Alopecia is the medical term for hair loss. The main cause of people suffering from alopecia is stress. A lot of young adults are increasingly experiencing symptoms like hair thinning or complete loss of hair at the hairline and top of the head. Researchers have found nearly 70 per cent of 500 patients in an ongoing study suffer from Alopecia due to stress.

Alopecia is showing a significant increase over the last five years. The major causes of various types of Alopecia problems are hormonal problems, pollution, stress and consumption of junk food. Hair loss is commonly misunderstood to be something that happens only in older people, but it is also prevalent in today’s youth.

Recent research found that many people in today’s time suffer from Alopecia due to stress and pressure from work. It has become a frequent problem with men and women of all ages. People get stressed out for a number of reasons - job loss, pregnancy, child birth, accidents, death of loved ones, serious health problems, and so on.

Reasons behind Alopecia, right from heredity to hormones to lifestyle are:

• Baldness in men is due to heredity.
• Work-related stress like deadlines, fear of losing job, money worries, domestic stress, divorce, balancing job and home.
• Hormonal changes in women after delivery, when feeding, menstrual irregularities, and thyroid problems.
• Poor nutrition including crash diets, skipping meals especially breakfast, eating junk food, food fads like eating only salads, and iron, zinc and biotin deficiency.
• Recent severe illness like typhoid, jaundice, or surgery and blood loss.
• Drugs and medication taken for other problems can cause hair loss — contraceptive pills, anti-cholesterol drugs and some BP medicines.
• Repeated coloring, perming, straightening, harsh chemical shampoos.

*Inputs as provided by Dr. Shreepad Khedekar, Clinical Director And Mind Body Expert, Imperial Clinics.

*Image courtesy: © Thinkstock photos/ Getty Images