Hair loss, have you been affected at a young age?

It is said that modern people are under great pressure. Many people start to lose their hair at a young age, which is really worrying. Especially when I see many "extremely smart" people in the academician conference and then think about my own scientific research career, I often feel a little nervous. What's more worrying is that I am engaged in computer-related work, and imagining the hair loss of programmers is really worrying.

What is wrong with this society? Why is hair loss happening to younger and younger people? Today I will talk to you about the seriousness of hair loss and the two major factors that cause it. Welcome to watch!

TOP 01. Hair loss has surpassed sudden death and become the most worrying issue for contemporary youth.

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According to the "Survey on Hair Loss in China", the number of people suffering from hair loss in my country has reached 250 million, and one in every six Chinese people suffers from hair loss. There is an obvious trend of hair loss becoming younger and younger, with people born in the 1980s and 1990s accounting for more than 70%, of which 64% are males and 36% are females.

When you go to Jiuhua Mountain, everyone will take pictures with you, saying that you are a Shaolin monk. When you go out for a ride, the traffic police will warn you that you are using high beam headlights. You apply two bottles of hair growth liquid and eat two kilograms of kelp knots every day, but it seems to be useless. Your head feels cold and your heart hurts. How can you describe your sorrow?

TOP 02, One of the factors of hair loss---androgenic alopecia——————————————————

There are many factors that cause hair loss, including irregular lifestyle, unreasonable diet and many other basic factors. After all, the body is the foundation. Once there is a problem with the foundation, other problems will easily arise.

However, in recent years, people tend to think that androgenic alopecia is a common factor. Androgens will generate dihydrotestosterone DHT under the catalysis of 5α-reductase in the hair follicles on the forehead. This is the culprit that damages the hair follicles. Once formed, it will continuously attack healthy hair follicles, causing the hair follicles to shrink, the hair to become thinner and softer, and the growth cycle to shorten, until the hair follicles are necrotic and the hair will no longer grow. There are actually some ways to deal with this kind of hair loss with a clear mechanism. For example, there are some drugs currently used clinically to directly treat the problem of hair loss. The effect varies from person to person and there may be certain side effects.

I was once very obsessed with the view of androgenic alopecia and paid attention to a lot of related research.

Later, I gradually began to think that although androgenetic alopecia is very important, for the general public, hair performance is different under different conditions, and hair loss can be regulated. Therefore, there must be another key factor besides androgenetic alopecia.

TOP 03, The second factor of hair loss: oily hair

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After further investigation, a suspect was found: oily hair. Researchers tracked the causes of hair loss and found that most people with hair loss have oily hair, including the androgenic alopecia that many people are familiar with. The sebum content of their scalp in the hair loss area is also much higher than that in other areas. This may be the culprit causing hair loss.

In fact, a little-known fact is that androgenic alopecia actually has another name: seborrheic alopecia. From this name, we can see that androgenic alopecia and seborrheic alopecia are inseparable. In other words, oily hair is itself a very important cause of androgenic alopecia.

1. Why can oily scalp cause hair loss?

In fact, this should start with the oiliness of the scalp. The normal human scalp secretes 1-2 grams of sebum every day, which is mainly triglycerides, wax fats, free fatty acids, squalene and cholesterol. In fact, these oils are beneficial to the human body under normal circumstances. They will form a sebum film on the scalp, thereby protecting our scalp and hair.

However, if a person's sebum is not cleaned in time, then over time, these oils will begin to deteriorate, especially the free fatty acids and squalene in them, which will be converted into unsaturated fatty acids or peroxidized lipids, which are not so healthy. These ingredients will not only make the hair appear more greasy, but they will also directly stimulate or even damage the scalp and hair follicles, causing inflammation, dandruff, and in severe cases, hair loss. In addition, our daily environmental factors will also aggravate this process. For example, ultraviolet radiation can easily lead to a decrease in the squalene content in the scalp. The peroxidation product malondialdehyde increases. The same is true for air pollutants, which will lead to an increase in the peroxidation process of sebum. As a result, the scalp is more vulnerable to damage.

2. If you want to avoid hair loss, the key is to take care of your scalp, especially to deal with oily scalp.

To achieve scientific oil control, we must effectively wash away the "bad" sebum, but at the same time not excessively wash away the "good" sebum.

Sometimes I think that our generation has a hard time. We have to face the 996-style busy work, the pressure of high housing prices, and the struggle against hair loss. Sometimes I feel sorry for myself when I look in the mirror. However, no matter how big the pear is, we have to eat it one bite at a time. We should first deal with the relatively soft persimmon of hair loss.

[1] Chen Xingfen. Study on the extraction and active functions of chemical components from Platycladus orientalis leaves[D]. Nanjing Normal University, 2011.