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Hair Loss News Archives
October 2006
Bald is Beautiful - Most Caucasian males won't escape hair loss
Indiana Daily Student October 2006
Caucasian men face daunting odds of keeping a full head of hair throughout their
lifetimes.
All Caucasian men possess the inherited tendency for male pattern balding, also
known as androgenetic alopecia. Eventually, 96 percent of those men will lose
hair to some degree, but because of variability in the expression of the genes,
many will not have noticeable early hair loss.
While it is possible for women to
develop androgenetic alopecia, it is much less common. Scientists have found
that black men are four times less likely than Caucasians to prematurely bald.
Losing hair might be a horrifying concept for some, but others see a silver
lining.
"Really, the advantages to balding are endless if you think about it," said
senior Danny DeSloover, an Indiana Daily Student employee.
He lists lack of "hat hair," reduced grooming time and no money spent on hair
care products as benefits.
"But I'll be honest -- balding doesn't look that good or even healthy. Maybe
that's the big stigma about it," he said.
It's normal for everyone to lose some amount of hair each day, but the cycle of
growth that hair follicles normally go through can keep up with the rate of
loss. Even before the hair falls out, the follicle is ready with a developing
new hair. When the old hair is lost, the new hair grows to replace it.
Scientists have determined that during male pattern balding, the hair follicle
shrinks, making the hairs that grow in finer and lighter than the previous
hairs. The growth cycle takes longer, which means the hairs aren't being
replaced as fast as they are falling out. Eventually, the follicle just stops
producing hair.
On average, 30 percent of Caucasian men will begin balding by the age of 30, and
50 percent will show signs of balding by the age of 50, according to a 1998
article in British Medical Journal.
Tim Greives, a biology graduate student who is nearing 30, said he doesn't mind
being in the 30 percent of balding males his age.
"Thankfully, I'm not self-conscious about it, so it can lead to a good form of
amusement for a while," Greives said.
Greives' wife likes to sneak around and take funny pictures of the balding spot
on the top of his head.
Stress, poor nutrition, pregnancy and chemotherapy can all cause hair loss, but
the pattern seen in androgenetic alopecia is caused by hormones. More
specifically, male pattern balding is caused by a genetic predisposition for
balding and excess levels of circulating androgens such as testosterone.
The rate of hair loss is extremely variable. Some men might go completely bald
in five years, while others could take 15 to 25 years to go completely bald, and
some men might only develop thinning hair.
The process of balding starts with testosterone, which is converted into
dihydrotestosterone. DHT then goes on to damage the hair follicle. Eventually,
the follicle just stops working.
"This explains why people who abuse anabolic steroids -- like athletes and
bodybuilders -- typically display substantial hair loss," Gregory Demas, an IU
biology professor, said.
All the extra androgens from the anabolic steroids people abuse are eventually
converted to DHT in the body, which makes them start balding.
DHT could be considered the preferred androgen of the body, Demas said. Both
testosterone and DHT can bind to androgen receptors, enter cells and activate
certain genes. DHT binds much better to the androgen receptor than testosterone,
so DHT can produce a greater effect than a comparable amount of testosterone.
"It's DHT, not (testosterone), that masculinizes male genitalia and causes male
secondary sex characters such as growth of chest hair," Demas said.
That's why there aren't many hairy-chested, bald females or eunuchs (castrated
males): They just don't have enough testosterone in their bodies to make into
DHT.
The medical treatments for balding such as minoxidil (Rogaine) and finasteride (Propecia)
block the conversion of testosterone into DHT, stop the damage to the follicle
and allow the follicle to return to a more normal cycle of growth.
Minoxidil works on the surface of the skin, while finasteride affects the whole
body.
The treatments all have side effects and must be taken for the rest of the
user's life to have the desired effects.
That might be one reason so many men today are choosing to embrace their
baldness by either shaving their head completely or just letting nature run its
course.
After all, Bruce Willis, Andre Agassi and Michael Jordan are just a few of the growing number of famous men who have adopted the bald look.