There are a number of different reasons as to why a woman would suffer from hair loss in the same way as a man does. Yet even though some women will begin to lose their hair, they do not lose it to the same extent that a man does. Below we look at one reason which is the cause of female hair loss in women today and which is the most common of all the causes.

Yet even though we still think that hair loss is predominantly a male problem, today quite a few women are likely to suffer from some form of serious hair loss. In fact, according to the American Academy of Dermatology around 30 million women in the United States alone are troubled with hair loss of one sort or another.

For some women the reason that they start to lose hair is because of their genetic makeup. This kind of hair loss comes down to the way that the hormones known as androgens in their body interfere with the natural processes. The hormones, which make up this particular group, are androstenedione, testosterone and Dihydrotestosterone or DHT. All of which both men and women produce, but a woman’s amounts are much smaller than those produced by a man’s are.

Although all women have this hormone in their bodies, when it is able to connect with a particular enzyme it can then convert easily into Dihydrotestosterone (DHT). This then binds itself to the woman’s hair follicle receptors and starts to interfere with the growth of hair on her body.

Slowly as the build up of DHT happens on the hair follicles, they gradually begin to shrink and this is what stops her hair from growing correctly. Over this time, the woman will then start to notice that more hair is falling out when they wash or brush their hair and they begin to notice areas of their scalp showing through. Often called female pattern baldness or Androgenic Alopecia is a thinning of the hair.

Even though the cause of this form of baldness in women is much the same way as it is in men, the pattern of the baldness is different. With women their baldness will be somewhat diffused and generally occurs as a thinning of the hair on top of the scalp. On the other hand men will normally start to lose hair completely from specific areas of the head, namely at the crown or around the temple or at the back.

The other main difference between the female version and the male version of pattern baldness is that men usually only start to suffer from it as they grow older. However, for women they can suffer from this kind of hair loss at any stage of their lives. In some cases it may well be that the loss has been caused by some other underlying medical condition that they have.

Along with the reason above, as to what can be the cause of female hair loss in women, there are other factors that may be the cause of this problem. Some women may, as previously mentioned, may have an underlying medical condition. Whilst for others the reason that they have begun to lose their hair is that they have suffered some kind of traumatic event in their lives.