Causes of hair loss, dandruff and baldness

As per statistics about forty percent of the population faces the problem of dandruff at some point in their lives. If you notice greasy or dry white flakes on your scalp and hair, then you probably have dandruff too. Dandruff can be caused due to several factors such as, stress and anxiety, excess perspiration and humidity, improper diet, unhygienic scalp conditions and so on. There are mainly two types of dandruff: the oily kind and the dry kind. In the sticky or oily form of dandruff the white flakes tend to latch on to the scalp in clusters or clumps, while dry dandruff looks flakey and the white scales are loosely scattered and dispersed on the scalp and in the hair.

Dandruff can at times also cause severe itching and redness on the scalp. This condition is extremely contagious and can be contracted through the sharing of brushes, combs, clothes, hats and linen.  Although it can be quite harmless, this condition can prove to be rather embarrassing, particularly when the white scales flake off the scalp and settle on ones clothes. Dandruff at times can also lead to hair fall, especially if it causes severe itching. This is because the constant scratching of the scalp can at times damage the hair follicles, leading them to fall. As far as the statistics of hair loss is concerned, about twenty one million women and thirty five million men suffer from it. On an average we lose about hundred strands of hair on a daily basis. This is considered to be normal, but anything above this is a serious problem. Hair loss is characterized by the thinning, disappearing or falling of one’s hair.

Hair loss can be accounted for by a lot of reasons such as; genetics, side effect of medication, anxiety and depression, poor nutrition, a lack of vitamins, as a side effect of an illness, bacterial or fungal infections and lack of hygiene. Our hair grows from very tiny apertures in the skin known as follicles. The papilla situated at the base of every follicle is responsible for generating hair when keratin is produced. Keratin is primarily what your hair is made up of and the rate at which this protein is produced basically determines your hair growth. Thus, very simply put, if there is a reduction in the amount of keratin being produced by the body, the rate at which your hair grows would be affected directly.