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How
common is pattern baldness in Caucasian women
Hair loss is first observed in women in their late twenties to
early forties, somewhat later in age than first onset in men. Dawber
reported the premenopausal female Caucasian frequency of Ludwig
stages I to III diffuse pattern hair loss is up to 87% and up to
13% of women had male pattern baldness. In other words 100% of women
had some change in their hair pattern! Postmenopause 37% of women
had male pattern baldness and 63% had diffuse pattern hair loss.
In contrast, Hamilton reported around 35% of women by age 50 had
male pattern baldness similar to types I to IV in his classification.
He suggested that the incidence of female hair loss did not increase
after the fifth decade of life and no women developed male pattern
types V to VII.
However, these figures may be on the high side. Examing, classifying,
and recording hair loss is a very subjective method and while some
dermatologists record even the slightest apparent hair loss others
ignore slight loss as not being due to androgenetic alopecia. Generally
it is believed that unlike men the frequency of women affected does
not continue to increase with increasing age. After the fifth decade
of life the numbers of women with androgenetic alopecia does not
increase. Androgenetic alopecia has been suggested to be present
in the general female population at a rate between 20 to 40%. It
is perhaps one of the best kept secrets that female androgenetic
alopecia is so common.
How
common is pattern baldness in Caucasian women references
- Venning
VA, Dawber RP. Patterned androgenic alopecia in women. J Am
Acad Dermatol. 1988 May;18(5 Pt 1):1073-7.
- Hamilton
JB. Patterned loss of hair in man: types and incidence. Ana
N Y Acad Dermatol 1951:53;708-28
- Dawber R. Diseases of the hair and scalp.
Third edition. Blackwell Science Ltd, Oxford, UK, 1997. ISBN
0-86542-866-2
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