Hair enhances our overall look and plays a significant role in projecting our self-image. The health and texture of your hair is important even though hair does not serve any vital role in functioning of the body. But losing a few strands of hair leaves you terrified on the probability of becoming bald. Hair loss is a raging problem in today's world. It is categorized as a genetic problem for 90% men while in women it is mainly attributed to hormonal imbalance.

Fragile and thinning hairline is more evident and baldness is the new reality. The causes for hair loss are varied and we need to know the exact cause, to be able to treat it.

• Hair loss is caused mainly by poor eating habits. Nutritional imbalances, caused by improper diet tend to weaken hair shafts, which then break the hair strands and retard re-growth.

• The present-day cause for hair loss prevalent in the working populace is stressed lives, fast food culture and irregular meal times.

• Hair loss can also be caused by the body's inability to absorb nutrients from food and low protein intake.

• Hair loss in women occurs due to anaemia, thyroid disorder, sex hormone imbalance after menopause and excessive styling.

• Hair loss can also happen after childbirth, fever and sudden weight loss.

• It can also be a side effect of drug therapy.

Basic hair loss treatments include a proper nutritious diet, oiling of hair scalp at least once or twice a week, hormone treatment in women, minimum styling and use of colorants; and above all keeping the hair clean. A good care of your hair also helps in maintaining a healthy melanin formation required for pigmentation of hair since its growth. Recent times have seen revolutionary success in hair loss treatment be it for thinning hair or baldness. Apart from hair transplants and non-surgical hair replacements; oral medications have proved to be more acceptable and budget-friendly. The most common oral drug for hair loss is Propecia and Generic Propecia.

Propecia (generic Finasteride) is a prescription drug which retains hair; preventing hair loss and may also grow or thicken hair a little. Propecia is strictly intended to treat men pattern hair loss and should not be taken by women. It is placed in the FDA category X and a pregnant woman is cautioned against handling even a crushed Propecia tablet because Propecia has been found to cause birth defects in an unborn child. Take Propecia under medical recommendation to guard against possible side effects like impotence. Generic Propecia also helps in stopping hair loss from progressing and are available online or over-the-counter at a much competitive price than brand Propecia.

It's a hair-raising truth that more and more people are affected by an epidemic of hair loss. But a good care of your hair and timely treatment can nix your bad hair days before it is too late.