Introduction to androgenic alopecia

Many friends may not know much about the symptoms and causes of androgenic alopecia. This is mainly because this disease is a hereditary disease and is more common in boys. Therefore, we can observe that some boys around 30 years old suffer from hair loss due to androgenic alopecia, while hair loss in women is relatively rare.

Male androgenic alopecia, also known as male pattern baldness, is an androgen-dependent hereditary hair loss that is inherited in an autosomal dominant manner with variable penetrance. The most common type of baldness. Most cases occur in men aged 20 to 30. Hair loss mainly occurs on the top of the head, often starting from the hairline on both sides of the forehead, but sometimes starting from the top. The hair loss area gradually expands upward, and the hair becomes thinner and thinner. Eventually most or all of the hair on the top of the head falls off, but the hair behind the occipital bone and above the temples on both sides remains, forming a horseshoe-shaped appearance. The hair in this band remains normal.

The earliest noticeable change is a shortening of the anagen phase of hair follicles in the bald areas and an increase in the percentage of telogen follicles. These hairs are loose and easy to fall off. After several consecutive cycles, the hair follicles gradually become smaller, the terminal hairs are replaced by vellus hairs, and finally many vellus hair follicles disappear. The earliest histological changes are degeneration of the lower part of the connective tissue root sheath of the hair follicle, accompanied by perivascular alkalitropic changes. The hair follicles gradually shrink, leaving behind a hardened, glassy bundle of connective tissue. The epidermis is thin, the epidermis is flattened, and the capillary plexus under the epidermis almost disappears. There is increased deposition of sulfur-containing mucopolysaccharides in the dermis. The enzyme activity of vellus hair follicles is generally normal.

Women often experience diffuse hair loss on the top of the head, with the hair on the top of the head becoming sparse. There are no subjective symptoms. If accompanied by seborrhea or seborrheic dermatitis, there will be mild itching. Hamilton divides male baldness into grade VIII according to the severity of baldness. Ludwig further divided diffuse hair loss in women into grade III. The classification of hair loss helps to evaluate the severity of hair loss and observe the treatment effect.

I believe that after reading the introduction of androgenic alopecia in this article, you should all know what causes this disease. Generally speaking, for cases of androgenic alopecia, it is difficult for us to treat it in our daily lives, so it is better for us to adopt preventive methods.