Female pattern baldness subject of ‘Sound Medicine’

Female pattern baldness differs from that of males in that the hairline doesn’t move. Hair may thin on the crown, but usually not totally as in men.

Individual hairs have a life span of two to six years and then they fall out. They are replaced by new ones. Humans probably don’t realize it, but they lose about 100 hairs each day. In the case of males and females who lose hair that doesn’t grow back, science doesn’t have an answer yet. This much science does know: it is associated with genetic predisposition and levels of androgens or male sex hormones.

Go to the station’s interactive program site for more information on a variety of health topics, including West Nile virus:

http://soundmedicine.iu.edu/