ALOPECIA AND HAIR LOSS

Alopecia is the term used medically for hair loss. It comes from the Greek word alopekia which means fox mange, alopex for fox. It’s well known that fox mange is due to microscopic mites that cause the poor animals hair to fall. People in those day shave a weird way of naming our conditions with animals.

Alopciais really a general term for hair loss and there are different kinds and causes for hair loss. Androgenetic alopecia is considered the most common type of hair loss, accounting of about 80% of hair loss cases in men by the age of 60 years old.

Androgenetic alopecia is caused by a hormone called dihydrotestosterone or DHT. DHT is an active metabolite of testosterone. It forms when testosterone interacts with the enzyme 5 alpha reductase which ironically occurs on the hair follicles. Also DHT, only cause hair loss on the scalp and actually stimulate body hair.