1. Estrogen Defined
Estrogen prevails in your body in several hormone forms. Your ovaries are largely responsible for producing estrogen. Forms of estrogen regulate specific functions in your reproductive system. Estrogen also serves your body by maintaining your female secondary sex characteristics. One lovely female characteristic maintained by estrogen is your lovely hair. When Mother Nature requires estrogen to slow down her workload, your hair may thin as a result. Estrogen and hair loss are definitely connected.
2. Locks Lost
Hair loss among women rarely results in complete baldness, generally speaking. Baldness may occur from other traumatic events such as chemotherapy treatments or other stresses. Estrogen levels declining during the aging process normally causes hair thinning. The good news is that estrogen loss seldom leads to total hair loss. Hair thinning is most noticeable around your forehead or around the crown of your scalp as you age.
3. Aging Gracefully
Estrogen levels begin falling off around the time menopause begins. Hormone levels decline and start getting erratic once you get past 40. The idea that "Life begins at 40" is a great attitude to maintain. It's especially important to keep a positive attitude when your hormones are raging and your hair is shedding. You may take a shower and end up with enough hair in your drain to start a wig, but don't worry: Hair growth cycles are still operating through middle age and on for most people. It's emotionally stressful, but a natural process of aging. By the time some women get into their 80s and 90s, however, hair regrowth cycles may stop altogether.
4. It's Just Hormones
Before you start menopause, your estrogen production blocks the type of steroid hormone that causes hair loss. When estrogen levels decrease, hair loss in women may increase. This is not true for all women, of course. Your system may react differently and hair loss may not manifest in any noticeable degree. In some women, more testosterone (the culprit hormone that causes hair loss) converts to enough dihydrotestosterone (DHT, a known cause of hair loss not related to trauma) that it damages hair roots. This causes shorter hair growth cycles, shedding and thinning.
5. Supplements May Help Hair Loss
Some doctors prescribe synthetic estrogen to treat hair loss in middle-aged, menopausal women. Oral and/or topical prescription estrogens may work to raise low estrogen levels for some women. However, synthetic estrogen comes with its own set of issues and there's no conclusive research proving that it helps hair loss.
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