Balding or Hair Loss

Balding or hair loss in both men and women is sometimes due to disease. Hair loss can occur with excessive weight gain or loss in a short period of time or when recovering from a high fever. Hair loss may occur when taking anti-cancer medications. Anemia due to lack of iron, can cause some hair loss. Hair loss can result from an over-or under-productive thyroid gland.
In general, though, most cases of hair loss are not due to an illness or a medical condition. Male pattern baldness affects over 20 million men in the United States. One in four men begins to go bald by age thirty. By age sixty, 2 out of 3 men are bald.
Women can get male pattern baldness, too, but it is not as common. This runs in families and usually comes from the mother's side of the family. If you are a man and want to know if you are likely to go bald, look at your mother's father to get your best guess. Hair has a limited life span. The normal growing phase of a hair follicle can last up to 5 years before the hair is dislodged by new hair growth. In male pattern baldness, when a hair falls out, a new one does not start to grow. This usually happens above the forehead, giving the familiar receding hairline look. It also happens at the crown of the head. Over time, the bald spots increase in size until the entire top of the head is bald and there is only hair on the sides of the head.
The severity and nature of baldness can vary greatly; it ranges from male and female pattern alopecia (androgenetic alopecia, androgenic alopecia, or alopecia androgenetica), alopecia areata, which involves the loss of some of the hair on the head, and alopecia totalis, which involves the loss of all head hair, to the most extreme form, alopecia universalis, which involves the loss of all hair from the head and the body.
If you have sudden hair loss, especially if you notice lots of hair on your pillow when you get up in the morning, contact your primary healthcare provider for a checkup. Health insurance does not usually cover most treatments for baldness.