There are a number of reasons why people experience alopecia, otherwise commonly known as hair loss. About one-third of all Americans both men and women suffers hair loss at one time or another. There are two common patterns of baldness resulting from excessive hair loss namely androgenetic alopecia is very common and is typically permanent and alopecia areata, which is temporary and may involve hair loss on scalp and other parts of the body.

The common baldness or androgenetic alopecia is hereditary I nature. In other words, it is something that runs in the family. If your father or mother and the rest of the family tree suffered baldness in their lifetime, you are most likely to go bald too. Like all other physiological characteristics that people inherit from their family line, the age at which people go bald, the development state, the pattern of baldness and the extent thereof, usually follow the same phase with that of the other members of the family.

On the other hand, alopecia areata is a kind of autoimmune disease and the cause is still unknown. Alopecia areata is rather a unique type of hair loss where the sufferer would lose hair not only on the scalp but also in other parts of the body. This condition is temporary but may be recurring. In other words, if you are suffering from this type of hair loss, you can expect a kind of cycle where your hair grow back then fall off again. Most people who suffer from alopecia areata or temporary baldness are healthy and not suffering from any chronic or severe ailments. So, other than the usual discomfort of becoming bald, there is nothing to be really scared about it.

There are several myths about the causes of hair loss. At one time or another, we have been told or have heard of stories that hair loss is caused by poor circulation of the scalp due to excessive wearing of a hat! In some instances, we would blame baldness on lack of vitamins and minerals or even to dandruff. Well, you can forget all these theories about hair loss and baldness because these have been proven to be untrue by medical studies. You don’t get bald by wearing a hat, so forget it; you can wear that hat anytime you want.

According to medical studies, hair loss can be attributed the persons genetic composition. This means that where you family line have bald women and men in its history, you are most likely to suffer hair loss. This type of hair loss is what medical people refer to as androgenetic alopecia or the common baldness. Androgenic alopecia is usually a permanent type of hair loss and runs in the family line. As a type of hereditary condition, this could mean that you start to experience baldness as early as your teen years. It is actually a slow process and the baldness would gradually become noticeable as you grow older. In men, hair loss may start at the temples and the crown and would spread to the other areas of the head. However women with androgenic alopecia would usually have hair loss limited to thinning of the hair around the areas of the front of the head, the sides and the crown. Very few women would go bald all the way like men.