Androgens are male sex hormones, including testosterone, which are responsible for masculine characteristics such as facial hair and coarse body hair. A woman's ovaries and adrenal glands naturally make a small amount of androgens.
Hair growth is stimulated by androgens like testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT). They are the key hormones in hair growth. Testosterone tends to change thin, light hairs into larger, darker hairs.
Androgens, such as testosterone (T), dihydrotestosterone (DHT), and their prohormones dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) and androstenedione (A) are the key factors in the growth of terminal hair.
Hormone issues
Both men and women can develop hormonal imbalances that can cause hair to thin or fall out. Often, treating the imbalance helps your hair regrow. Although most people think of estrogen or testosterone when they think of a hormone imbalance, issues with your thyroid can also lead to hair thinning.
During pregnancy, for example, a woman's estrogen levels are higher than normal, which signals more hair follicles to "grow" and fewer to "rest." While estrogen levels are high, women have full, thick hair.
Estrogen and progesterone can help keep your hair in the growing (anagen) phase. Therefore, these hormones can help your hair stay on your head longer and may even help your hair grow faster. This may be why many women notice their hair thinning starts to improve with estrogen replacement therapy.
Estrogen is a natural and necessary hormone, but too much estrogen - for both men and women - can cause hair loss. Too much estrogen can cause hair loss and thinning hair. Many times, an increase in estrogen is caused by perimenopause, ingesting or touching endocrine disruptor items and gaining weight.
Genetic factors appear to play a major role in determining hair texture—straight, wavy, or curly—and the thickness of individual strands of hair. Studies suggest that different genes influence hair texture and thickness in people of different ethnic backgrounds.
DHT, a derivative of the male hormone testosterone, is the enemy of hair follicles on your head. Simply put, under certain conditions DHT wants those follicles dead. This simple action is at the root of many kinds of hair loss.
According to Umar, certain nutrients are essential to the thickness and growth of hair, like: Protein, which makes up hair follicles. Sources of protein include eggs, meat, and dairy products. Iron, which carries oxygen throughout your body, including hair follicles, and aids in cell repair and growth.
Taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can slow down or even stop hair loss in some women. It is hard to predict who will benefit. Body identical estrogen and progesterone are preferable.
Over time, your hair may become more curly, straight, thin, or coarse. Many of these changes are brought on by the maturation process, but there are also plenty of reasons why this could be happening that have nothing to do with age. Stress, diet, and hormone changes all play a part in your hair's texture.
Testosterone itself doesn't directly cause hair loss. However, increasing your testosterone levels can also increase your levels of DHT, causing damage to your hair follicles and speeding up the effects of male pattern baldness.
While the exact link between testosterone and hair growth is unknown, there is no doubt that testosterone plays a role in stimulating hair growth. Thinning or patchy hair loss at the hairline, the temples, or on the crown of the head may be an indication of low testosterone in women.
A Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center study involving postmenopausal, overweight, and obese women who took 2,000 IUs of vitamin D daily for a year found that those whose vitamin D blood levels increased the most had the greatest reductions in blood estrogens, which are a known risk factor for breast cancer.
Estrogen helps protect the heart from disease, potentially by maintaining higher levels of good cholesterol, called high-density lipoprotein (HDL), in your blood. Lower estrogen levels, especially during menopause, can increase your risk of developing heart disease.
High estrogen levels can cause symptoms such as irregular or heavy periods, weight gain, fatigue, and fibroids in females. In males, they can cause breast tissue growth, erectile dysfunction, and infertility.
As people get older and their hair density decreases it can cause their hair to appear thinner. This can lead to baldness developing as hair continues to thin over time. A person's hair density often peaks at age 35 and begins to decline after then.
It has been reported that Asian hair is generally straight and is the thickest, while its cross-section is the most round-shaped among these three. Caucasian hair is generally straight or wavy and is the thinnest, while its cross-section is relatively elliptic.
While estrogen can help thin hair, it cannot completely reverse facial and body hair growth. Many trans women and other transgender people know all too well about how time-consuming daily grooming routines can be, so thankfully, there are alternative options available.
If you had thick, dark, or coarse hair on your face and body before starting estrogen, it will not completely go away. However, many people find that this hair changes. Your facial hair may become softer and more sparse. If you have hair on your chest, back, or shoulders, it may feel softer as well.