Female pattern hair loss begins with general thinning of hair all over the head and moderate to severe loss of hair on the crown or at hairline. Iron deficiency, heavy menstrual bleeding in women can cause rapid hair shedding. Crash diets, eating disorders, anorexia nervosa are other factors to aggravate the early loss of hair.

Women lose approximately 100 - 125 individual hair strands per day, which is considered normal. Usually, these hairs are replaced within the normal hair growth cycle. True hair loss occurs when lost hairs are not re-grown or when daily hair fall exceeds 125 hairs. Hereditarily, hair loss can come from both parents side of the family.

The main causes of female hair loss are:

• Physical stress: medical surgery, serious illness, rapid weight change.
• Emotional stress: death in family, mental disorder.
• Thyroid irregularity.
• Hormonal causes: pregnancy, birth control pills, menopause.
• Medications: excessive doses of vitamin A, hypertension medications.

Reversal of these causes will lead to hair growth. The following brief facts further explain the causes of female pattern hair loss:

Physical - Emotional Stress
Surgeries, severe illnesses and emotional stress can cause hair loss in women. The body simply cannot cope with the pressure and shuts down production of hair during periods of stress since it is not life threatening. Instead, it redeploys its energies toward repair and rebuilding of vital body constitutions. There is usually about a three-month interval between the stressful event and the start of hair loss. Similarly, it may take about three month before hair re-growth is noticeable. This means that the total hair loss and re-growth cycle can last approximately 6 - 9 months or possibly longer when induced by physical or emotional stress. There are other less apparent health conditions which may go undetected that can contribute to hair loss. These include anemia or low blood count and thyroid abnormalities. These conditions can be detected by a simple, inexpensive blood test and are hence recommended to detect the exact cause of female pattern hair loss.

Diet Considerations
Women are more prone to dieting than men and some diets can lead to hair loss in women. Commercial diet programs, which are designed or administered under the direction of a physician with prescribed meals, dietary supplements and vitamin ingestion, are fashionable. Sometimes, dieters are advised to supplement certain vitamins to the program to prevent hair loss. Skin experts disagree, however, as most dermatologists believe vitamins cannot prevent hair loss associated with rapid, significant weight loss. Furthermore, many of these supplements are high in vitamin A, which can accelerate and magnify hair loss.

Hormonal Considerations
Hormonal changes are a common cause of female hair loss. Many women do not realize that hair loss can occur after pregnancy or following discontinuation of birth control pills. It is important to remember that hair loss may be delayed by three months following the hormonal change and another three months will be required for new growth to be fully achieved.