Men

Introduction:

 

  Androgenic alopecia or male pattern baldness (MPB) is responsible for the vast majority of hair loss in men.  By the age of thirty-five two-thirds of the men in America will experience some degree of appreciable hair loss and by age 50, up to 85% of men have significantly thinning hair.  Contrary to what most men boast that it is “No big deal”, hair loss can have a dramatic impact on your self esteem and greatly affect your social and working life.

 

Causes of Hair Loss:

 

  There are many reasons people lose hair including disease, reaction to certain medications, extreme stressful events but mostly hair loss in men can be blamed on heredity.  Some other contributing factors to hair loss are,  poor nutrition, radiation and improper hair care may all add to the problem.

 

  Men with male pattern baldness have actually inherited a predisposition that actually makes the hair follicle genetically sensitive to Dihydrotestosterone (DHT).  Hair follicles that are sensitive to DHT begin to miniaturize or become thinner with each growing phase.  Eventually, these affected follicles stop producing viable hair shafts.

 

  Male pattern baldness is typically characterized by the onset of a receding hairline and thinning crown.  Hair in these areas including the temple area and mid-anterior appear to be the most sensitive to DHT.  This pattern eventually progresses into a more apparent thinning and baldness throughout the entire top of the scalp.  Continuing this pattern of hair loss to the top of the head will eventually leave only a rim or “horseshoe” pattern of hair remaining.  For some men even this remaining rim of hair can eventually be affected by DHT.

 

What is DHT?

 

  Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is a derivative or by-product of testosterone.  Testosterone converts to DHT with the aid of the enzyme Type II 5-alpha-reductace, which is held in the hair follicle’s oil glands.  The complete genetic process of male pattern baldness in not completely understood, but scientists do know that DHT shrinks hair follicles, and that when DHT is suppressed, hair follicles continue to thrive.

Not everyone wants to go through the process and expense of hair transplants.  Most medication and topical products on the market are solely ineffective for growing hair.  There are some non-laser LED (Light emitting diode) light therapy machines available but their effectiveness relies on light from a red LED bulb.  This type of light is scattered in all directions just like a standard house light bulb, and the therapeutic light needed will not penetrate the scalp to the root of the hair follicles.  In contrast, a true laser light concentrates its energy in a very narrow band (670nm), just like in a laser pointer, you know that no matter how far the light travels it stays the same diameter. This focused beam can penetrate the scalp tissue to reach and stimulate the hair follicles.  Some other choices are hair weaves that add human hair with a matrix of fibers and of course the oldest treatment for dealing with balding is a wig or toupee, which can be human, animal or synthetic, to cover up a bare scalp.  Thank goodness there is now a real solution to this problem.