MALE PATTERN BALDNESS

What Is Male Pattern Baldness?

Male pattern baldness, also called Androgenic alopecia in men is hereditary hair loss condition which causes loss of scalp hair or baldness in men. If you are healthy and you begin losing hair, then your hair loss condition may be hereditary.  Hair loss risk increases with age, with 40% of men showing noticeable hair loss by age of 35 and more than 50 percent of men over age 50 experience some degree of hair loss.

The typical pattern of hair loss in men differs from women. 

Male pattern is characterized by hair receding from the lateral sides of the forehead, known as "receding hairline".  In women, the hair thins out all over the scalp, but the frontal hairline is maintained. There may be moderate female hair loss on the crown of the head, rarely progressing to total baldness as it may in men. Men notice a reduction in hair area size around the forehead and the crown area. This is called male pattern baldness or male pattern hair loss. 

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Men's health & hair loss

Male pattern hair loss varies from population to population based on genetic background. Studies show the prevalence of mid-frontal hair loss increases with age. Receding hairlines are usually seen in males above the ages of 25 and affects 23% as they age in years.

Male-pattern baldness typically begins between the ages of 20 to 45 when testosterone increases, causing hair loss.  Testosterone, a hormone that is present in high levels in males after puberty, is converted to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) by an enzyme called 5-alpha reducer. DHT is a powerful hormone, body, and facial hair growth promoter that can adversely affect the normal hair growth.  In men as they age, DHT slows down hair growth cycle.  It weakens the hair follicle & normal hair growth gradually decreases  hair volume to complete baldness. 

Norwood, O.T. Senile alopecia, in Hair Transplant Surgery, 2nd ed., O.T. Norwood, R. Shiell, eds

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