1. Understanding Hair Growth
To fully understand hair loss, it's helpful to know about the normal cycle of hair growth. At any given time, about 90 percent of the hairs on your head are in what is called a growth or anagen phase. This hair grows less than one half-inch per month. The other 10 percent of hair is in a resting or telogen phase. Over a period of one to two months, the hairs in the resting phase fall out and are replaced by new hairs. In most types of baldness, including male pattern baldness, the hair follicles become smaller and the hair grows in finer and, eventually, not at all.
2. Just Off the Top of Your Head
Male pattern baldness or androgenetic alopecia, as the name suggests, progresses in a pattern. Mostly, it starts as a receding hairline and hair loss on top of the head (called a "bald spot"). Over time, nearly all the hair on top of the head is lost, leaving hair in a ring around the sides and back of the head. This is the most common type of hair loss. It can start in men of any race as young as their twenties (about 25 percent) and accounts for 75 percent of hair loss in men over 60.
3. Like Father, Like Son
Male pattern baldness is not a medical condition, but rather a genetic one. In the medical term androgenetic alopecia, "andro" refers to the hormones testosterone and dihydrotestosterone responsible for male pattern baldness, and "genetic" refers to the inherited gene that sparks the occurrence of this condition. In nearly all cases, if other males in a family lineage had male pattern baldness, chances are the males to follow will as well.
4. Saying No to Baldness
Besides hairpieces, there are some treatments out there with varying degrees of success for men with male pattern baldness. Topical treatments like Rogaine and Propecia are touted as hair regrowth systems, but actually are more effective in stopping further hair loss than growing new hair. Hair transplants are the most effective and permanent methods of fighting male pattern baldness. Small plugs of hair are removed from places where it is still growing and inserted into areas that are balding, resulting in hair growth in those areas.
5. A Deadly Link
Some studies have suggested a link between male pattern baldness and an enlarged prostate or benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH), and even a increased risk for prostate cancer. The link is that male pattern baldness is due in a large part to the production of the hormone dihydrotestosterone, which is also responsible for growing prostate cells that can lead to BPH. Other studies have shown that men with bald spots or other signs of male pattern baldness were up to one and a half times as likely to develop prostate cancer.
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