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Alopecia is the medical name for this condition, which may take many forms. It may even be total, where all head and body hair is lost, a condition called alopecia universalis. Total hair loss doesn’t usually respond to treatment. Occasionally hair regrows as a soft down, often white or blonde for no obvious reason. Hair loss may occur in small patches, often due to stress or fungal infection. Males in particular may show hair loss from quite an early age, which is usually noticed as a receding hairline over both temples and the crown. It may occur in women, too. Usually this type of hair loss runs in families.

Loss of hair in patches may occur in those who pull out their own hair; a condition usually associated with extreme stress and anxiety but does sometimes happen in children. It is particularly difficult to treat without curing the underlying mental illness.

What causes hair loss?

The most important cause of loss of hair is inadequate nutrition. Even a partial lack of almost any nutrient may cause hair to fall. Persons lacking vitamin B6108e their hair and those deficient in folic acid often become completely bald. But the hair grows normally after the liberal intake of these vitamins. There are many reasons for hair loss, but the following tend to cause generalized hair thinning rather than patches of baldness:

• Genetics
• Iron deficiency and other forms of Anaemia
• Thyroid gland disorders
• Immune system problems
• Pregnancy
• Rapid weight loss
• Certain drugs
• Hormonal imbalance
• Lichen planus (a type of wart)
• Shock
• Stress
• Down’s syndrome

According to Adelle Davis, a world famous nutritionist, “Increasing the intake of protein, particularly of liver, wheat germ and yeast, and supplementing the diet with a teaspoon of inositol daily usually stops a man’s hair from falling, and I have seen three or four persons whose hair became thick after these improvements were made.”