Baldness treatments are becoming more effective, owing to recent scientific discoveries. And like so many other medical and personal health conditions, if you act on the problem right away, you've got a better chance of lowering the affects, or in some cases, even reversing the condition.

Now it must be pointed out that there is not a magic pill for curing balding (yet) and there is no one single medication that works for one and all. As a given fact, in most cases a combination of a few anti- hair loss products will gain better results than any one product or technique. Because everyone one of us is wired differently, the hair loss treatment for you will need to be tailored to suit your individual characteristics.

That carries us to the imminent question, whether or not stress can cause baldness? You see, stress is so routinely referred to as the major cause of balding, that many people believe this to be correct. The fact is that stress is a cause of balding, so you can blame your job or your sporting team if it makes you feel better, but it is not the major cause. Often stress can be contributing factor, but there is one major cause of baldness that precedes all others.

Baldness can be caused by many factors, with more than 50% of males encountering some form of baldness or thinning by middle age. Women also suffer from hair loss, and around 35-40% of women will suffer some type of hair loss or thinning by age 60. The most common cause of hair loss is Pattern Baldness. Pattern hair loss alone affects more than 40% of the male population. Pattern hair loss is easy to explain - it is a genetic disposition - it happens naturally.

Most men and women are genetically predisposed to Pattern Baldness. The cause of Pattern baldness is very sophisticated, but in a nutshell, it occurs when testosterone combines with a specific enzyme and is converted into what is know as dihydrotestosterone (aka DHT). DHT has a negative affect on the hair follicles - it is the causer for slowing down hair production and produces weaker, shorter hair - and in time stops hair from growth altogether.

The way men and women experience Pattern Baldness is very different. Men tend to go through thinning hair in certain sections or patches of the scalp and that's why many cases in men result in the 'monk' effect, i.e. hair loss on top, with hair still growing at the sides and back. Women tend to lose hair evenly across the scalp, so instead of having a visibly bald patch, a woman can actually lose more hair than a man, but still appear to have a full head of hair.

Pattern Baldness is by far the most likely cause f hair loss, but there are a number of other known causes. The other causes of balding are traceable for such small percentages of instances, and in many cases are the easiest to prevent, detect or even reverse. Other known causes of baldness are hormonal imbalances (especially in women) illnesses, lousy diet, below par hygiene, drug abuse and last but not least, stress. Again, stress is an absolute known cause of hair loss. Not a major cause, but it ranks in the top few causes.

Telogen Effluvium is the scientific name of baldness that is caused by stress. This type of baldness can also be caused by experiences such as trauma, childbirth, puberty, major surgery and even severe chronic illness. Telogen Effluvium is characterized by speedy hair loss caused by an interruption in the normal hair growth cycle. Stress and trauma cause large numbers of hair follicles to concurrently enter a stage of rest. After some time, the hair follicles will enter a stage of growth, and the old hair will be pushed out of the follicle by a new hair that is formed beneath it. The result is a period of hair shedding, and is usually self correcting, but if the stress is ongoing, then this type of baldness can become chronic and eventually lead to more prevalent baldness.

In theory you could blame your favorite sports team for stressing you so much that you went bald. But in actuality, although stress can lead to hair loss, it is one of the secondary causes of balding. And it is only really related to more dramatic experiences that have bought on stress. The most likely cause of hair loss is Pattern Baldness, and you can take steps to minimized its effects - but be quick.