The 'alopecia totalis' means complete absence of hairs on the head, 'alopecia areata' means lack of hairs or impairment in hairs production and growth. The last kind is 'alopecia universalis'. This includes the absence of hair from all of the body.

The term 'pattern baldness' is referred to any type of specified shape, design, form or pattern of hair loss from the head. Age is considered to be a very important and responsible factor in the pattern baldness. A lot of studies and researches have shown that people aged above 80 faces the pattern baldness and alopecia in a greater extent. But not all people are affected. Around 60% of women and 74% of men are influenced by alopecia. More researches have also shown that 25% of men start balding at the age of 30.

There are many kinds of baldness that occur in men and women. Traction alopecia occurs usually in people, who excessively pull their hairs while combing or for any other reason. The lack of iron content in body is another significant factor in the loss or lack of hairs. Mycotic infections can also cause considerable loss of hairs. The hair loss can also be as a result of adverse influence of some drugs, but that's a rare case.

Talking about some treatments for baldness, there are a lot of treatments and drugs available in the medicine industry to prevent hair loss and pattern baldness. Many of these drugs are registered while others are not. The registered and authorized treatments for baldness in USA include Finasteride and Minoxidil. Minoxidil is proved to be a very advantageous treatment for baldness since it has shown improvement in 51% of men, who used 5% of Minoxidil. The treatment is basically for frontal scalp area. Similarly, the other treatment, Finasteride is DHT inhibitor. Companies have tested various samples of people having baldness of various kinds and patterns. About 82% of a sample of approximately 1500 people shown improvements.

A lot of research at university and hospital levels is being conducted and different drugs and treatments are being developed to ensure the better physical appearance, even at older ages.