The science behind the hair loss,baldness and it's cure

Do you know Socrates had a hair fall and he was bald? So people used to refer baldness as a sign of intelligence.

Scientist have gone through this since many years and found some clues on why do some people lose their hair and how can we bring it back?

Let's dive into the science of hair loss.It's Interesting! :)

The answer of Why?

We people having full hair has about 100000 to 150000 hairs in his scalp(The skin of head).

From many research scientist have found two things:-

1. The network of hair is mostly made up of Keratin (Family of the fibrous structural protein)

Keratin is a protein left over from the dead cells that are forced upward as new cells grow beneath them.

2. Second thing- The structure that drives hair growth are called hair follicles

A network of complex organs that forms before we are born and grows hair in everlasting cycle.

This cycle has three main phases

2.1 The first phase is Anagen

    

 The growth phase which up to 90% of our follicles are experiencing right     now causing them to push up hair at the scale of one centimetre per month

Anagen can last for 2 to 7 years, depending on your genes.

2.2 After this productive period signal within the skin instruct some follicles to enter the new phase known as categen or the regression stage causing hair follicles to shrink a fraction of their original length.

Categen lasts about 2 to 3 weeks and cuts blood supply to the follicle creating a club hair meaning ready to be hair shed.

2.3 Finally hairs enter telogen the resting phase which lasts for 10 to 12 week     and affects about 5 to 15% of your scalp follicles. During telogen up to 200 club hairs cna be shed in a day which is quiet normal.

Then the growth cycle begins new.

After the new cycle all heads are hairy in fact some of them grow  increasingly patchy over time in response to bodly changes. 95% of baldness in men can be attributed to male pattern baldness

Baldness is inherited and in people with this condition follicles become incredibly sensible to the effects of DIHYDROTESTOSTERONE(DHT).

DHT is a hormonal product made from testosterone

DHT causes shrinkage in these overly sensitive follicles making hair shorter and wispier.But loss isn't sudden. It happens gradually along a metric known as the Norwood scale which describe the severity of hair loss.

First hair recedes around the temples then hair on the crown begins to thin on a circular pattern. At the highest rating on the scale, these balding areas meet

and expand dramatically eventually leaving only a ring of sparse hair around the temples and the back of the head.

Genetics is not the only factor that drives hair loss. The other factors are-

-Long period of stress can release signals that shock follicles and force them into the resting phase permanently.

-Some women experience this after child birth.

-Follicles might also lose the ability to go into the anagen the growth phase.

-People going to chemotherapy treatment temporarily experience this.

                 BUT balding may look permanent, Scientist investigation has revealed the opposite. Below the skin surface the roots that give rise to our hairs actually remains alive.

Cure-

Using this knowledge scientists have developed the drugs that shorten resting phase and force follicles and force follicles to anagen.

Other drugs combat male pattern baldness by blocking the conversion of testosterone to DHT so that it does not affect those sensitive follicles

Stem cells also play a role in regulating the growth cycle and so scientists are investigating whether they can manipulate whether the activity of these cells to encourage follicles to start producing hair again.

A good solution for hair loss ever found after many research and approved one is   Minoxidil. It was first used as a treatment of high blood pressure. Later people found that it's side effect causes the hair grow. So people find the new way of growing hair. But scientist still cannot figure out how it helps to regrowth of hair in people. To have a nice effect of it you should use it upto six month regularly with only doctor's advice.

However, you should not be worry if you loss hair or have male pattern baldness many great people like Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin have loss their hair and you are in their company. Smile......