Hair Loss In Women - The Role Estrogen Plays In Women's Hair Loss

Introduction

With over 30 million American women suffering from female pattern baldness, understanding what causes this hair loss is important for all women. By understanding the reasons for hair loss in women, caused by female pattern baldness, the better a woman can deal with stopping the hair loss and re-growing what she has lost.

There are two things that play a major role in the cause of female pattern baldness, heredity and estrogen.

Heredity

The biggest cause of both male and female pattern baldness is heredity. It was originally thought that the female passed on the genes that cause male and female pattern baldness to the offspring. This has later been determined not to be true.

Now it is believed that the gene that causes this condition in male and females, can come from either the father or the mother. So if you want to know if you will develop male or female pattern baldness, simply look at the relatives on both your mother and father side.

Estrogen

Estrogen is the primary female hormone that gives the female characteristics; it also helps regulate the menstrual cycle and helps in maintaining acceptable levels of cholesterol. In regards to hair loss estrogen is responsible for regulating testosterone in the female body.

As a woman goes through menopause her body's level of estrogen start to fall off. This will allow the hormone testosterone to form DHT (dihydrotestosterone). When DHT forms it will attach itself to the hair follicle causing the hair strand to fall out in the hair follicle to shrink and die.

Estrogen Replacement

You would think that taking estrogen replacement substance and bring your levels of estrogen back to normal, would stop hair loss and re-grow your hair. But studies have shown that bringing estrogen levels back to normal by using an estrogen replacement therapy, stops the shedding, but that does not re-grow hair.

An effective medicine approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) Is Minoxidil. It has been effective at 2% solution strength to stop hair loss caused by female pattern baldness and re-grow hair. It is believed that it does this by causing more blood flow to the scalp.

By having more blood flow to the scale, more nutrients are available for the hair strand and the hair follicle.

Conclusion

If you are susceptible to female pattern baldness, simply returning your levels of estrogen to normal after menopause, will not re-grow your hair that you have lost. Estrogen replacements may only stop the shedding. re-grow what you lost.

You may need another medicine, such as Minoxidil, to re-grow that hair you have lost.