Ive read some on the red hair color dominant gene.
In your experience, is there any link as to that gene and baldness? Meaning – if I have a red hair gene that came from my fathers mother, am I more likely to get the bald gene from his side of the family as well?
Nope, there is no direct connection between hair color and balding. The genes are separate.
There is some interesting reading here about hair on Wikipedia.
well i seem to be having a thinning problem at the crown of my head. The real problem is that i am only 14. It appears that this runs in my family because my uncle is in his twenties and he has the same problem. I am an African American male.
I have also heard that African hair is fragile. i brush my hair with a boar brush that is quite hard. So i am wondering if the hardness of my brush could possibly make my hair look even more thin at the crown. currently i am also obtaining that popular waves hairstyle that is quite popular among african american males is this also a factor?
African hair is fragile, but if your brush is indeed too ‘hard’ on the hair I’d suspect you would notice thinning everywhere you brush.
It’s not too common for male pattern baldness to start in 14 year olds, but it is not outside the realm of possibility and it could start with puberty. Considering you have an uncle with early loss, it certainly points to your genetics. You might even find others in your family line had similar issues in their youth. See a doctor, get a diagnosis, and have a miniaturization study done to see what is really going on.
Dear Dr. Rassman,
I was reading through your blog with regards to histamine positive scalp. (Which I have). My question has to do with autoimmune response and hair transplants. I have a very over-active auto-immune response to some things, especially poison ivy/oak.
Several years ago (2006, age 50 at the time) I had a transplant done. Top-flight hair transplant surgeon! My hair was relatively dense, with receding hairline. The histamine reaction to the transplant was severe, with a tender and red scalp for over 8 months. Today, I have lost over 50% of my 2006 density, my hair has turned nearly white (was salt and pepper), and miniturization is everywhere (when there was none prior to transplant in 2006). A prolonged histamine response can cause antibodies to attack the body (or follicles). I am convinced this is what happened. Any thoughts from the information I have given you?
Well, if you are convinced that is what has happened, what more can I say?
I do not know of histamine response connected with hair loss. Maybe you need an allergist or a good diagnosis of what is going on with your hair. Maybe you have diffuse unpatterned alopecia (DUPA), which is causing more thinning everywhere. I really do not know without examining you.
I realize you are trying to establish a cause and effect relationship between histamine and hair loss, but I do not know how it is relating. When I talk about histamine reaction of the on the scalp it is the redness that a person sees when you scratch the skin/scalp. Your body releases histamine and makes the skin turn red temporarily. This is not an autoimmune response you are referring to. This is not the histamine reaction from poison ivy/oak. Moreover, histamine is used by your body in many other ways (other than auto-immune related). So you see, biochemistry and our human body is very complicated.
I came down with high fever last November 2009. For several days, my temp was 105 degrees. After a week, my hair started falling out. the worst affected areas were the crown and the top. My dermatologist said I had a bout with TE. Today, May 2010, six months later, the shedding has significantly lessened and i guess has returned to normal BUT the hairs lost to TE still hasn’t grown back. How long does it take for those hairs to regrow?
I am 45, male and had very thick hair before this nightmare. My two older brothers have genetic balding but one older brother was ’spared’ and still has thick hair even though he is over 50. My hair is still thick except for the part of the crown where I lost a lot during TE. Will they ever grow back?
Thanks for your attention!
It can take up to one full year to see hair regrowth start. Remember though, when it grows, it grows at a rate of 1/2 inch per month.
If you have genetic balding and the fever precipitated the hair loss it may never come back completely, but if it was just a telogen effluvium like your dermatologist says, that will be known to you by the end of this year.
Hi Doc. Really nice blog! Been so helpful!
Just want to know. Is it normal to see hairloss several years before your dad did? I’m balding in the age of 20. My dad began losing hair in his late thirties.
All the best!
