Start to talk about baldness or hair loss and most people will automatically think that you are talking about a problem for men, but this is not necessarily the case. It has been estimated that as many as 25 per-cent of the women in the United States will experience the problem of hair loss at one time or another during their life time.

Female pattern baldness may not be a topic that is commonly discussed, but, at least in private, it is a problem that will affect the lives of millions of women. Loss of hair can be caused by a variety of factors, but, when it comes to female hair loss, the most frequent causes relate back to hormone levels.

Because an imbalance of hormones is a primary factor of hair loss in women, it is not surprising that two of the times in a woman's life when she is most likely to experience significant hair loss is around pregnancy and childbirth and at the time of menopause. The reason why these events are most likely to result in thinning hair is because there are times of radical changes in a woman's hormone levels.

Some women may be concerned that using too hot a blow dryer too often, or abuse of hair colors or perms may cause an adverse reaction involving thinning hair or hair loss, but this is not the case. It is far more likely that the root cause will involve something more basic.

Fortunately, for a woman who is worried that she is losing her lush, beautiful head of hair, there are ways not only to prevent or slow hair loss, but in many cases to restore and re-grow a full, rich head of hair that would rival those women in television shampoo commercials.

Obviously, there are ways to circumvent hair loss for women. The answer that springs most readily to mind is to wear a wig. Unfortunately, the more realistic a wig looks, the more expensive is its price tag. If money is no object, then a hair transplant is a solution that many women have found to be good.

A more health-oriented solution is nutrition. Many products now being marketed as aids for women to restore thinning hair are actually dietary supplements formulated to bring more nutrition to the scalp and its hair follicles. Especially in today's world of environmental pollution, counteracting toxins with extra vitamins and minerals may not only help solve the problem of female pattern baldness, but it might also be helpful in preventing myriad other health problems.