Hairy women: Causes and effects-

With Kemi Olatunde
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An average human being has about two million hair follicles with about 100,000 of it on the scalp. There are two types of hair, vellus and terminal hairs. Vellus hairs are fine and lightly pigmented they are present over most of the body and produced by smaller hair follicles.

Terminal hairs on the other hand are larger, pigmented and are found mostly on the scalp, eyebrows and eyelashes prior to puberty. It is important to know that after puberty, terminal hairs begin to find their way in the axillar, public area and male beant.

Back to the topic of discussion, hirsutism could be described as the growth of terminal hair on the body of a woman in the same pattern and sequence as that which develop in the post-pubertal male.

The level at which a female complains of hirsutism depends on her cultural and racial norms.

Simply put, it is the unwanted male pattern hair growth on a woman’s face, chest and back.

Most females with hirsutism have fine, pale, faintly, visible hair on the face and body but it might sometimes be thicker and more visible.

Majority of those with hirsutism have excess androgens which usually trigger male physical and sexual development. Normally, women have low androgens levels but these levels might vary for a range of reasons.

A woman with the mildest form of hirsutism may notice significant growth of hair on the upper lip, chin, sideburn area and around the nipples or lower abdomen. This hair will be mature hair or hair that is the same colour as that growing on the scalp.

More advanced hirsutism will cause mature hair to grow on the upper back, shoulders, chest and upper abdomen and usually begins during puberty.

A combination of self-care and medical therapies provides treatment for many women with hirsutism.

Symptoms

Hirsutism is stiff and dark body hair, appearing on the body where women don’t commonly have hair — primarily the face, chest and back. What’s considered excessive can vary depending on ethnicity and culture.

According to www.mayoclinic.org, when excessively high androgen levels cause hirsutism, other signs might develop over time, a process called virilization. Signs of virilization might include:

Deepening voice

Balding

Acne

Decreased breast size

Increased muscle mass

Enlargement of the clitoris

Causes

At puberty, a girl’s ovaries begin to produce a mixture of female and male sex hormones, causing hair to grow in the armpits and pubic area. Hirsutism can occur if the mixture becomes unbalanced with too high a proportion of male sex hormones (androgens).

Hirsutism can be caused by:

Polycystic ovary syndrome. This most common cause of hirsutism is caused by an imbalance of sex hormones that can result in irregular periods, obesity, infertility and sometimes multiple cysts on your ovaries.

Cushing’s syndrome. This occurs when the body is exposed to high levels of the hormone cortisol. It can develop from your adrenal glands making too much cortisol or from taking medications such as prednisone over a long period.

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia. This inherited condition is characterized by abnormal production of steroid hormones, including cortisol and androgen, by your adrenal glands.

Tumors. Rarely, an androgen-secreting tumor in the ovaries or adrenal glands can cause hirsutism.

Medications. Some medications can cause hirsutism. These include danazol, which is used to treat women with endometriosis; systemic corticosteroids and fluoxetine (Prozac) for depression.

Sometimes, hirsutism can occur with no identifiable cause. This happens more frequently in certain populations, such as in women of Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and South Asian ancestry.

Risk factors

Several factors can influence your likelihood of developing hirsutism, including:

Family history. Several conditions that cause hirsutism, including congenital adrenal hyperplasia and polycystic ovary syndrome, run in families.

Ancestry. Women of Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and South Asian ancestry are more likely to develop hirsutism with no identifiable cause than are other women.

Obesity. Being obese causes increased androgen production, which can worsen hirsutism.

Complications

Hirsutism can be emotionally distressing. Some women feel self-conscious about having unwanted body hair. Some develop depression. Also, although hirsutism doesn’t cause physical complications, the underlying cause of a hormonal imbalance can.

If you have hirsutism and irregular periods, you might have polycystic ovary syndrome, which can inhibit fertility. Women who take certain medications to treat hirsutism should avoid pregnancy because of the risk of birth defects.

Prevention

Hirsutism generally isn’t preventable. But losing weight if you’re overweight might help reduce hirsutism, particularly if you have polycystic ovary syndrome.