Are you growing bald? You are not alone to suffer the plight. According to statistics, 50% of men go bald by the time they reach 50. Male pattern hair loss is not rare. If someone from your mother's or father's family has/had a problem with hair fall, probably you have your future bald too. It is a genetically predisposed condition which is unavoidable but treatable with proper and timely medication.
Male Pattern Baldness - Probable causes
Losing hair is not unusual in itself. At any given moment, an adult man possesses about 100,000 to 150,000 strands of hair on his crown, and an estimated number of 100 strands come off everyday. But the problem gets worse when the hair follicles stop responding to androgenic hormones. Experts say that androgenic hormones, along with genetic factors, cause male hair loss. Unfortunately, our knowledge about the exact causes of hair fall is still limited.
Mothers blamed too often
It is true that sons owe a lot to their mothers, but it is unfair to blame the mother's side whenever a man goes bald. A group of European researchers found a gene variation which they believed would explain androgenic alopecia, the clinical name for male pattern baldness. They thought so because the gene variation is attached to the X chromosome, which sons inherit from their mothers only. But at the same time, the researchers failed to evidently conclude that all occurrences of male pattern baldness are linked to the mother's side. What they knew for certain was that the maternal side of the family had a relative edge over the paternal side, but that inference did not eliminate fathers as potential contributors to the baldness of their sons.
About the gene
The study was conducted among 95 families in which a minimum number of 2 male siblings had developed androgenic alopecia from an early age. So the number of subjects in the survey amounted to 200. Following the genetic screening, it was revealed that for a man to develop pattern baldness at an early age, it is a sine qua non that he must have a variation in the androgen receptor gene. A variant gene was found more often in among men who went bald early in their life. Testosterone, one of the governing sex hormones in men, is part of androgenic hormones that are related in some ways to hair loss. But as mentioned earlier, the exact mechanisms are not yet known. According to scientists, male sex hormones help grow body hair, but too much of it will prevent the growth of scalp hair. Also, another androgenic hormone known as dihydrotestosterone (DHT) make the hair follicles shrink when exposed, which is why no visible hair comes out of the follicle. Existing treatments of hair loss target DHT to stimulate hair regrowth. Finasteride, sold under the brand name Propecia in the UK, is a synthetic antiandrogen that can prevent male pattern hair fall and also help hair regrow. It is a prescription only medicine, so you need to consult your doctor first.
Male Pattern Baldness - Probable causes
Losing hair is not unusual in itself. At any given moment, an adult man possesses about 100,000 to 150,000 strands of hair on his crown, and an estimated number of 100 strands come off everyday. But the problem gets worse when the hair follicles stop responding to androgenic hormones. Experts say that androgenic hormones, along with genetic factors, cause male hair loss. Unfortunately, our knowledge about the exact causes of hair fall is still limited.
Mothers blamed too often
It is true that sons owe a lot to their mothers, but it is unfair to blame the mother's side whenever a man goes bald. A group of European researchers found a gene variation which they believed would explain androgenic alopecia, the clinical name for male pattern baldness. They thought so because the gene variation is attached to the X chromosome, which sons inherit from their mothers only. But at the same time, the researchers failed to evidently conclude that all occurrences of male pattern baldness are linked to the mother's side. What they knew for certain was that the maternal side of the family had a relative edge over the paternal side, but that inference did not eliminate fathers as potential contributors to the baldness of their sons.
About the gene
The study was conducted among 95 families in which a minimum number of 2 male siblings had developed androgenic alopecia from an early age. So the number of subjects in the survey amounted to 200. Following the genetic screening, it was revealed that for a man to develop pattern baldness at an early age, it is a sine qua non that he must have a variation in the androgen receptor gene. A variant gene was found more often in among men who went bald early in their life. Testosterone, one of the governing sex hormones in men, is part of androgenic hormones that are related in some ways to hair loss. But as mentioned earlier, the exact mechanisms are not yet known. According to scientists, male sex hormones help grow body hair, but too much of it will prevent the growth of scalp hair. Also, another androgenic hormone known as dihydrotestosterone (DHT) make the hair follicles shrink when exposed, which is why no visible hair comes out of the follicle. Existing treatments of hair loss target DHT to stimulate hair regrowth. Finasteride, sold under the brand name Propecia in the UK, is a synthetic antiandrogen that can prevent male pattern hair fall and also help hair regrow. It is a prescription only medicine, so you need to consult your doctor first.
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