Hair Loss and Avodart (Dutasteride)

Male pattern baldness or androgenetic alopecia is caused by the effects of the male hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT) on genetically susceptible hair follicles that are present mainly in the front, top, and crown of the scalp. Dihydro-testosterone causes hair loss by shortening the growth of the hair cycle, causing decreased size of the follicles. The effected hair becomes progressively shorter and finer until it eventually falls out.

There are other problems that can cause hair loss such as: Hormonal problems like an over or under active thyroid gland. Also some medicines, especially blood thinners, antidepressants, birth control pills, drugs used to treat cancer, and excessive intake of vitamin A can cause hair loss.

Reasons for male hair loss

  • Genetics
  • Stress
  • Physical trauma
  • Medication

    Androgenetic alopecia
    This is by far the commonest cause of hair thinning and balding in adult males. The condition runs in families and has a strong genetic component to its causation. It's believed to be related to an excess of male hormones in the body. Androgenetic alopecia is the cause of over 95% of all pattern hair loss, including baldness in men and thinning hair in women. This occurs in somewhat predictable stages, and is relentlessly progressive. This means that those with pattern loss will eventually progress from the early stages of loss to the advanced stages.

    One hair grows for two to six years. In that time, it grows less than a half an inch per month. The hair may go through a resting phase, but nine out of ten hairs are in the growing stage at one time. When a hair goes into a resting stage, it lasts about three months, then it falls out. A new one begins growing in its place. This cycle of growth and loss is normal, and as long as the hair is replaced as quickly as it is lost, baldness does not occur, this is part of the hair renewal process. The normal growth cycle for hair is 3 to 7 years. Excessive dihydro-testosterone shortens the growth cycle and extends the resting phase. The results are thinning hair, hair loss, no hair re-growth.

    Treatment for Hair Loss
    Avodart (Dutasteride) is the most effecitive treatment for male pattern hair loss. Dutasteride interferes with conversion of testosterone to another hormone called dihydro-testosterone (DHT). Dihydro-testosterone reduces hair follicle activity. Over time and under the influence of dihydro-testosterone, follicles sprout thinner hairs until no hair regrows. When Dutasteride blocks dihydro-testosterone production, thinning of hair ceases and a more normal hair growth occur.

     

    		•