While hair loss is completely normal, it can be incredibly frustrating. Wondering if you're headed for balding? Well, there are 3 main ways to tell if you might be going bald: 1) your parents or grandparents are bald, 2) your hairline is receding at your temples and 3) your hair is thinning at the top of your head.
One popular myth is that hair loss in men is passed down from the mother's side of the family while hair loss in women is passed down from the father's side; however, the truth is that the genes for hair loss and hair loss itself are actually passed down from both sides of the family.
One of the best ways to tell if you are going to go bald is to look around at your family, it could be heredity. Almost everyone with male pattern baldness will start to lose their hair in the same manner. For most, the hairline will start to form into an 'M' shape as the hair recedes from the forehead.
One-fifth of men will experience significant hair loss by age of 20(!), and that percentage grows proportional to age. Bauman says that significant loss increases steadily with age: 30 percent will experience it in their 30s, 40 percent in 40s, and so on. “This math proves true for men into their 90s,” he says.
By the time you turn 30, you have a 25% chance of displaying some balding. By age 50, 50% of men have at least some noticeable hair loss. By age 60, about two-thirds are either bald or have a balding pattern. While hair loss is more common as you get older, it doesn't necessarily make it any easier to accept.
You're less likely to experience male pattern baldness if you're of Chinese or Japanese descent. Male pattern baldness doesn't typically affect Native American, First Nations and Alaska Native peoples. You're more likely to have male pattern baldness if you have a family history of it.
About 70% of men will lose hair as they get older. And 25% of bald men see first signs of hair loss before age 21. “Recent advances offer a lot of hope in both treating and preventing different types of baldness,” says dermatologist Amy Kassouf, MD. For example, researchers can now grow hair follicles in a lab.
So try not to stress out about a few individual strands of lost hair on your hair tie. If you're concerned that you're shedding more hair than this, or you've noticed substantial hair loss when you wash or brush your hair, you're probably not paranoid. This may be the first sign of sustained hair loss.
The X or female chromosome carries the primary baldness gene, and men inherit this X chromosome from their mothers. This makes the hereditary factor around baldness most dominant on your mother's side.
There are several other causes of hair lossincluding medical illnesses like thyroid, or diabetes; stress, certain medications can cause it too like anti-coagulants, blood thinners, etc, nutritional deficiencies, hormonal imbalance, crash dieting, and oral contraceptives.
Does being bald make you less attractive? No, it can make you more attractive if you pull off the look correctly. The most common misconception about bald men is that they are less masculine. It is sexy to be confident and go bald in some cultures, while it contributes to a more rugged look in others.
Does balding skip generations? Baldness can of course skip generations! If you have bald relatives on both sides of your family tree the chances are high you will be too. However, if the baldness shows up only on one side, it's highly possible the MPB gene will skip not only you but also your siblings.
So, for the questions “Do women like bald men?” the overwhelming majority of women gave positive answers. 87.5% of women of different ages and nationalities surveyed find bald men attractive compared to only 12.5% of women, who gave negative answer.
There are racial differences, however, in the incidence of male pattern baldness. The highest rates are found among Caucasians, followed by Afro-Caribbeans. Chinese and Japanese men have the lowest rates.
Some people who don't lose their hair have low levels of the enzyme that converts testosterone, and so more recently researchers have been seeking ways of blocking the enzyme in others. A treatment called finasteride works on this principle, but it is expensive and needs to be or hair loss begins again.
Male pattern baldness tends to develop slowly
Treatment can reduce further hair loss, and some men regrow a bit of their hair. The men who tend to see the best results start treatment soon after noticing hair loss. Here's what's available to treat androgenetic alopecia (the medical name for this type of hair loss).
You might be able to reverse hair loss, or at least slow it. With some conditions, such as patchy hair loss (alopecia areata), hair may regrow without treatment within a year. Treatments for hair loss include medications and surgery.
Hair loss (alopecia) can affect just your scalp or your entire body, and it can be temporary or permanent. It can be the result of heredity, hormonal changes, medical conditions or a normal part of aging. Anyone can lose hair on their head, but it's more common in men.
Also, not all men a prone to male pattern baldness as this condition is usually passed on in the genes so man whose father suffers hair loss, is genetically predisposed to also experience it and is much more likely to lose their hair than a man whose father still has a full head of hair.
While the numbers are different according to different surveys, it appears that either Greece, Macedonia, or the Czech Republic has the highest rate of baldness in the world. These nations each have over 40% of men with acute hair loss.