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Why am I Loosing My Hair? Hair Loss in Men
Male Pattern Thinning
The most common type of hair loss in men is called ‘Male Pattern Thinning’ (MPT) or ‘Androgenetic Alopecia’ (ANA).
Male Pattern Thinning is the cause of baldness in the majoroty of men. Male pattern thinning is where thinning hair occurs at the temples or recession, and the front and crown areas of the scalp. The final stage of male pattern thinning leaves a band or horseshoe of hair around the back and sides of the scalp and baldness over the rest of the scalp. About 50% of men will at some stage in life, suffer male pattern thinning to some degree.
This is a visual presentation of various stages of hair loss in men known as Norwood Scale and is used for measuring the degree of hair loss in men:
Clinical Features
Male pattern thinning is easily diagnosed by its location on the scalp. Male pattern thinning is not a rapid loss of hair; it is a gradual shortening of the hair growth cycle of hair follicles in certain areas of the scalp. With each new hair cycle, the affected hairs do not grow as long in length, and they become smaller in diameter. Over time, very small hairs called vellus hairs remain.
Eventually, vellus hair follicles die altogether to be covered by fibrous connective tissue with a thinner than normal layer of the epidermis, this is what is commonly termed ‘Baldness’.
Hereditary Factors
Male pattern thinning is not unusual or uncommon. It simply means that you have inherited the relevant genes from one or both of your parents. Male pattern thinning is a dominant trait in males, if your father has MPT, there is at least a 50% chance that you will also have it. However, if both of your parents have full heads of hair, we know your father will not carry the
genes but there is still a chance the son could inherit the MPT genes from his mother (who could have inherited the genes from her mother or father). The bottom line is that you will not know if you will suffer MPT until you start seeing the effects of the thinning. Just because your father is bald, doesn’t mean you will have MPT. And just because both your parents have wonderful hair doesn’t mean you won’t suffer MPT.
Hormonal Factors – The Cause – The Science
The main male hormone is testosterone. Around 2% of testosterone is metabolized to another male hormone called ‘dihydrotestosterone’ (DHT). It is the DHT that triggers and influences the hair follicles with MPT. The enzyme responsible for the metabolism of DHT from testosterone is ‘5 alpha reductase’.
Formula – ‘2% of Testosterone converts by 5 Alpha Reductase (5AR) to DHT’.
DHT then binds to the androgen (male sex hormone) receptors that surround the hair bulb/follicle. This result’s in the constriction of the bulb and blood supply to the hair follicle, which results in the thinning of hairs associated with MPT.
The Solution
Level of treatment necessary will depend on what stage of the MPT you are in when help is sourced. The key is to have an individual ‘Ultra Hair Ultra Check’. A free and confidential consultation with a qualified consultant will determine your individual needs.
Call us today to book your free ‘Ultra Hair Ultra Check’.
Male pattern thinning can begin at any age, but commonly begins during the late teens and early 20’s and sufferers are well on the way to baldness by the age of 30. The process of male pattern thinning that results in baldness can take as little as ten years and as long as forty years.