A receding hairline or noticeable balding can be devastating to a person’s self confidence. By the time a change such as thinning is noticed in the mirror, over 50% of the hair density (the number of hairs in a given area) has been lost. The most common cause of this in men and women is androgenetic alopecia, more commonly known as male or female pattern baldness.
Lets break down the medical terms to help understand what’s going on. Andro refers to males, in this case more specifically the male hormone dihydrotestosterone (as you’ll read later). Genetic refers to the inherited manner of transmission among family. Finally, alopecia is the general medical term for hair loss. So you have a male hormone causing hair loss according to the genes you inherited!
Every hair on our body is genetically programmed to respond to hormone signals differently. The main hormone involved in androgenetic alopecia is dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a chemical variant of testosterone. The sensitivity to DHT varies among hairs on the same individual, as well as between person to person. Luckily, in almost all people, there is a ring of hair around the back and sides of the head that does not respond to DHT. Because of this, the hairs located in this area are not susceptible to the thinning of androgenetic alopecia. This is why men with advanced androgenetic alopecia can be completely bald in front and the top but retain the classic horseshoe ring of hair around the back of the head. Surgical hair transplantation relies on this physiologic fact. As you’ll read in future posts, hairs taken from the DHT resistant areas of the head and transplanted into balding areas will continue to grow and provide coverage there for a lifetime!
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-Christopher Bailey MD
What Causes Balding? is a post from: www.chicagohairclinic.com
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