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Alopecia (hair loss)
Medical expert of the article
Last reviewed: 07.07.2025
There are two types of hair growth: male and female: male hair growth is characterized by the growth of long hair on the face (beard and moustache), as well as coarser vellus hair on the chest, back, and legs.
Alopecia (baldness) is the absence or thinning of hair on the skin in places where it normally grows (usually on the scalp). The following conditions can cause rapid hair loss.
- Taking medications (eg, oral contraceptives, anticoagulants)
- Active antitumor therapy (X-ray therapy, antitumor drugs).
- Long-term use of cytostatic drugs in the treatment of non-neoplastic diseases.
- Stress (physical or mental).
- Endocrine pathology (hypo- or hyperthyroidism, hypopituitarism; adrenal cortex hyperplasia).
- Systemic lupus erythematosus.
- Alimentary factors (nutrition disorders, iron and zinc deficiency).
- Infections (primarily syphilis, various dermatomycoses).
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