Male pattern baldness is the most common cause of hair loss in men. Medically known as androgenetic alopecia, this condition causes hair to thin and eventually cease to grow in a specific pattern. It often begins with a receding hair line along the temples and a thinning at the crown of the head. Over time, the thinning and loss of hair takes on the appearance of what's commonly referred to as a horseshoe. Men typically continue to grow hair along the sides and back of the head with male pattern hair loss. The reason for this loss of hair is actually a combination of factors.
Genetics
Most men experience male pattern hair loss as a result of genetics, according to the National Institutes of Health. As the medical name attests, it's a trait passed down from parent to child that causes certain follicles to be more susceptible to the effects of androgens, or male sex hormones. For reasons still not fully understood, only follicles along the front and top of the head have androgen receptors. The rest of the follicles within the scalp and rest of the body do not possess this trait, and therefore continue to produce hair.
Dihydrotestosterone
The androgen responsible for male pattern hair loss is dihydrotestosterone, or DHT. It's a hormone derived from testosterone. The American Hair Loss Association explains that testosterone is converted into DHT when coming into contact with an enzyme produced within the hair follicle called type II 5-alpha-reductase. Once testosterone converts into DHT, this new hormone attaches to the follicles, causing miniaturization. These smaller follicles produce finer and thinner hairs that are superficially attached to the scalp, which make them more likely to fall out. As time goes by, the susceptible follicles produce even finer and thinner hairs until they cease producing them at all.
Age
The final component to male pattern baldness is age. According to the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, men in their 20s have approximately 20 percent incidence of hair loss. Men in their 30s have around 30 percent incidence of hair loss. As men grow older, the percentages of incidence continue to increase at the same rate as their age, so you can expect 70 percent incidence of hair loss in men 70 years of age.
Member Comments