Is Stress Really A Cause Of Baldness?

Millions of people suffer from baldness, and this condition can be very degrading for some people, leading to a feeling of self worthlessness. On the other hand, there are also millions of baldness sufferers who just treat their hair loss as a fact of life - a part of growing old.

Baldness treatments are becoming more effective, owing to recent scientific discoveries. And like so many other medical and personal health symptoms, if you act on the problem right away, you've got a better chance of reducing the affects, or in some cases, even reversing the condition.

Now it must be pointed out that there is not a magic pill for ailing baldness (yet) and there is no one single technique that works for one and all. As a significant fact, in the majority of cases a combination of a few anti- baldness products will gain better results than any one product or technique. The baldness treatment that suits each of will need to be tailored to our individual characteristics and traits.

That brings us to the imminent question, whether or not stress can cause hair loss? You see, stress is so often referred to as the major cause of baldness, that many people believe this to be accurate. The fact is that stress is a cause of baldness, so you can blame your job or your sporting team if it makes you feel better, but it is not the major cause. Although stress is a cause of baldness, it is seen only as a contributing factor, because there is one cause that affects most hair loss sufferers.

Baldness can be caused by many factors, with more than 50% of males enduring some form of balding or thinning by middle age. Women also suffer from hair loss, and around 35-40% of women will suffer some type of balding or thinning by age 60. The most common cause of hair loss is Pattern Baldness. Pattern baldness alone affects more than 40% of the male population. Pattern balding is easy to explain - it is a genetic disposition - it develops naturally.

Our genetic make-up naturally predisposes most men and women to Pattern Baldness. The cause of Pattern hair loss is very intricate, but simply put, it occurs when testosterone combines with a specific enzyme and is converted into what is know as dihydrotestosterone (aka DHT). DHT has an adverse affect on the hair follicles - it is the originator for slowing down hair production and produces weaker, shorter hair - and in time stops hair from growth altogether.

The way men and women experience Pattern Baldness is very different. Men tend to endure thinning hair in certain sections or patches of the scalp and that's why many instances in men result in the 'monk' effect, i.e. balding on top, with hair still growing at the sides and back. Women tend to lose hair equally across the scalp, so instead of having a visibly bald patch, a woman can actually lose more hair than a man, but still appear to have a full head of hair.

Pattern Baldness is by far the most likely cause f hair loss, but there are a number of other known causes. The other causes of balding are credited for such small percentages of occurrences, and in many cases are the easiest to prevent, detect or even reverse. Other known causes of balding are hormonal imbalances (especially in women) illnesses, lousy diet, inferior hygiene, drug abuse and last but not least, stress. Again, stress is an indisputable known cause of balding. Not a major cause, but it ranks in the top few causes.

Stress related baldness has a scientific name - Telogen Effluvium. This type of baldness can also be caused by experiences such as trauma, childbirth, puberty, major surgery and even severe chronic illness. Telogen Effluvium is characterized by abrupt hair loss caused by an interruption in the normal hair growth cycle. Stress and trauma cause large numbers of hair follicles to concurrently enter a stage of rest. After some time, the hair follicles will enter a stage of growth, and the old hair will be ejected out of the follicle by a new hair that is formed beneath it. The result is a period of hair shedding, and is usually self correcting, but if the stress is ongoing, then this type of hair loss can become chronic and eventually lead to more prevalent balding.

Stress-related baldness does really exist, so you can blame your football team, or your job or anything else that stresses you out. But in reality, although stress can lead to hair loss, it is one of the secondary causes of balding. And it is only really related to more dramatic experiences that have bought on stress. Fact is, Pattern Baldness is the most prevalent cause of hair loss, and acting on it quickly can help the minimize the effect it has.