Hair loss can cause anxiety in men

Feb 2006

ISLAMABAD:

Hair loss is probably the one thing that causes men more anxiety than anything else in their life.

Receding hairlines and the arrival of the bald patch are feared by men around the globe. Not even the efforts of superstars such as Bruce Willis and Andre Agassi to make baldness fashionable have succeeded in releasing men from this inherent terror.

Hair may start to disappear from the temples and the crown of the head at any time. For some men this process starts as early as the later teenage years, for most it happens in the later 20’s and early 30’s. Initially it may just be a little thinning that’s noticed. Then, the absence of hair allows more of the scalp to become visible.

Some men are not troubled by this process at all. Others, however, suffer great emotional distress associated with a lack of self-confidence and sometimes depression.

In male pattern baldness, which is hereditary, the hair is usually lost at the temples and the crown. This happens because an over-sensitivity of the hair follicle to normal levels of testosterone switches the hair loss gene on. Not every hair follicle has this gene which is why some hair falls out whilst other hair doesn’t.

Other causes of hair-loss that are usually reversible include; iron deficiency anaemia; under-active thyroid; fungal scalp infection; some prescribed medicines; and stress.

Many men find that their hair loss slows down or stops for no apparent reason at a certain age anyway. A huge number of treatments have been tried to slow down and even reverse the process of hair-loss - some are successful, others are not.