These days, an increasing number of men are refusing to accept natural, male pattern baldness (or alopecia) and are opting for hair transplant surgery, medicines that can prevent and reverse male pattern baldness or herbal hair loss remedies, but why are so many men unable or unwilling to let nature take its course?
Until quite recently, the only options available to men who were losing their hair were to let it happen and accept their appearance, or to wear a toupee or other hairpiece in an attempt to disguise their balding pates. Naturally, despite the best efforts of wigmakers - many of whom use real hair to produce their pieces - most rugs can be spotted even by the untrained eye quite quickly, so it is usually the case that a man who wears a wig is only fooling himself.
Some men are affected by an acute paranoia or anxiety about their hair and the loss of it, to the extent that they become quite distressed and even depressed about their 'problem', and clearly for these men taking some kind of action about their hair-loss (even trying to disguise it with a wig or comb-over) is often easier and less stressful than attempting to come to terms with the fact that their biology has determined that they will lose their hair eventually.
Normal male pattern baldness is most frequently caused by one or both of two factors: an excess of the male hormone DHT; a scalp that is particularly susceptible to the effects of DHT. DHT has many important roles in the male body, but it does unfortunately have a tendency to bind to the hair follicles of the scalp. Over time, this weakens affected hair follicles by starving them of the oxygen and nutrients they need to support their hair fibers. This leads to a thinning and weakening of the affected hairs, and eventually the death of the affected follicles. Once a hair follicle has died it can only be replaced by surgery.
Hair transplant surgery is a painful and expensive form of cosmetic surgery that works by taking healthy follicles from one part of the body (often the neck) and transplanting them to the scalp. It has a high rate of success but does nothing to address the underlying problem that caused alopecia in the first place. The new follicles will still be susceptible (over time) to the effects of DHT.
Medicines to treat male pattern baldness work by either limiting the effects of DHT, reducing the amount that is produced, or both. There are many over-the-counter and several prescription-only products available, but they do often have significant side effects, notably headaches and nausea.
Many men these days are opting for herbal hair loss remedies. A typical hair loss remedy will contain a high-strength extract of Seronoa repens (aka Saw Palmetto), which has demonstrated strong DHT inhibiting properties. The advantages of choosing an herbal hair loss remedy over a hair loss medicine are that they tend to produce far fewer side effects and are often cheaper than medicines. The disadvantages tend to be that they have a slightly reduced chance of success and generally take several weeks longer to produce truly satisfying results.
Some people have claimed to have reversed male pattern baldness with food, and the right nutrients and vitamins can really help with hair loss, but it's unlikely you will get sustained results from it.
Whilst a good diet can help to build a solid foundation to grow and sustain new hair, experts agree that the best way is to compliment your diet with specific natural nutrients which promote healthy new hair growth.
Specific herb extracts like Saw Palmetto, Nettle Root, Pumpkin and Horsetail can help to block a hormone called DHT which is the reason for most hair loss today and unlikely you would have these super herbs in your diet.
The main problem today with trying to reverse male pattern baldness with food, is that our diets only contain one sixth of the nutritional value they had over fifty years ago, mainly due to intensive farming practices.
This means however hard you try, you are likely to still be lacking in many vitamins and minerals that can help to build healthy hair and improve your health in general.
As well as herb extracts, the best vitamins and minerals are B6, biotin, zinc and magnesium and will help you to have a sustainable method of stopping any more hair loss and growing more.
This whole process can take a while as the hair growth cycles follow a particular pattern and it is normal for even the best treatment to take up to six months to show the first signs, so persistence will pay off in the end as you see the gradual return of your hair each month.
So while some people have claimed to have reversed male pattern baldness with food alone, I think it's unlikely unless they were taking the right nutrients in a nutritional supplement as well that are proven to help grow new hair.
Male pattern hair loss is not a health condition as such, but statistics would tell you that people pay just as much for treating this type of hair loss as they do for other severe health problems. The reason is very simple: people like having a full head of hair; it gives them a nice sense of body image and a youthful look. Male pattern baldness treatments may range from using medication to wearing wigs and other concealing methods. While using wigs and 'combing over' can give you temporary solution to this problem, a better choice would be to go for a long-term treatment.
What is male pattern baldness?
Most balding men lose their hair to androgenic alopecia, commonly known as male pattern baldness. It is caused by hormonal and genetic factors. In this condition, you lose your scalp hair over a period of 2-5 years in a specific pattern. First the hairline recedes gradually, which is followed by thinning of hair on top of the head. Eventually the receding hairline meets the hairless part on the vertex and forms an 'M' shape, leaving a thin covering of hair on either side of the head.
What is the long-term solution to androgenic alopecia?
You can prevent male pattern hair loss with the help of medicine. Propecia finasteride is often the drug of choice for most men looking for a long-term solution to this type of hair loss. As it happens over a period of time, you cannot go against the clock to stop it or possibly regrow new hair. Finasteride can about 2-5 years to stop you from balding and possibly grow new hair. A 5-year clinical study with men using Propecia revealed that 33% men had no further hair loss after using Propecia for 2 years. About 66% men experienced hair regrowth while only 1% men continued to lose hair as before. At the completion of the study, 42% men stopped losing hair while 48% men had hair regrowth. The percentage of failure was just 10% after 5 years of Propecia hair loss treatment.
How does finasteride work?
So there are facts to support the effectiveness of finasteride. It is available as 1mg pills indicated to be swallowed whole with water. It works by lowering dihydrotestosterone (DHT) levels, so that the hair follicles do not shrink. The hormone DHT, along with a gene variation that you can inherit from either parent, triggers male pattern baldness.
What if I do not get the results?
