One of the most common appearance issues facing men (and women) today is thinning hair and hair loss. In the United States alone, it is estimated that more than 40 million men (and millions of women) suffer from this problem. Although hair loss is not a life-threatening disease, it can cause embarrassment and self-consciousness.

Everyone wants to look their best, and for most men and women, this means having attractive hair. So, taking steps to reduce or counteract hair loss can have a positive effect on anyone's outlook.

There are ways to deal with hair loss, some them considerably more effective than others. It's a problem that men and women have tried to deal with, mostly unsuccessfully, since the earliest eras, going back at least to the ancient Egyptians. To combat hair loss, they suggested liniments of dates and donkey hooves. More recently, lotions, shampoos, conditioners, even devices that claimed to electrically shock the hairs into growing again, have come on the market. None of these products did anything to actually help grow hair, but they did make their inventors wealthy.

Pattern baldness is the most common cause of hair loss. It can begin as early as end of puberty and in the great majority of cases, it is determined by your genes. It's inherited.

It was previously thought that baldness was inherited from the maternal grandfather. While there is some basis for this belief, both parents contribute to their offspring's likelihood of hair loss. The incidence of pattern baldness varies from population to population based primarily on genetic background. External factors like climate or topical hair-care products do not seem to affect baldness.

Hair loss usually increases with age. About one in four men begin balding by age 30; two-thirds begin by age 60. By age 80, it affects half of all women and almost three-quarters of all men. Statistically, chances are 4 in 7 that you have the baldness gene.

In addition to genetics and medical treatments (like radiation and chemotherapy), there are other causes of hair loss, as well. Hair loss can occur as the result of a severe dietary imbalance; it can be brought on by a vitamin deficiency; and, in some cases, hair loss is a symptom of an underlying medical problem.

People who are not happy with their hairlines can resort to cover-ups, like toupees and hairpieces. They often look as real as a natural head of hair, but they have their drawbacks, including expense and maintenance. Then there is surgery, such as hair transplants, hair plugs or scalp minimization. These methods are very costly and often extremely painful.

And, of course, these solutions do not solve the problem: they simply replicate or move the hair. If there is a solution it must come from inside the body, where the follicles that produce hair exist under the scalp. There are, in fact, supplement formulas that can provide treatment for several types of hair thinning and loss.