Dr. Mona Mofid, a board-certified dermatologist, knows that aging can be stressful, especially for women.
'Let's face it, culturally, as men age and head into the 'silver' years, they are described as distinguished, whereas women are described as just plain old,' she said. 'And, the multibillion-dollar hair and skin industry capitalizes on that.'
While issues such as hair loss are more commonly associated with men, there are many women who also suffer from loss of hair.
Dr. Jeff Benabio, a dermatologist and director of Health Care Transformation at Kaiser Permanente, San Diego, said hair loss is common in both men and women over the course of a lifetime. He said roughly 80 percent of men and 30 to 40 percent of women experience hair loss at some point.
Mofid said hair loss and aging is a normal process. Think, for instance, of 'Keeping up with the Kardashians.' Love them or hate them, most people can conjure an image of Kim's long and full locks compared to her mom, Kris, who has a short bob.
'That's the normal progression of things, from the long locks of youth to grandma's bob,' Mofid said.
On average, she said, it's normal to shed about 100 hairs a day. For women, the washing, styling, blow drying, flat ironing, pulling, straightening treatments and coloring 'adds insult to injury' and weakens the hair, causing more hair to shed or break. This catches up with time, she said.
But if hair loss is sudden, it can be a reflection of what's going on internally in the body. She said major medical reasons for hair loss can indicate a problem with the thyroid, diabetes, an autoimmune disorder, vitamin deficiencies and even cancer.
Benabio said the most common cause for hair loss among women is androgenic alopecia, which is testosterone-related. He said age is a contributing factor for androgenic alopecia in particular. It occurs mostly in postmenopausal women.
There are also other causes for female hair loss, including polycystic ovary disease (which causes an excess of testosterone-related hormones); postpartum, which he said is normal and resolves over time; the use of some medications; and chronic diseases such as lupus.
He said nutritional problems such as low iron or extreme diets and braiding or pulling tightly on the hair when styled can also contribute to hair loss. In addition, he said, family history makes hair loss more common among women, even if family members with the problem are male.
Certain stressful events can push or 'shock' the hair into a shedding phase and people experience rapid loss. Mofid said this can occur several months after the 'shocking' event. Stressful events that can lead to this include physical stress, such as illness, surgery, pregnancy or birth; or emotional stress, such as the loss of a loved one, divorce, trouble at work or financial woes.
'To simplify it, the hair is just telling the body 'I've had enough, you've stressed out your body,'' she said.
The condition can be temporary, she said, but it takes time and patience - sometimes up to two years - for hair to grow back.
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