HAIR LOSS IN MEN

These days, an increasing number of men
are refusing to accept natural, male
pattern
baldness (or alopecia) and are opting
for hair
transplant surgery, medicines that can
prevent and reverse male pattern
baldness
or herbal hair loss remedies, but why
are
so many men unable or unwilling to let
nature take its course?

Until quite recently, the only options
available to men who were losing their hair
were to let it happen and accept their
appearance, or to wear a toupee or other
hairpiece in an attempt to disguise their
balding pates. Naturally, despite the best
efforts of wigmakers - many of whom
use real hair to produce their pieces -
most rugs can be spotted even by the
untrained eye quite quickly, so it is
usually
the case that a man who wears a wig
is only fooling himself.

Some men are affected by an acute
paranoia or anxiety about their hair
and the loss of it, to the extent that
they become quite distressed and even
depressed about their 'problem',
and clearly for these men taking
some kind of action about their hair-loss
(even trying to disguise it with a wig
or comb-over) is often easier and less
stressful than attempting to come to
terms with the fact that their biology
has determined that they will lose
their hair eventually.

Normal male pattern baldness is
most frequently caused by one or
both of two factors: an excess of the
male hormone DHT; a scalp that is
particularly susceptible to the effects
of DHT. DHT has many important
roles in the male body, but it does
unfortunately have a tendency to bind
to the hair follicles of the scalp.
Over time, this weakens affected hair
follicles by starving them of the oxygen
and nutrients they need to
support their hair fibers. This leads
to a thinning and weakening of the
affected hairs, and eventually the death
of the affected follicles. Once a hair
follicle has died it can only be replaced
by surgery.

Hair transplant surgery is a painful
and expensive form of cosmetic
surgery that works by taking healthy
follicles from one part of the body
(often the neck) and transplanting
them to the scalp. It has a high rate
of success but does nothing to address
the underlying problem that caused
alopecia in the first place. The new
follicles will still be susceptible
(over time) to the effects of DHT.
Medicines to treat male pattern
baldness work by either limiting the
effects of DHT, reducing the amount
that is produced, or both. There are
many over-the-counter and several
prescription-only products available,
but they do often have significant
side effects, notably headaches and
nausea.

Many men these days are opting for
herbal hair loss remedies. A typical
hair loss remedy will contain a
high-strength extract of Seronoa
repens (aka Saw Palmetto), which
has demonstrated strong DHT
inhibiting properties. The advantages
of choosing an herbal hair loss
remedy over a hair loss medicine
are that they tend to produce far
fewer side effects and are often
cheaper than medicines. The
disadvantages tend to be that they
have a slightly reduced chance of
success and generally take several
weeks longer to produce truly
satisfying results.

NATURAL SUPPLEMENT FOR BALDNESS