Is there a link between hair loss and the menopause?

One of the many causes of hair loss in women is hormonal changes. These sorts of changes can occur in the body following a pregnancy, due to problems with the thyroid gland and before the menopause.

According to research, up to 13 per cent of women approaching the menopause have experienced hair loss. This kind of hair loss is called androgenic alopecia, a condition which some people have a genetic predisposition to.

Androgenic alopecia affects around 50 per cent of men over the age of 40, causing a condition known as male pattern baldness. It affects nearly the same amount of women over the age of 40, and as many as 75 per cent of women over the age of 65 are affected.

With this condition, hair loss is caused by increased levels of the androgen known as dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Testosterone, a male hormone that both men and women have, is converted to DHT in a hormonal process aided by an enzyme stored in the hair follicle’s oil glands, Type II 5-alpha reductase.

DHT is known to shrink hair follicles, interrupting the growth cycle and causing hair loss. Women only have a fraction of the testosterone that men have, but this is enough to cause hair loss in menopausal women.