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Majority of men go through some type of hair loss. In fact, poor nutritional intake, including vitamin and mineral deficiencies, is a common factor in male pattern baldness or thinning hair in men.
Hair loss is a complex process that also involves various genetic, hormonal and environmental mechanisms.
Sometimes hair loss is also due to protein deficiency and vitamin or mineral deficiency. Fortunately, a nutritional deficiency can be corrected by adding a protein supplement such as collagen or vitamin-rich and mineral-rich foods to your diet.
Folate/folic acid (vitamin B9): Folate/folic acid is needed to form new cells and red blood cells. These cells include those found in your skin tissue as well as in your hair and nails. This B vitamin keeps these cells and red blood cells healthy, optimizing hair follicles to support hair growth. Generating new red blood cells can help in the keratinization of hair which generates hair growth and which stops hair loss.
In addition to preventing hair loss and supporting hair growth, folic acid or folate has other benefits for hair. A lack of this B vitamin can cause hair to thin and eventually fall out, as the hair becomes weak. The increase in new cell production that the vitamin provides can therefore cause hair to grow where it has thinned.
Folate is the variant that comes from food and folic acid the variant that comes from dietary supplements. Both have the same effect in the body.
Cobalamin (Vitamin B12): Vitamin B12 promotes healthy hair growth by aiding in the production of oxygen-rich red blood cells that supply hair follicles with the nutrition they need.
Ferritin: The ferritin value reflects how the body's iron stores look. There is a certain amount of iron in the hair follicles. Iron helps stimulate new hair growth. In case of iron deficiency, the body reacts by using iron resources from less important parts of the body. One of the places that the iron is then taken from is the hair follicles, which results in the hair becoming thinner and falling out. Hair loss due to iron deficiency usually results in the entire hair thinning/falling out evenly over the entire head, rather than in bald spots, so-called patchy hair loss.
Zinc: Zinc is involved in protein and nucleic acid synthesis and plays a role in various metabolic pathways and cellular functions. In terms of hair loss, zinc is a potent inhibitor of hair follicle regression and accelerates hair follicle recovery.
Vitamin D: Vitamin D modulates the growth and differentiation of keratinocytes – which make up the most common cell type in the epidermis. It is the keratinocytes that manufacture keratin , a protein found in skin, nails and hair - as much as 95% of hair consists of keratin.
Another important role that vitamin D has is to stimulate new and old hair follicles. When there is not enough vitamin D in the body's system, new hair growth can be inhibited. Vitamin D deficiency has also been linked to alopecia (hair loss), an autoimmune condition that causes bald patches on the scalp and other parts of the body.
Male pattern baldness, or androgenic alopecia, is the most common type of hair loss among men. Hormonal factors appear to play a role, and in particular a male sex hormone called dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Hair loss affects about half of all men over the age of 50. DHT has also been linked to hair loss in women.
DHT is an androgen and helps give men their male characteristics. DHT is thought to cause the hair follicles to decrease in size, and this contributes to male pattern baldness. By age 50, over half of all men will experience hair loss due to DHT. Treatments that block DHT can help prevent hair loss.
DHT has many roles. In addition to hair production, it is linked to benign prostatic hyperplasia, or enlarged prostate, but also prostate cancer. DHT is produced in the gonads, and is an androgenic hormone.
Androgens are responsible for the biological characteristics of men, including a deeper voice, body hair and increased muscle mass. During fetal development, DHT plays an important role in the development of the penis and prostate gland.
In men, the enzyme 5-alpha-reductase (5-AR) converts testosterone to DHT in the testis and prostate. Up to 10% of testosterone is normally converted to DHT. DHT is more powerful than testosterone. It attaches to the same place as testosterone, but much lighter. Once there, it is bound no longer.
Androgenic alopecia (hair loss) is the most common type of hair loss in men. The hair at the temples and on the top of the head becomes thinner and thinner over time, and eventually disappears completely.
The exact reason why this happens is unknown, but genetic, hormonal and environmental factors are all believed to play a role. DHT is believed to be an important factor.
To understand male pattern baldness, one must understand how hair grows. Hair growth is divided into three phases: anagen, catagen and telogen phase:
In the Anagen phase, the hair shaft is formed, which pushes up towards the skin's surface and pushes out the old shaft. Approximately 85–90 percent of hairs are in the anagen phase. Then follows the catagen phase or resting phase, and finally the telogen phase, where the hair falls out while a new hair in the anagen phase shoots up from below.
Male pattern baldness occurs when the follicles slowly become smaller, the anagen phase becomes shorter and the telogen phase becomes longer. The shortened phase means that the hair cannot grow as long as before. Over time, the anagen phase becomes so short that the new hairs do not even peek out through the surface of the skin.
