I’m Suddenly Losing Hair in My 40s

Dr., Thank you for this forum. I have read your comments in all categories many times but never found one that mentioned what seems to be happening with my hair loss.

I have been losing hair from the temples and top my head at an alarming rate. I am in my early forties and always had medium length hair that I never had to comb since it is wavy.

Lately I noticed if I do use a comb I see that there are many many hairs that actually have the root ‘bulb?’ attached to the end of the hairs. It is like I am losing the actual cells that generate the hair. I do not know why this is happening.

Any comment is appreciated, thank you.

With respect to your situation, I couldn’t give you a diagnosis or even guess at the the cause of your hair loss. There’s no clear reason I can come up with, but for men, most hair loss is generally related to genetics and it follows a certain pattern — thus the term male “pattern” baldness (MPB). While you are in your 40s, it isn’t impossible that your genetic loss would start now. You need to see a doctor and have a good examination.

What you are seeing at the end of your hair shaft may be white sebum (a waxy oily substance) and it is not related to hair loss.