[Treatment for hair loss].

Hair loss or alopecia roughly accounts for about 1% of all general practice consultation. The hair root below the skin is enclosed within a hair bulb at the base of which is the vascularized dermal papilla which contains receptors for male hormones or androgens. It is now known that the male hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT) which is converted from testosterone by the enzyme 5 alpha reductase causes hair follicle to become progressively smaller and the hairs to become finer. In individuals genetically predisposed to androgenetic alopecia (male pattern baldness/female pattern baldness), concentrated level of 5 alpha reductase leads to increased DHT in the hair follicle which shrinks with each hair growth cycle consisting of the growth phase (anagen), the transitional phase (catagen) and the resting phase (telogen).