It is an established fact that the most common cause of hair loss in men, male pattern baldness, is an inherited condition. However, it may be surprising to hear but just because a father has male pattern baldness, it doesn't necessarily follow that their
The baldness gene is dominant and is inherited from the father to the son, however, through the mother. Baldness is a sex-limited trait and can be transmitted in case the inheritance is duplex. In this case, women's genes are considered recessive, meaning the trait of their genes is masked by the dominant trait.
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.
Male pattern baldness is a sex-linked characteristic that is passed from mother to child. A man can more accurately predict his chances of developing male pattern baldness by observing his mother's father than by looking at his own father. Each hair sits in a cavity in the skin called a follicle.
Many of the genes responsible for baldness and hair loss tend to come from your maternal grandfather, even though genes from both of your parents and all of your grandparents can also play a role. If your maternal grandfather is bald or is losing their hair, you are a likely candidate for hair loss problems yourself.
There is no scientific basis for the idea that baldness skip generations, regardless of any old wives tales you may have heard from the grapevine.
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.
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.
Baldness is hereditary
So while you may well share some of your father's DNA as well as your grandfathers' on both sides - as well as DNA from the female sides of your family - it doesn't necessarily mean that you will inherit the gene - or set of genes - involved in genetic hair loss.
All men inherit a Y chromosome from their father, which means all traits that are only found on the Y chromosome come from dad, not mom. The Supporting Evidence: Y-linked traits follow a clear paternal lineage.
The only way to absolutely predict whether or not you will go bald is to have a swab test to determine your sensitivity to dihydrotestosterone (DHT).
While there is a link between some androgens (male sex hormones) and hair loss, the theory that bald guys have more testosterone and thus lose more hair is false.
But baldness can be deceiving: Two-thirds of men face hair loss by age 35, and a bad genetic hand is often to blame. Male-pattern baldness is an inherited sensitivity to dihydrotestosterone (DHT, a by-product of testosterone), which leads to finer hair, a receding hairline, and finally a deserted scalp.
Although we usually associate hair loss with middle age, it's quite common to begin to lose hair before the age of 25. In fact, research shows that approximately 16 percent of men between 18 and 29 years of age are affected by moderate to extensive hair loss.
NHS states that 25% of men suffering from male pattern baldness (MPB) start losing hair before they reach the age of 20-21. Moreover, it affects around 50% of men by the age of 50. Alopecia Areata, another type of hair loss, which causes bald patches on the scalp, is very prevalent in people at the age of 15 to 29.
Male pattern baldness is hereditary (genetic), so it can't be prevented.
The typical pattern of male baldness begins at the hairline. The hairline gradually moves backward (recedes) and forms an "M" shape. A circular area on the back of the head (vertex) often thins and expands in size over time.
Men have been making the gradual transition from hirsute to hairless for centuries - Hippocrates's 'cure' for baldness reputedly comprised pigeon droppings, horseradish, cumin and nettles - but recent studies suggest that hair loss in men aged between 21 and 30 is now more common than ever.
Family history (heredity). The most common cause of hair loss is a hereditary condition that happens with aging. This condition is called androgenic alopecia, male-pattern baldness and female-pattern baldness.
Unlike nuclear DNA, which comes from both parents, mitochondrial DNA comes only from the mother.
What Is Hereditary Hair Loss? Hereditary hair loss, or Male Androgenetic Alopecia (MAA), is a common form of hair loss affecting 30 percent to 50 percent of men by the age of fifty.