Managing Hair Loss in Midlife Women

The document discusses various forms of hair loss in midlife women, with a focus on diagnosis and management. It states that hair loss is common in women, with an estimated prevalence of 25%. The types of alopecia covered include androgenetic alopecia/female pattern hair loss, which is the most frequent form and affects 50% of perimenopausal Caucasian women. Minoxidil 5% foam is the only evidence-based therapy for this condition. Other forms of hair loss discussed are chronic telogen effluvium, which is characterized by shedding for more than 6 months without visible scalp thinning, and for which there is no known therapy; frontal fibrosing alopecia, a difficult-to-treat progressive cicatricial alopecia that typically begins in postmenopausal women; and central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia, the most common cause of scarring alopecia in African American women, with no proven therapy. The document emphasizes the importance of a correct diagnosis, which can be challenging in the early stages of these conditions and may require a comprehensive consultation, including history, inspection, trichoscopy, biopsy, and blood tests.