What is Baldness: Baldness is the lack of hair where it would normaly grow, especially on the head. The most common form of baldness is called: Male Pattern and Female Pattern Baldness.

Hair Information: A Hair is composed of a substance called keratin, and is essentially a collection of dead cells which are the product of the hair follicle. The hair follicle has two layers, the dermal layer and the epidermal layer. The life cycle of the hair begins with the anagen phase which is a period of growth when the follicular cells are multiplying and keratinizing, this lasts 2-6 years. The involutional phase begins when the follicle involutes and migrates closer to surface (club hair). The telogen phase describes a resting period that lasts approximately 100 days allowing the dermal papilla to be released from the epidermal investment. Normal hair growth occurs at the rate of 0.33 mm a day. New hairs are produced by the forming of a new follicle and hair shaft pushing out the club hair.

What causes Baldness: The most common type of baldness or hair loss (98%) in men and women is 'androgenetic alopecia'. 'androgenetic alopecia' shows more prevalence in white males, with 96% of white males having some degree of male pattern androgenetic alopecia by age 62. It was originally thought that 'androgenetic alopecia' was passed down as a trait in the male, and as a trait in the female. It is now felt that 'androgenetic alopecia' follows a polygenic inheritance and that possession of more 'androgenetic alopecia' genes makes someone more likely to become bald.

Baldness Treatments: Hair can be transplanted from the back of the head where it usually grows more in balding men, especially younger men. It is transplanted to the bald patch where it grows in the same manner as if it were still on the donor site. The minor operation is done under local anaesthetic and can be done in several stages or in one long session where thousands of hairs are involved. Prescription Medication Minoxidil (Rogaine) - Rogaine has been found to be effective in roughly 30% of men with baldness on the top of the head. Applied twice a day in a cream the hair growth occurs as long as the product is used. Rogaine was originally approved to treat high blood pressure. Prescription Medication Finasteride - Finasteride was originally prescribed for prostate problems, the drug has been shown to stop hair loss and in some cases reverse the balding process.

There is a website that provides cures, facts and great information on Baldness and numerous other medical conditions, the website is called: All About Health, and can be found at this url:

http://www.rb59.com/medical-health-info

By Robert W. Benjamin

Copyright © 2007

You may publish this article in your ezine, newsletter, or on your web site as long as it is reprinted in its entirety and without modification except for formatting needs or grammar corrections.

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Robert W. Benjamin has been in the software business on the internet for over 5 years, and has been producing low-cost software for the past 25+ years. He first released products on the AMIGA and C64 computer systems in the late 1970's-80's.

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