"When it comes to hair loss, everyone's situation is different and personal. While heredity is the primary cause of hair loss in most cases, the severity of hair loss, its pattern, and the impact on that person's life is truly unique. So is the solution. For many men and women, the benefits of a permanent solution to hair loss, hair restoration, is the right choice. But whatever you situation, Bosley wants you to have all the information, so you can make the right choice for you."
Causes of Hair Loss
For most of us who are experiencing premature baldness, the cause is genetic. Hair loss, like eye color, is an inherited trait. While you were still forming in the womb, your hair follicles were being genetically coded. If genes responsible for hair loss were present, they made the hair follicles on top of your head sensitive to the hormone dihydrotestosterone, or DHT. These follicles were then predisposed to begin shrinking when you reached adulthood.
Unfortunately, once this genetic ball gets rolling, it will continue throughout your lifetime. As the hairs produced by your ever-shrinking follicles become finer and finer, they will begin failing to grow to normal length. And what is first noticed as "thinning hair" or a "receding hairline" progresses to baldness when the shrinking follicles finally stop producing any hair at all.
For many years our schools have taught - quite erroneously - that hair loss is always inherited from the mother's father. Medical science now knows that baldness genes are passed down from both sides of the family. They also can skip generations, and are utterly random in terms of which siblings they will affect; it is quite common for a woman to keep a full head of hair while her sister begins experiencing severe thinning in her twenties.
Contrary to common belief, hair loss is not caused by a failure to take good care of your hair. Consumers waste millions of dollars on shampoos and phony, non-FDA approved treatments. (Only two medications, Rogaine and Propecia, have ever been approved by the FDA to treat hair loss.) We have counseled too many men and women who hold themselves responsible for their hair loss. It is important to understand that with very few exceptions, our hair follicles are going to live or die by their genetic coding - and nothing else.
Medical science is still searching for a complete understanding of the biochemical processes that occur within our hair follicles. Click here to learn more about the science behind hair loss and what you can do about it.