Male Pattern Baldness vs Alopecia? Most men suffer from chronical hair loss because the shredding of the frontal scalp is known as male pattern baldness. The reason varies from person to person.
The men may have some genetical hair loss problem, or they may be undergoing some medical treatment or taking some medicine, whatever the reason may be. Today we’re going to differentiate between the two common hair shredding terms: male pattern baldness vs Alopecia.
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What are the effects of Male Pattern Baldness Vs Alopecia?
What is Male Pattern Baldness?
Male pattern baldness means the hair shredding at the scalp of a man. This problem arises due to the lifestyle of a person and some hormonal imbalances.
Also, men tend to be more stressed and their psychological distress produces the changing hormonal levels, thereby introducing androgenetic alopecia. The M shape is formed over the forehead, and it has a well-defined pattern.
Apart from the baldness problem, it is known to cause several medical conditions like:
- Insulin disorders.
- High blood pressure.
- Prostate cancer.
The hair growth cycle starts every two to six years and then it rests for several months before it shreds down. The cycle continues when the new hair starts sprouting out of the scalp.
But when the level of androgen is increased in the hair roots, the hair follicles are reduced to a small level of cycle and the thinner hairs are produced as a result.
Causes of Male Pattern Baldness
Causes of male pattern baldness differ from person to person. Sometimes it may be due to the person’s hierarchy, or may be due to some diseases.
Here are the specific reasons for male pattern baldness:
Disease: If you are suffering from chronic diseases, that could gradually slow down your hair growth and you may feel the round patchy area.
Some diseases, like thyroid problems, diabetes, and lupus, can have some severe effects.
Also, the problem of Alopecia disease occurs when the immune system attacks the hair follicles and the hair strands with itching, and hair loss occurs in small patches.
Treatments: If a person is going through some kind of therapy session like chemotherapy or any kind of hair treatment, then it can also be observed that hairs are falling out and a receding hair line is visible as a result.
Medications: Certain drugs, such as antidepressants, act to suppress the hair problem and cause patchy hair fall. These drugs are highly active and have an immediate effect on the root cause.
The scarring of hair is caused when the effect is seen at the root profile of the hair, and therefore the thinning disorder occurs.
Scalp infection: The infection of the scalp becomes infected when the fungus attacks the scalp and the hair follicles remain damaged, and many skin conditions like psoriasis may develop.
A ringworm-like infection is caused and a ring-shaped patch is formed over the hair, and it is a transferrable infection, where the ringworm is responsible for hair scalp damage.
Genetic problem
The cause of hair loss through hereditary is the major problem where a receding hair line is visible and bald patches can be easily spotted around the head of person.
Hormonal changes
Hormonal changes can occur for many reasons, such as pregnancy and childbirth. Also, hormones change due to the presence of any chronic disease.
What is Alopecia
It is an autoimmune disease without any specific pattern that is caused when the body attacks the hair roots and chemical messages are released through an immune response, which leads to hair loss.
It is of three types, whereas male pattern baldness is the initial phase of hair loss.
Alopecia areata
This hair loss is caused by the immune attack on the follicles and the inflammation is caused by the infection, which leads to hair loss in a patchy pattern.
Alopecia totalis
It is a chronic situation when the complete loss of the scalp takes place. This is the severe form of disease where the regrowth is minimal and is less than ten percent.
Alopecia universalis
In the last stage of alopecia, when all of the hair falls out and round patches of hair loss appear, the hair loss is complete.
Genetic factors are considered the key factors for alopecia universalis, and it can also be caused by some autoimmune disorders like lichen planus.
Causes of alopecia
Alopecia is a severe hair loss condition that can be caused by several factors which can indirectly or directly cause the hair loss. Here the nature of hair loss is non-scarring and also regrowth may be possible:
Autoimmune response
Autoimmune response is the main factor which, when damaged, can cause the own immune system to attack the hair follicles, sealing the passage of hair growth.
Genetic factors
When inherited conditions cause hair loss and people have no control over it, genetic factors such as traits passed down from forefathers to fathers and then to children can be a problem.
Stress
The most common way of causing hair loss in the body is due to unnecessary stress taken by people. This causes the receding of hair from the front part and then the hair shredding is seen.
The hair loss that happens due to stress is called telogen effluvium, and it contributes to a severe problem of hair fall where the stage is reached where no hair is left over the head.
Environment
Sometimes environmental factors also contribute to alopecia, as the dust and the polluted environment contain many harmful elements that could highly damage the hair roots once they have settled on the hair and it is difficult to remove them.
They also cause dandruff that may spread all over the hair, and then the hair spores are clogged down.
Conclusion
Finally, we can conclude that people, due to their own ease, just intermixed these two common terms: alopecia and male pattern baldness, because it seems like an umbrella term for addressing hair loss.
While Alopecia differs from male pattern in the case of hair loss pattern, where the M-shaped is formed in the case of male pattern baldness, in the case of Alopecia the disease is autoimmune.
Also, male pattern baldness can be treated, but alopecia is the stage where if the advanced level is reached, no re-growth is possible.
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