It usually takes 12 months to find out whether or not Propecia is working. Most men taking this medicine have reported a significant reduction in hair loss after taking Propecia pills continuously for 3 months. Probably after 6 months you will notice further improvement and by 12 months, you may be able to enjoy the full benefits of the finasteride baldness treatment. But make sure you keep reporting to your doctor at regular intervals, because if there is no noticeable improvement after using Propecia for a year, you may have to look for another hair loss treatment.
Male pattern baldness is a condition shared by millions of men all-around the globe and is the most common cause for hair loss in adult men. Also referred to by its technical name of Androgenetic Alopecia, male pattern baldness or MPB is estimated to affect approximately 80% of adult men over the age of 45. A consequence of genetics and hormonal functions, male pattern baldness is characterized by thinning on the crown and a receding hairline.
Male pattern baldness is most frequently due to male hormones referred to as Androgens and particularly, Dihydrotestosterone or DHT for short. DHT is a synthesis of the reaction between the 5-alpha Reductase enzyme and Testosterone in the body. DHT attaches itself to hair follicles, starving them of nutrients essential to usual hair growth. As the DHT affects the follicles they start to create weaker, thinner hair until eventually they lose the capability to develop hair entirely.
As more and more hair follicles are affected by the Dihydrotestosterone, hair loss starts to become noticeable along the hairline, which in the long run takes on the "M" profile characteristic of DHT baldness. The hair on the crown increasingly starts to thin, in time joining up with the hairline, forming a ring of hair around the sides of the crown. hair follicles on the sides and rear of the head have more resistance to DHT so typically, hair will carry on growing there.
This pattern of hair loss is indicative of male pattern baldness and Dihydrotestosterone reaction on the hair follicles. Other hair loss causes such as Folliculitis create very different hair loss patterns and these conditions cannot be mistaken for male pattern baldness.
DHT inhibitors have been the focus of many clinical studies and the results of these studies have given new hope to thousands of male pattern baldness sufferers. Several elements have been tested and some have demonstrated solid proof to hold up their potency in combating the effects of DHT on male pattern baldness. So strong is the proof in fact that the FDA have issued approval of a DHT inhibitor, Minoxidil, as an effective component in topical hair regrowth treatments.
Nature has also given us her own DHT reducers. The Saw Palmetto berry for instance includes nutrients well-known to be efficient against the spread of DHT. Saw Palmetto berries are abundant in Fatty Acids and Phytosterols and are acknowledged to lower the activity of the 5-alpha Reductase enzyme, which is the root cause of DHT synthesis. The Fatty Acids in the berries also prevent existing DHT from binding with hair follicles, further limiting hair loss.
Other plant extracts have also shown powerful effectiveness against the effects of Dihydrotestosterone. These include Pumpkin Seed Oil and Nettle Root for instance. When blended with Saw Palmetto, these plant extracts have demonstrated strong effects against the 5-alpha Reductase enzyme and in due course against DHT hair loss.
To be truly effective, a hair regrowth treatment should mix both sides of the hair loss question, addressing the DHT and also the general physical condition of the follicles and hair.
An valuable hair regrowth treatment would ideally include FDA approved ingredients such as Minoxidil and time tested plant based extracts such as Saw Palmetto, Pumpkin Seed Oil and Nettle Root to combat DHT hair loss. Ideally, other ingredients such as Ginseng, Vitamins and Minerals would also be incorporated to feed and strengthen hair follicles and general hair wellbeing.
Learning all about male pattern baldness is a good place to start if you are experiencing hair loss or balding simply because it is the most common cause of hair loss. The appearance of advanced male pattern baldness in men is unmistakable while in women this condition takes on a subtler appearance. In all about male pattern baldness we will explore the causes of this common condition and provide you with some information on how to slow and possibly reverse the balding process.
Male pattern baldness is also known as androgenetic alopecia and is best described as an inherited, hormone lined condition which can come from either side of a person's family tree. For those genetically predisposed to the condition, when testosterone comes in contact with enzymes residing in the hair cell a conversion that will impact your future appearance is starting to take place; the conversion of testosterone to the many times more powerful dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Once the conversion takes place a binding process follows with DHT fastening to receptors deep within the hair follicle.
The common perception of male pattern baldness is that it begins at some point and quickly produces visible hair loss. This could not be further from the truth. In fact the incubation period in some people could be as long as 10 or 12 years before signs of balding are noticed, and even then it might be so subtle that a person simply might mistake it for poor hair care or poor nutrition.
The long lead time before balding and/or thinning starts to become obvious has to do with the gradual buildup of DHT. Over time an excess buildup of DHT causes devastating changes in the hair follicles to occur with some dying, while others are simply rendered incapable of producing new growth. Once follicles are no longer able to produce new hairs balding and/or thinning is inevitable. Another factor that makes male pattern baldness so stealthy is the massive number of follicles (100,000) that cover the scalp. Initially a few follicles lost is much like a tree falling in the middle of the forest; no one notices.
But if enough trees fall all of the sudden it will be recognized and questions will start to be asked as to why. Let's do a little fuzzy hair math to drive home our point. Let's say over a 5 year period you lose only an extra 50 hair per day, that would be about 91,250 hairs lost or over 9 percent of your total population of hair. If this loss was concentrated in a specific area, such as on the crown, without a doubt you would start to notice the impact. Over a 10 year period you will have lost about 20 percent of your hair and the appearance of your hair likely will have changed forever. As a person learns all about male pattern baldness one thing becomes obvious, early recognition and action are paramount to avoiding dramatic balding over time.
What Next? There are currently a few hair re-growth products which have been proven effective in both in blocking harmful hormones and bringing the all important dead hair follicles back to life. These specially formulated products can be used both as a preventative tool, starting before hair loss becomes severe, or after loss of hair has become noticeable. Whatever the level of balding or thinning you are experiencing these products could be just what is needed to overcome this latest life challenge.
