women and children is hormonal. A build up of the hormone DHT is the cause of the vast majority of cases of hair loss in men; some of us produce more of this hormone than others, some store a disproportionate amount of it in their hair follicles, this is predetermined by genetics. The fact that hair loss in men is largely genetic is bitter sweet; it means that while some of us have been "preselected" to go bald, however it also means that we can predict who will suffer from male pattern baldness. Once you have taken a genetic test there are things you can do to prevent hair loss in men.

To regrow hair there are a lot of potential options available. For male pattern baldness, there are far more options than any other type of hair loss. If you want to regrow hair, you must first understand the reason you lost it: DHT. DHT is a hormone, actually a very concentrated form of testosterone. For genetic reasons some men produce and store more of this hormone in hair follicles than in other places. To regrow hair the excess DHT that is clogging up hair follicles must be removed. There are several methods to do this, some pharmaceutical and some herbal, some being capsules and others shampoos and ointments which are applied directly to the scalp. Despite the fact we often see men in various stages of male pattern baldness, most of the treatments to regrow hair have good success rates. Some of the pharmaceuticals have negative side effects which keeps men from using them, though the herbal supplements do not and are also effective at helping to regrow hair.

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