As the follicles shrink, the hair becomes thinner with each growth cycle. Eventually, the hair is reduced to vellus hair, the type of soft, light hair that covers an infant and mostly disappears during puberty, in response to androgens.
Those who use anabolic steroids, including bodybuilders, have higher levels of DHT. And these individuals often experience hair loss.
The hair on the head grows without the presence of DHT, but the hair under the arms, pubic hair and beard cannot grow without androgens. Individuals who have been sterilized or those who are deficient in the enzyme 5-alpha reductase (5-AR) do not experience male pattern baldness, but they will also have very little hair elsewhere on the body. For reasons that are not yet well understood, DHT is important for hair growth in various parts of the body, but it is detrimental to hair growth on the head.
DHT is believed to attach to the androgen receptors on the hair follicles. Through an unknown mechanism, DHT then appears to trigger the receptors to begin to decrease in size.
In 1998, researchers found that both plucked follicles and skin from a balding scalp contain higher levels of androgen receptors than those from a non-balding scalp.
Some researchers believe that some people have a genetically transmitted susceptibility to otherwise normal levels of circulating androgens, particularly DHT. This combination of hormonal and genetic factors may explain why some people are more prone than others to losing their hair.
DHT affects people in different ways, and this can be due to:
DHT is known to bind to follicle receptors five times more easily than testosterone, but the amount of DHT in the scalp is small compared to the levels in the prostate.
Testosterone itself does not directly cause hair loss. However, increased testosterone levels can increase your levels of DHT, which causes damage to your hair follicles and accelerates the effects of male pattern baldness.
5-alpha reductase (5-AR) is the enzyme that converts testosterone to the much more potent androgen, DHT. If 5-AR levels increase, then more testosterone will be converted to DHT, resulting in increased hair loss.
There are two types of 5-AR: type 1 and type 2 enzymes.
Male pattern baldness can have a negative effect on a man's self-esteem. Finasteride, or Propecia, is often prescribed to those who lose a lot of hair. It is a selective inhibitor of type 2 5-AR. It is believed to act on the 5-AR enzyme that concentrates in the hair follicles, to inhibit the production of DHT. Research has shown that it can stop the development of baldness, and that in some cases hair will start to appear again.
Finasteride can be taken orally every day. However, if treatment is stopped, hair loss will continue.
Alcohol leaches the body of important vitamins and minerals that are important for, among other things, the hair, including the mineral zinc and various B vitamins.
Increased hair loss and thinning hair can also be caused by certain medications such as antidepressants, blood thinners and chemotherapy.
Overdosing on certain nutritional supplements can cause side effects such as increased hair loss and thinning hair; these include vitamin A, vitamin E, zinc and selenium.
Certain diseases such as diabetes, Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), thyroid diseases (hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism), Alopecia areata, and infectious disease with fever, can cause hair loss and thinning hair.
Also certain diseases and conditions such as inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, can cause hair loss. In this type of disease and condition, there is often a deficiency of iron, vitamin B12 and vitamin B9. Another example is gluten intolerance (celiac disease), where deficiencies in iron, vitamin B12 and vitamin B9 can be seen.
A diet with too little protein can contribute to increased hair loss and thin hair. Even a diet with too little nutrition (vitamins and minerals) contributes to increased hair loss and thin hair.
Hair loss after severe weight loss is usually associated with a condition known as telogen hair loss (effluvium). Severe weight loss causes physical stress, which signals the hair follicles to enter an inactive stage, where hair production shuts down and the hair follicles are put into a resting phase. Here, a lot of hair is lost in the telogen phase in a short time, perhaps 1000 hairs daily, for one or a few weeks. Usually the hair loss comes 2-3 months after the triggering cause.
Other causes of this "diffuse hair loss" in men can be; infectious disease with fever, stress, various medical conditions and also chronic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes, as well as various medications.
Androgenic hair loss - male hair loss, occurs due to increased sensitivity to testosterone of the hair follicle which eventually regresses (goes into involution). The condition affects genetically predisposed men and can start already after puberty at the age of 17–18. Usually manifests in middle age in more than half of all men.
As part of general aging, the number of active hair follicles decreases, around 20-30 percent, which causes the hair to become thinner and the hairline to become higher. This affects both men and women. Can also start early in adulthood (presenile).
Cigarette smoke contains toxic chemicals that cause constriction of the blood vessels and block blood circulation in the hair follicles. Since the hair follicles then do not receive the necessary nutrients from the blood, the hair growth cycle is disrupted, which in turn leads to noticeable hair loss and thinning hair.
Different types of stress (physical and mental) can cause reactions in the body that lead to telogen hair loss. Stress can put the hair follicles into a "resting" phase so they don't produce new hair. Over time, hair can fall out, even if you just wash, comb or touch it. Telogen hair loss (effluvium) - can also be caused by the body not getting enough nutrition or by changes in hormone levels.
