What causes female pattern hair loss?

Hair loss is a very common phenomenon in normal times. Many people now have more or less hair loss. There are many reasons for hair loss. If the hair loss is severe and not treated in time, it will cause the hair to become thinner and thinner, which not only affects personal health but also personal image. Female pattern hair loss is a common cause of hair loss in women. No matter what type of hair loss it is, active treatment is very important.

What causes female pattern hair loss?

Female pattern hair loss can occur in women of any age, and is particularly common after menopause. Survey data show that around 40% of women experience hair loss symptoms around the age of 50. What is more noteworthy is that about 12% of female patients with androgenic alopecia show a male pattern hair loss pattern, which means there is a possibility of total baldness.

① Hormonal and metabolic factors: FPHL may be related to excessive estrogen, and FPHL patients are more likely to develop carotid atherosclerosis and metabolic syndrome;

② Micro-inflammation: During the atrophy of hair follicles in FPHL patients, there may be mild to moderate lymphocytic inflammatory infiltration around the infundibulum, i.e. micro-inflammation, which can be distinguished from the inflammation of scarring alopecia;

③ Genetic factors: Family members of FPHL patients often suffer from the disease (40% to 54%), especially those with early clinical manifestations (<40 years old). The probability of identical twins suffering from the disease is twice that of fraternal twins. FPHL may be a multi-gene genetic disease with incomplete penetrance and different manifestations (classic or diffuse);

④ External factors are very important in the onset of FPHL, which may include testosterone levels, psychological stress, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, polygamous marriage history, lack of sun protection, high income and lack of exercise.

Clinical manifestations and classification:

① For diffuse thinning on the top of the head, the frontal hairline is retained and the Ludwig classification is used to divide it into 3 levels. Slight thinning in the hair loss area is level I, and all hair loss is level III. In addition, the Sinclair classification is similar to the Ludwig method, but the hair loss is divided into 4 levels based on the normal scalp, which is relatively more suitable for the actual situation of each patient;

② For the thinning of hair on both upper temporal and top of the head, with aggravation of the forehead (Christmas tree type), named by Oslen in 1999, in addition to diffuse thinning of hair, hair loss in the middle parting area is particularly significant, forming a triangle with the forehead hairline;

③ For sparse hair without hair loss in the bilateral temporal areas, Lee et al. proposed a new classification method, BASP (basic and specific), in which BA represents the shape of the forehead hairline, which is divided into 4 basic types, namely L, M, C, and U (the letters figuratively represent the shape of hair loss); SP represents the hair density in the hair loss area (forehead and top of the head), which is divided into 2 types, namely F (frontal) and V (vertex); each subtype is further subdivided according to the severity, and the final hair loss type is determined by combining the subtypes of BA and SP.