Aldactone: Brand name for spirolactone, a prescription high blood pressure medication that is also prescribed to treat women's hair loss.

Alopecia : Loss of hair as a result of illness, functional disorder, or hereditary disposition. The medical term for hair loss.

Alopecia Areata: A disease that causes the body to form antibodies against some hair follicles. It can result from such factors as stress, genetics and the immune system. Alopecia Areata causes sudden smooth, circular patches of hair loss.

Alopecia Totalis: A condition that results in no hair on the scalp. It may begin as Alopecia Areata or some other cause.

Alopecia Universalis: A condition that results in no hair on any part of the body, this includes eyelashes, eyebrows, and scalp hair. It may develop as alopecia areata or result from another cause

Amino Acids: The building blocks of protein. A deficiency of amino acids may adversely affect hair growth.

Amortization: The process of converting one enzyme to another, such as Testosterone to Dihydrotestosterone.

Anagen: The growing phase of hair, usually lasting between one and seven years.

Anagen Effluvium: Loss of hair that is supposed to be in the anagen or growing phase. This is the type of hair loss that is associated with chemotherapy or radiation treatment.

Androgen: general term referring to any male hormone. The major androgen is testosterone.

Androgenetic Alopecia: Hair loss resulting from a genetic predisposition to effects of DHT on the hair follicles. Also termed female pattern baldness and male pattern baldness, male pattern baldness, hereditary alopecia and common baldness.

Anterior: Front

Antiandrogen: An agent that blocks the action of androgens by preventing their attachment to receptor cells, interfering with their metabolism, or decreasing their production in the body.

Aromatase: An enzyme (actually an enzyme complex) involved in the production of estrogen that acts by catalyzing the conversion of testosterone (an androgen) to estradiol (an estrogen). Aromatase is located in estrogen-producing cells in the adrenal glands, ovaries, placenta, testicles, adipose (fat) tissue, and brain.

Autograft: A graft taken from your own body

Azelaic Acid - Azelaic acid like Retin-A is more commonly used in the treatment of acne and other skin conditions. It inhibits the activity of the enzyme 5 alpha-reductase, involved in the conversion of testosterone to DHT .

B

Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH): A noncancerous condition related to aging in men whereby the prostate gland swells, usually to a size that reduces the urine flow and prevents the bladder from emptying completely, causing frequent and difficult urination.

Biopsy: Piece of tissue cut out for microscopic examination

Bonding: A term used to describe the simple act of gluing a hairpiece onto the scalp.

C

Catagen: The intermittent stage between the growing ( anagen ) and resting ( telogen ) phases of the hair's growth cycle.

Chemotherapy: chemical treatment, usually of cancers, using drugs that have high levels of toxicity, frequently causing temporary alopecia universalis.

Club Hair: A hair that has stopped growing or is no longer in the anagen phase. It is anchored to the skin with its "club-like" root, but will eventually be pushed out and replaced by a growing hair.

Cobblestoning: "Plugs" that have not healed flush with the skin and therefore have left the scalp lumpy." Plugs" seldom heal flush with the skin. Cobblestoning occurs in almost all "plug" procedures.

Cortex: The layer of the hair shaft that surrounds the medulla and is filled with keratin fibers. The main structural part of the hair fiber that accounts for most of its size and strength.

Crown: The highest part of the head

Cuticle: The outer surface of hair, composed of overlapping scales made of colorless keratin protein. It gives hair luster and shine and also provides some of its strength. more