They say the truth hurts and the truth is, the way you look will affect how people treat you. It may not be right, but it's the world you live in. Having a great personality is fine, but people are usually nicer to you, if they think you're attractive, then if they don't. The marketing industry feeds off the insecurities, that people have about their appearance, especially when it comes to hair loss.

Hair loss can be a traumatic event, for women and men. You can hide almost any skin problem, but it's practically impossible to hide hair loss. It's not just how others see you, but how you see yourself. No hair loss is good, but if it happens at a young age, then it can be more depressing. It can be hard on your ego, if you're 25 years old, but everyone thinks you're 50. With the lack of self-confidence, that comes from hair loss, a lot of people will stop socializing and could end up alone.

Is losing hair the problem, or is it the fact that the hair doesn't grow back. Everybody loses hair on a daily basis, but for many, there is no re-growth. Usually, about 10% of your hair is in a resting phase, which means it's not growing. After 2 to 3 months, your resting hair will fall out and new hair begins to grow, this is called the growing phase. The growing phase can last from 2 to 6 years and your hair will grow about 1 centimeter per month.

So, why is your hair no longer going through the normal resting and growth phases? There could be numerous circumstances behind your hair loss, but the most common causes are, male and female pattern baldness, this type of hair loss can occur because of genetics and the natural aging process; stress can cause hair loss, but if the stress is removed, the hair may grow back; traction alopecia, which occurs because of excess pulling on the hair, like braiding; trichotillomania, which is the act of pulling out hair, for no reason; alopecia areata, this occurs when hair falls out in patches; and chemical damage, which is common in cancer patients, who go through chemotherapy, but once the chemotherapy stops, the hair can grow back.

Is there a cure for hair loss? The real answer is no. There are a lot of products on the market, which claim to do everything, but they don't cure hair loss. The FDA has yet to certify any product as a cure for hair loss. Most of the products you hear about will not describe themselves as a drug, because if they did, they'd have to go through FDA testing and prove their claims, which of course, they can't. When there isn't a cure, prevention is the next best thing.

When you think about all the advances, that science has made, in just the last 50 years, it's rather amazing that no one has yet to develop a cure for hair loss. Finding a cure for hair loss, would have a greater impact on society, then trying to discover life on Jupiter.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Hair Loss.