Hair Biology & Hair Loss

To understand how hormones affect hair growth, you’ll need to know the basics of the hair biology system at a cellular level. Each strand grows from a tiny opening on the scalp called a follicle, located in the hypodermis layer of the scalp skin.

These sophisticated receptacles shelter the hair bulb, which provides an ideal environment from which the hair shaft is produced. Inside the bulb, proteins and carbohydrates are synthesized within the hair papilla (a group of specialized dermal cells intertwined with tiny capillaries that carries nutrients to the hair bulb while also removing toxins).

Also nestled in the hypodermis are sebaceous glands, hormone regulated glands that secrete sebum, a fatty material that lubricates the follicle and skin and carries into the follicle the necessary hormones and nutrients the papilla needs to produce healthy, long living hair.

Keratinized sebum plays a major role in clogged hair follicles, which can lead to thinning hair. And it may also cause frequent skin breakouts and excessively oily scalp (adult cradle cap), which are two major early warning signs of a genetic pre-disposition to thinning hair.

As nutrient-rich blood, carried by the capillaries, circulates around the hair follicle via the hair papilla, hormones that are present in the blood stream also communicate to the cells within the follicle. There are two broad classes of hormones: androgens and estrogens.

Testosterone is the best-known androgen, and although it is present in the bodies of both men and women, men have a greater amount. Testosterone reacts with a naturally occurring enzyme found in hair follicles called 5-alpha-reductase. The result of this reaction is Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) - found to be one of the major contributing causes of thinning hair and is not easily removed from the scalp skin, especially with conventional shampoos.

Depending on age, estrogens are present in particularly greater amounts in women and can inhibit or counteract the follicle-shrinking effect of androgens, which is why women are less likely to experience thinning and hair loss than men.

However, pseudo-estrogens (estrogen mimics) can effectively trick hormone receptors (found in the membrane of every cell) into binding with them instead of real estrogens, causing estrogen imbalances. In men and women, this often results in the thinning and miniaturization of the hair, which causes it to be extremely fine and shallowly rooted.

For more information phone 0800 34 33 34

Read more about how Nioxin can help both Men and Women who have fine and thinning hair