While hair loss is more harmful to the psyche than anything else, some of the causes of baldness may represent serious health problems. That's why it's important to talk about hair loss with a physician.

One problem, says FDA's Cook, could be a condition called alopecia areata. It's an autoimmune disease of unknown cause in which inflammatory cells attack the bulbs of the follicles under the scalp, leaving hairless patches. In more serious cases, hair may fall out from the entire head--eyebrows and beard included--and the entire body. Many times, though, the hair returns spontaneously.

Childbirth, severe malnutrition, chemotherapy, thyroid problems, and a form of lupus can also cause hair loss.

Something as simple as pigtails or cornrows, if worn too long, can cause hair loss, too, because of the stress they cause to the hair shaft.

The medical opinion concerning the role of emotional stress in balding is mixed. If stress does play a role, however, it's only at times of extreme emotional trauma, according to Kayne at the University of Washington Medical Center.

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