ASSOCIATION OF ANDROGENETIC ALOPECIA WITH SMOKING: A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY

Abstract

Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is a hereditary androgen dependent disorder, characterised by progressive thinning of the scalp hair defined by various patterns. It is the most common hair loss type affecting upto 80% of men and 50% of women in their course of life..The prerequisites for AGA are presence of androgens and genetic predisposition but clinically in the day to day practice, it is seen that blocking androgens alone is not sufficient in the treatment of AGA. Factors such as smoking, lifestyle, overweight may play a role in androgenetic pathogenesis. The mechanism by which smoking causes hair loss is multifactorial, few of them being damage to the DNA hair follicle, imbalance in follicular protease/antiprotease systems which regulates the growth cycle of hair and also causes a relative hypo-oestrogenic state.