Androgenetic alopecia is also known as [url = http://www.femalepatternbaldness.com/sudden-hair-loss-women.php] "Pattern Hair Loss" [/code] or [url = http://www.femalepatternbaldness.com/sudden-hair-loss-women.php] "Pattern Balding" [/code]. This is because the hair loss in an affected person follows a characteristic pattern (potentially reversible hair miniaturization, which is mostly limited to the central scalp), and hence this name. These names may be less precise, but certainly more inclusive. And so they are more commonly used to describe this disease.