Hair Loss

Hair follicles undergo changes based on a cyclic pattern, going through the growth (anagen), involution (catagen) and resting (telogen) phases. Hair growth and its life cycle is principally influenced by two main mechanisms:

• Hormonal influence (systemic effect)
• Growth factors influence (local effect). The growth factors help to stimulate and prolong the growth phase allowing a physiological development of the hair life cycle.

Most patients with hair growth disorders experience changes in the rhythm of this biological clock. The appearance of effluvium and alopecia -hair loss- is usually caused by the premature ending of the growth phase. Also, a number of factors, such as drugs, fever, serious diseases, surgery, malnutrition or stress and seasonal changes may cause the early termination of the this phase, resulting in:

• Androgenic alopecia
• Alopecia areata
• Anagen effluvium
• Telogen effluvium

The incidence and prevalence of hair loss depend on the gender, age and ethnicitiy: In men, hair loss begins after puberty:

• >25 years: one out of every four men begins to suffer from baldness
• >50 years: 50% of men are bald
• Elderly: 96 % of men are bald

In women, hair loss has a later onset and a much slower progression than men. Three main peaks of appearance:

• At puberty
• After the pregnancy
• After menopause

The incorporation of coadjuvants that rebalances the hair life cycle and recover the functionality of its components to the therapy is recommended.