Hair Loss in Women

Fortunately hair loss in women typically does not result in complete baldness, as is often the case with men. In the September 23, 1999 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Vera H. Price examined hair loss and treatments for the two most common types of hair loss -- androgenetic alopecia and alopecia areata.

Does Estrogen Affect Hair Loss?

The role of estrogen in hair growth in humans is not clear. However both oral and topical estrogens are prescribed by physicians to treat hair loss in women -- although there are no controlled studies to support this use of estrogen.

Dr. Price warns that women who chose to use oral contraceptives to treat hair loss should take care to select one with little or no androgenic activity such as norgestimate or ethynodiol diacetate. She also warns that women with androgenetic aplopecia should not use testosterone or androgen precursors such as DHEA.

Alopecia Areata

Alopecia areata is an immune disease that affects almost 2% of the population in the US. This type of hair loss appears in various degrees of severity from small, round patches of hair loss that regrow without medical treatment to chronic, extensive hair loss that can involve the loss of all hair on the scalp or body hair. This type of hair loss affects both genders equally and can occur at any age, although it occurs most often in children and young adults.

Treatment of this type of hair loss includes immunomodulating therapies such as glucocorticoids, topical immunotherapy, or anthralin, or biologic-responce modifiers such as Minoxidil. The choice of treatment depends on the patient's age, as well as the extent of hair loss. Milder cases often see a greater improvement with treatment than severe cases. In no case does treatment restore full hair in patients with 100% scalp or body hair loss.

Androgenetic Alopecia