It seem you are an early bloomer. Hair loss can start as early as teenage years and doesn’t necessarily follow the exact timeframe as other family members. I suspect what you are going through is normal… for you. You need a good diagnosis with a doctor who will map out your hair for miniaturization to help make the diagnosis. Drugs like Propecia can slow or stop the balding process and change the course of hair loss over time.
Hi. I am from Europe in Slovenia. In 5 months i’m gonna move to Canada for studying. So I wanna know, is “different” water gonna hurt my hair and started to make me bald? I am 18 years-old. And if water is bad there (in Canada) or if there’s “hard water” there or filled with chlorine… so if I don’t wash my hair with that water and I wash it with bottled water from stores, will that be OK, will the water be good for my hair, prevent baldness because of the “bad water”?
Thank you in advance for your answer.
When you go to Canada, look around to see if the people there are all bald. If the people’s hair in Canada look like they do in Slovenia, I wouldn’t worry too much.
Hard water (with a high mineral content) won’t make you go bald, though you might notice your hair lacking body or shine. If you are still worried and don’t want to even chance it, I suppose you will be spending lots of money on bottle water… or you could invest in a water filter.
I had strep throat and the doctor gave me a steroid shot to bring down the inflammation. Now, I am assuming one little shot should not have any effect on my hair, correct?
I would agree with your assumption if you are looking for some assurance, but hypothetically, if you knew the single steroid shot caused even minor hair loss, would you have refused treatment for your strep throat?
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Hi,
About 6 months ago i noticed i was shedding hair. i had low B12 a few months ago, but have been taking vitamins since (my B12 is now normal). now, as far as i can tell my hair is thinning, but not receding. since at every hair loss site i look there’s the NW scale for hair loss, which shows the hairline receding gradually, i’m wondering – is overall thinning a form of MPB? could this be something else?
You are asking two different things here. MPB stands for “male pattern baldness” and just as the name implies, the hair loss would be seen in a “pattern”. Diffuse hair loss would have no pattern. Either form can be genetic, but the diffuse loss may be caused by diet, vitamin deficiencies, or many other conditions.
I assume you saw a physician for your B12 deficiency diagnosis, and I would suggest you should see a doctor that can make a diagnosis for you about your hair.
hey doc,
just wondering, does diabetes have a role in hairloss? the worst person in my family was my grandfather who was a norwood 3 in his mid thirties and then lost it all. interestingly he had diabetes, and i noticed from pictures of him that he had diffuse thinning everywhere. when i looked it up on the internet it seems than diabetes causes diffuse thinning, is this true?
thanks
Diabetes is a disease that affects multiple organ system. While not common, it can cause diffuse hair loss, particularly if it is not well controlled.
Hi Dr. Rassman,
I’m writing you to ask whether significant hair loss over the course of a couple months can be due to just MPB? Last august, I had a nearly full head of hair, but I admit it was a little thin on top. THEN, I started medical school and my hair is now thin both in front (along the hairline) and even more so at the crown. Did the stress, lack of sleep and not-so-great diet I’ve been eating simply exacerbate the balding process, or could there be another problem?
I’ve actually already seen a dermatologist regarding my hair-loss, but he didn’t ask me about the time frame whatsoever, so I figure there’d be no harm in asking you for a second opinion. He recommended I start taking finasteride and using minidoxil daily, which I’ve been doing for about a month now. Excuse my complete lack of medical knowledge on this, but I’m just a first-year, so we haven’t touched upon it yet.
All the best
There was a story I remember learning when I was in medical school, that a few years before I attended one medical student practically lived off of Twinkies and junk food. He developed scurvy from malnutrition. That is an extreme form of poor diet and I will assume your diet is a bit healthier.
With respect to my recommendation, I really do not have one to give you other than to follow your doctor’s advice. You need a medical diagnosis and a treatment plan and someone to follow up with you to see if that treatment plan is working.
In general, stress may accelerate the genetic process, but it is not a direct cause and effect type of relationship. I don’t know how old you are, but it could be quite possible that the timing of your MPB starting is coincidental to the start of your schooling.
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