Hereditary-pattern hair loss is the most common cause of hair loss. Hereditary-pattern hair loss is not really a disease, but a natural condition caused by some combination of genetics, hormone levels and the aging process. Almost all men and women will notice hair loss or hair thinning as they age.
Hereditary hair loss has a very predictable pattern. Many times, you can tell how severe your hair loss will become simply by evaluating your family’s history of hair loss. You can look to your parents and grandparents, and even great-grandparents as well as other extended family to see the typical pattern within your family. While this is never an exact indicator of how much hair loss you will suffer, it can be used as a guide to predict your own pattern of hair loss.
Hereditary hair loss is caused by dihydrotestosterone (DHT) interacting with hair follicles that are genetically vulnerable to their effects. It is often easy to tell if your hair follicles will be vulnerable simply by evaluating your family’s history of hair loss. While this isn’t always exact, it can often be an excellent indicator as to whether or not you will lose your hair, as well as how much and where the balding might take place.
It has been proven that one of the main reasons men have more significant hair loss than women has to do with hormones. Men have much higher levels of male hormones, or androgens – such as testosterone, androsteinedione, dihydrotestosterone, which increase alopecia in individuals who are genetically susceptible. One can determine if he has such a genetic inheritance simply by looking at the male members of the family – father, grandfathers; if they have what is called male pattern baldness, chances are he will experience it too, later in life.
