Tuesday, January 29, 2013

MPB: Men’s Fear of a Hair Apocalypse

While some men are born to be hair models, other lads are destined to lose chunks of their mane by the time they turn 50. It is very common to see a chrome dome anywhere. Yet many men fear still fear a hair apocalypse. Why not? After all, hair has a social importance even to men.

If there is a nonfatal condition that men see as a plague, it is baldness. Some men are sexy bald but many are those who can’t pull off a shaved head. What causes hair loss and why is it a bane of men’s existence?

Men as young as 20 years old can already begin to lose their hairline. In fact, 2 out of 5 men in their mid-20s have a receding hairline, which is one of the early signs of male pattern baldness.

Male pattern baldness is another term for androgenetic alopecia in men. MPB tends to run in families and worsens with advancing age. It is also reported to be androgen-dependent. With a genetic tendency, certain scalp hair follicles become sensitive to dihydrotestosterone (DHT), the chemical cousin of testosterone through the enzyme 5-alpha reductase. DHT binds with the androgen receptors in the hair follicles, changing the hair protein synthesis. Consequently, the hair follicles miniaturize, leading eventually to hair loss.

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