Alopecia classifications
Pierre Bouhanna, Eric Bouhanna in The Alopecias, 2015
Alopecia classifications allow accurate diagnosis, a targeted therapy and a precise prognosis. The most common types of alopecia are androgenetic alopecia, telogen effluvium, alopecia areata, and cicatricial alopecia. Hair loss can occur through a variety of mechanisms. If hair shafts are defective or traumatized, they can be prone to breakage or premature loss. Intentionally or unintentionally, people may subject their hair follicles to physical trauma that can result in alopecia. Traction alopecia, postoperative pressure-induced alopecia, and trichotillomania are a few examples. The remaining types of alopecia are due to failure of the follicular epithelium. This can be due to inflammation, infection, senescence, hormonal influences, medications, genetics, combinations of these, and other unknown causes.
Psychological Aspects of Hair Loss
Rubina Alves, Ramon Grimalt in Techniques in the Evaluation and Management of Hair Diseases, 2021
Hair loss can result from various causes and take different shapes and forms. It was previously thought that one of the causes of hair loss is a preexistent psychological/psychiatric illness. More and more data suggests that the association is more bidirectional rather than unidirectional. This observation is especially prominent in AA. Regardless of cause or timing, hair loss seriously contributes to persons' health and well-being and adequate treatments can provide far more than a cosmetic benefit. Further discoveries concerning the association between hair loss and psychological/psychiatric impacts, as well as a holistic approach to management can help elucidate the pathogenesis, and better management options, ultimately allowing for an opportunity for an improved life in this patient population.
Actions of Dopamine on the Skin and the Skeleton
Nira Ben-Jonathan in Dopamine, 2020
Alopecia refers to loss of hair from part of the head or body. The severity of hair loss can vary from a small area to the entire body [45,48]. Alopecia is an autoimmune skin disease that affects as many as 6.8 million people in the United States, with a lifetime risk of 2.1%. People of all ages, both sexes and all ethnic groups can develop the disease. Alopecia often first appears during childhood and can be different for various individuals. The causes that trigger the immune system to attack healthy hair follicles are not clear but could be internal (virus or bacteria), due to stress, or environmental. Some medications, including chemotherapy, HIV/AIDS, hypothyroidism, and malnutrition (e.g., iron deficiency), can also cause hair loss. The causes of hair loss accompanied by scarring or inflammation include fungal infection, lupus erythematosus, radiation therapy, and sarcoidosis. Diagnosis of hair loss is partly based on the areas affected. Common interventions include medications such as minoxidil and hair transplant surgery.
Eclipta prostrata promotes the induction of anagen, sustains the anagen phase through regulation of FGF-7 and FGF-5
Published in Pharmaceutical Biology, 2019
Keun-Hyeun Lee, Dabin Choi, Seung-Il Jeong, Sang-Jun Kim, Chang Hyun Lee, Hyung-Sik Seo, Han-Sol Jeong
Hair loss can occur throughout the scalp and whole body. Numerous studies on the physiology of hair growth have been carried out. Many growth factors, cytokines and hormones revealed to be implicated in the regulation of hair growth cycle; however, the clear mechanism of the hair loss has not been clarified. The factors associated with hair loss that have been known so far include genetic background, hormonal changes, pathological conditions, aging, and side effects of a drug. The leading cause of scalp hair loss is heredity and age. Although hair loss is not a life-threatening condition, it causes significant impairment of life quality. Currently, FDA-approved drugs for the treatment of androgenetic alopecia are a 5-α reductase type II inhibitor, oral finasteride (propecia) and minoxidil, which is an external agent for hair growth by increasing blood flow (Price 1999; Rogers and Avram 2008). Corticosteroids are also used to treat alopecia caused by a destruction of hair follicles by the immune system (Garg and Messenger 2009). There is a continuing need for drugs that prevent the progression of hair loss and facilitate hair regrowth.
Impact of progesterone on skin and hair in menopause – a comprehensive review
Published in Climacteric, 2021
S. Gasser, K. Heidemeyer, M. von Wolff, P. Stute
For therapeutic reasons, micronized progesterone (MP) can be used, for example, for endometrial protection when estrogens are applied in menopausal women with an intact uterus7. While the current indications for menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) include menopausal symptom relief, and osteoporosis prevention8,9, MHT has also been shown to have an impact on both skin development and composition10, and to slow the aging process of female skin after menopause11,12. Skin aging is due to extrinsic factors (e.g. smoking, pollution, ultraviolet radiation) and intrinsic factors (e.g. genetics, inflammation, hormonal imbalance), respectively13. Thus, many women experience a sudden onset of skin aging signs during menopause, such as an increase in skin dryness, loss of firmness, decrease in elasticity, wrinkles, and dyspigmentation14. Menopause-related hormonal changes also have an impact on scalp hair, such as a reduction of the hair diameter and a faster switch from the anagen to telogen phase, leading to a shorter hair growth phase15. Thus, scalp hair appears as being in a state of chronically increased hair loss. In cases of prevalent female pattern hair loss (androgenic alopecia), menopause promotes the miniaturization of the hair follicle. By age 50 years, a quarter of all women are affected by female pattern hair loss16,17.
Androgenetic alopecia; drug safety and therapeutic strategies
Published in Expert Opinion on Drug Safety, 2018
Ion G. Motofei, David L. Rowland, Daniela L. Baconi, Mircea Tampa, Maria-Isabela Sârbu, Stana Păunică, Vlad D. Constantin, Cristian Bălălău, Ioana Păunică, Simona Roxana Georgescu
Even though AGA is a benign condition, it has an important impact on the patients’ quality of life. Hair is associated with an individuals’ identity. Throughout history, various hairstyles were associated with wealth and power. Hair loss is associated with stress, low self-esteem, reduced satisfaction with the body image, depression, and anxiety. Furthermore, bald people are perceived as less attractive and older by others [5,15,17]. Studies performed on patients with AGA have shown that hair loss moderately influences the quality of life of patients and that younger people and those with a longer duration of the condition are more severely affected [18,19]. People who seek medical help seem to be more emotionally distressed than the others. On the other hand, many men cope well with AGA [15].
Related Knowledge Centers
- Alopecia Areata
- Autoimmunity
- Inflammation
- Androgen
- Hair
- Scar
- Mental Distress
- Pattern Hair Loss
- Telogen Effluvium
- Genetics