<p>I come from a hairy family, husband is bald. 20 yo son seems to have thinning hair. Where do we start to see if this is something caused by hair gook, or genetics. what type of medical workup-labs etc? My friend loves your site and I have lurked for awhile, any help would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Male pattern baldness is genetic–inherited through the mother’s side of the family. Look at your brothers/maternal grandfather. It is not at all unusual for young men to have thinning hair. My brothers were already going bald in their late teens/early 20s. I just noticed this year that my son’s hair is thinning–he’s 17.</p>
<p>My cousin started taking Propecia at age 17 to stop the early balding process. His father had lost virtually all his hair by his mid 30’s.</p>
<p>I always thought it was genetic through the mother’s side but brothers/maternal grandfather are all full of hair-till they died.</p>
<p>I believe recent research has shown that baldness can be inhereted from both sides of the family.</p>
<p>^^This is correct but it is not recent research. It has been known for a hundred years that baldness can be inherited equally from either or both sides. It is not X-linked (gene found on the X-chromosome) such as color-blindness and hemophilia. Those diseases are usually found in a mother–>son X-linked inheritance. Not so baldness.</p>
<p>The reason why men and not women go bald is not that it is X-linked, but because expression of the baldness genes is driven by hormones. Androgens drive baldness and estrogens prevent it. That’s why eunuchs don’t go bald and also why some women go bald or nearly bald after menopause when their protective estrogen production drops way off.</p>
<p>I always knew there had to be a fringe benefit of being a eunuch, other than being able to comfortably ride a bicycle with one of those skinny seats.</p>
<p>There was an internet story last week saying that researchers had discovered baldness was linked to iron deficiencies.</p>
<p>^^Great, now we’ll get all sorts of useless baldness treatments and shampoos containing iron as a revolutionary new ingredient. </p>
<p>Actually, there are many nutritional deficiencies that can promote hair loss in a general way - in men or women. But unfortunately supplements to treat these deficiencies do not have any effect on male-pattern baldness.</p>
<p>Yeah, I think I’ll skip the supplements and go straight to the eunuch thing.</p>
<p>Check to see that the hair gook used is not Nair.</p>
<p>Coureur, is there any evidence that vitamins, or diet, or things like biotin (sp?) or flax seed oil minimize hair loss in women as they get older or go through menopause?</p>
<p>If you listen to the Bald Truth (props to Spencer) you’ll know the only real effective treatment is Propecia! If surgery is necessary…only go to an IAHRS approved doctor. Or visit the Bald Truth’s site for more information on the prevention and treatment of hair loss.</p>
<p>I suspected it was a hormone thing since Propecia is used. Two co-workers have tried Propecia,but said it didn’t work. They wanted hair growth. I also noted as the acne went away the hair seemed to thin, I thought it was probably hormone driven. I also wondered if the maternal thing was a fallacy. </p>
<p>It appears that if there are Propecia side effects go away if stopped. Ejr, does your cousin feel that taking Propecia has helped? Does he also use Minoxidil?</p>
<p>It’s not cancer and it certainly didn’t bother me when I married my husband. I just love the son’s hair.</p>
<p>Hairymom - Sunday’s (June 18th) Parade magazine (a supplement in many newspapers) has an article on men’s hair loss and various techniques to stop/slow its progress. In particular, a combination of minoxydol and Propecia are recommended (I have also seen this recommendation elsewhere). Have your son see a dermatologist and then try it out. The article noted that about 90 percent of men taking Propecia saw some improvement in their hair loss situation.</p>
<p>Here’s some more info re: male pattern baldness: <a href=“http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001177.htm[/url]”>http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001177.htm</a>, <a href=“http://www.webmd.com/content/article/106/108259.htm[/url]”>Hair Loss: Types of Alopecia and Causes of Thinning Hair, and <a href=“http://www.webmd.com/content/article/110/109729.htm[/url]”>WebMD Skin Problems & Treatments Guide: Chronic Skin Conditions. DS, now 23, experienced MPB when he was 20 and now just keeps his hair very short (1/8-1/4").</p>
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<p>Those things will help only if the cause of the baldness in the first place is a vitamin or mineral deficiency. If it is hormone-driven or you are already eating a balanced diet, they are not going to help. And the things that are a TOTAL joke and waste of money are the vitamin/mineral lotions or shampoo treatments that you apply directly to your hair. No way can you absorb nutrients through your hair.</p>
<p>Male hair loss? If you see any dark brown male hair running around loose, it’s probably mine. I swear at the woman who’s been cutting my hair for ten years: she has this trick of replacing the dense brown stuff with the thin gray stuff.</p>
<p>Now that I think about it, the trend really accelerated when I first got on CC. I wonder what the causality vector is with that?</p>