The scalp contains around 100,000 hairs, on the average. An individual hair lives roughly 4 1/2 years, and about 100 hairs a day will be lost under normal circumstances. Men and women tend to lose hair thickness and amount as we age. However, genetic baldness (pattern baldness) is not caused by excessive hair loss, but by the body's failure to produce new hairs when the old ones die.
Pattern baldness affects more men than women. About 25% of men begin to bald by the time they are 30 years old, and about two-thirds are either bald or have a balding pattern by age 60.
Male Pattern Baldness
Typical male pattern baldness involves a receding hairline and thinning around the crown with eventual bald spots. Ultimately, you may have only a horseshoe ring of hair around the sides. In addition to genes, male-pattern baldness seems to require the presence of the male hormone testosterone.
Female Pattern Baldness
Some women also develop a particular pattern of hair loss due to genetics, age, and male hormones that tend to increase in women after menopause. The pattern is different from that of men. Female pattern baldness involves a thinning throughout the scalp while the frontal hairline generally remains intact.
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