What would you say the average age is for men to develop MPB? I know there is a wide window, but what is considered to be the norm? (Any pattern of MPB)
Most people lose (or start to lose) their hair in their 20s. A few people have started it as early as 14, but that is unusual. I have seen others start losing their hair into their 50s or 60s.
Snippet from the article:
As if the heartache of divorce wasn’t hardship enough, it appears that women enduring marital break-up may also have to deal with hair loss.
New research reveals that, genetics aside, the next strongest predictor of midline (central) hair loss among women is their marital status, with the loss of a spouse (through either divorce or death) raising the risk for thinning hair above that of married or single women.
Read the full story — Could Divorce Trigger Hair Loss in Women?
The study looked at sets of identical twins and determined that excessive alcohol and smoking increased the risk, in both men and women. The study also revealed that sun exposure is also believed to be a factor in hair loss, as those exercising outdoors or didn’t regularly wear hats (sun protection) saw increased thinning. One of the keys the article focuses on is divorce, which can bring about a lot of stress… and it isn’t surprising that stress can lead to hair loss. Overall, it’s interesting stuff and worth a read.
I know that you’ve addressed this before in a post a few years ago, where you suggested that exclamation mark hairs were a sign of a more serious infection. However, I was wondering if you could provide a little more information as to if it is also a sign of Is it a sign of traditional male pattern baldness?
Particularly if the thinning is very gradual down the hair shaft, only detectable if you bend the fallen hair so as to compare the top of the hair with the bottom next to the bulb.
If they get thinner towards the bulb and less heavily pigmented is this an example of the process of miniaturization? If not, rather than an underlying infection, could it be due to a lack of vitamins, or telogen effluvium?
If this smaller diameter is noticeable on all the hairs that are being lost, even from the side and back of the head, or even body hair is that the case where it is more likely to be as you originally suggested an underlying infection?
Hairs that look like exclamation marks can be a sign of a variety of issues, but alopecia areata is chiefly among them and often points to this diagnosis. Other possibilities include lupus, thyroid disorders, and some allergies. I don’t mean to get you alarmed, so see a doctor for an examination to get to the bottom of the problem.
I’ve written about this before — Is Hair Normally Thinner Towards the Root?.
Snippet from the article:
Stand up straight! And do something about that hair!” Annoying? Sure. But such parental advice may have made humans what we are today. Because our upright stance, and relative lack of hair, may have enabled our human ancestors to run far and fast enough to capture their prey. So say scientists in the Journal of Human Evolution.
The idea that standing on two legs and shedding all that body hair might have helped early humans keep cool on the African savanna was first trotted out in the late 1980s. But those early models had our ancestors standing still in a gentle breeze. Scientists simply didn’t have the computational power to assess what might happen when those early humans had to up and chase down a meal.
Read the rest — Upright and Hairless Make Better Long-Distance Hunters
The above article is actually a transcript of a podcast. The published model can be found here.
Hi Doctor,
I know everyone is genetically different in their balding patterns, speed, etc. but how long does it generally take for miniaturization to turn a healthy hair folicle into one that can’t grow any hair? Weeks? Months? Thanks!
You are right — everyone is different. The hair you see on top of your head reflects about 1/2 inch per month of growth. Miniaturization can take months or possibly even years to appear.
Is it true that human hair has a predetermined number of cycles? If someone experiences TE or chronic TE are they using those cycles prematurely and causing their hair to thin earlier than it would have?
It is true that life of a hair determines the number of hair cycles you will have. I was bald in the crown by the time I was 45, so my hair there died… and then I had transplants to correct it.
If your hair cycle (from telogen to anagen) is 3 years and you have 10 cycles genetically programmed for that hair, then that hair will die at the age of 30. Although I am making this example sound simple, it is certainly not that simple… but male pattern baldness does probably follow that rule. I do not believe that telogen effluvium changes the hair cycle’s length, but just the telogen phase of that cycle.
Is it a coincidence or not that both my father and my grandfather (his father) went bald, or is it because of the similarities? My father has an overbite (his top jaw is more in front of his bottom jaw), as did his father. My grandfather and father went bald at about the same age, which was their early 20’s, although my father said he noticed hair loss at around the age of 18-19.
My brother who does not share this bite similarity is now 26 has his hair, but has an asymmetric pattern which has been this way since his late teens, and has maybe matured/receded more since then, but he has a healthy head of hair.
I guess my main question is: since I also have this overbite like my 2 bald family members, does this put me at more of a risk of balding because I have a facial feature more like them, or is balding simply not relateable whatsoever to minor facial similarities. I guess my concern is inheriting genetics.
Thanks.
I wouldn’t expect facial features and hair loss to have relation. You can get tested for the balding genes with HairDX and that will give you an idea if you are carrying the gene for balding. It won’t tell you if that gene will express itself (or to what degree, or when)… but it’s something to go on if you’re concerned.
Is there any way whatsoever to determine whether a person will at some point in their lives suffer from male pattern baldness, and if so, would this not eliminate the problem of transplanting people too young (say if they have a naturally high/ uneven hairline etc)
There is a test called HairDX that will tell you if you have the gene (70% accurate), but it won’t tell you when that gene will be expressed… or if it will be expressed at all. So on a predictive basis, the answer is unfortunately no. But if you want to know if you are balding (possibly just a little) then you should see a doctor who is experienced in hair analysis for miniaturization and hair bulk, which this will tell you if the balding process has started in you.
Many young men with a balding dad or uncle or brother are expecting hair loss to happen to them, and these are the patients I can help by telling them what, if anything, is going on in their head. If you have an average hair thickness, you might not see thinning until the hair loss is at 50% of the original density. Coarser haired men will often not detect loss even at 60-70% of their original density and blond men may not detect hair loss or thinning to 80-90% of the hair due to the low contrast between hair and skin color.
Snippet from the article:
A hat may no longer be the only answer for baldness. Researchers at Yale University have found new clues to the causes of hair loss in the fatty skin cells of mice.
Studying cells from the fatty layer, the researchers found that signals from these fat cells were needed to stimulate the stem cells at the base of hair follicles, which are dormant in baldness. These cells could help scientists identify how to treat hair loss in humans.
“The fat cells are important for hair growth. If they’re not there, the hair won’t grow,” said Valerie Horsley, the lead author of the study.
Horsley said her team will now work on identifying the cells in humans that do the same thing.
Read the rest — Going Bald? The Fault May Lie in Your Cells
It’s another mice study, but it’s at least a place to start. As the article points out, hopefully it’ll lead to new discoveries not only for hair loss, but wound healing and skin tumors.
In response to a recent post about stress hair loss vs genetic causes:
Dr Rassman,
What if it’s both? Then does it take one year still to see atleast a little reqrowth? You say a year, but in other posts you have said 6-12 months. Are you talking about how long it takes to first start growing, or how long it will take for the hairs to reach their previous length? Thanks
These numbers of 6 or 12 months are in the ballpark of what we see. It’s an educated guess based upon experience over a long time frame. Either number works, but clearly, if you see regrowth in 6 months then you’re on the lower end of the spectrum. Some may see regrowth sooner than others, but there’s no exact date one can mark on the calendar.
If you have stress induced hair loss AND genetic male pattern baldness, the stress might speed up the existing genetic loss. I really have no way to know if there will be regrowth (or how much) after your stress is under control if you have MPB also at play.
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