Balding patterns/genetics questions..

[WhatYouEgg]

I've been tossing around these questions in my head for awhile now.

- Let's say that one grandfather had crazy good NW2 hair when he died, and the other was, I dunno, NW5. Will you strictly stick to one pattern or the other - that is, you will either stay NW2, or move to NW5 based on your 'die roll' when you got conceived - or are you more likely to get averaged and end up a NW3 or something?

- What's this "4 in 7 chance of catching the balding gene" thing? It's a probability I seen get tossed around a whole lot, but it doesn't make any sense to just say that and not qualify it. If there's no male pattern baldness in your family, what gene is there to catch? And if both grandfathers were NW7 at 25, wouldn't that practically be a sure fire bet that you would follow them? Or are they just trying to say that 57% of all men will bald?

-When does the final balding pattern become evident? If you're in your mid twenties and still a NW2 with no big changes over the last five years, it's fairly unlikely you'll go much further than that, I would assume? So many people in the 'tell your story' section are 18-24, but I hate to think I'm out of the woods. I've visited two derms (one that sucked, one who actually looked at me) and both said I had nothing to worry about, but I'm just trying to stay vigilant.

 

[ClayShaw]

I've been tossing around these questions in my head for awhile now.

- Let's say that one grandfather had crazy good NW2 hair when he died, and the other was, I dunno, NW5. Will you strictly stick to one pattern or the other - that is, you will either stay NW2, or move to NW5 based on your 'die roll' when you got conceived - or are you more likely to get averaged and end up a NW3 or something?

- What's this "4 in 7 chance of catching the balding gene" thing? It's a probability I seen get tossed around a whole lot, but it doesn't make any sense to just say that and not qualify it. If there's no male pattern baldness in your family, what gene is there to catch? And if both grandfathers were NW7 at 25, wouldn't that practically be a sure fire bet that you would follow them? Or are they just trying to say that 57% of all men will bald?

-When does the final balding pattern become evident? If you're in your mid twenties and still a NW2 with no big changes over the last five years, it's fairly unlikely you'll go much further than that, I would assume? So many people in the 'tell your story' section are 18-24, but I hate to think I'm out of the woods. I've visited two derms (one that sucked, one who actually looked at me) and both said I had nothing to worry about, but I'm just trying to stay vigilant.

I've asked similar questions, and no one seems to want to talk about it.
I think, though I'm not sure, that you can't get a balding pattern from your paternal grandfather unless your father has it as well. I think baldness is a dominant trait in men, so if your father carries the gene, you would see it in him as well. In short, I don't think you could be an average of both of your grandfathers. If your mom's dad was NW5, then you could get that, or if your dad and his dad were NW5, you could get that, but I don't think you could be an average of the two, especially if your dad's dad was NW5 but your father missed the pattern. If your father missed the pattern, I think that means he doesn't carry the gene, and therefore can't pass it on to you.

I think the 4 in 7 thing is an average. 4 out of 7 guys get some form of male pattern baldness at sometime in their life. That includes people who have 0 chance of balding... they're part of the lucky 3 out of 7.

I was in my mid 20's with super thick hair like my grandfather's (maternal) who never went bald. I never even thought about balding, at all. I have major skin issues as well, and that may be part of why I never thought about it, but all the men in my family that I saw growing up had hair. My dad had a full head of hair through his mid-40's, and my mom's dad had a full head of hair through his mid-90's. I think the final balding pattern becomes evident at different times for different people. I've read that doctors can see it under magnification, and I agree. My hair looks ok to the naked eye, but I'm NW7 under a microscope. That is, the hair in the NW7 pattern is much thinner than the rest.
If you're unsure about yourself, I really suggest going to baldingblog.com and searching for "Mapping your own scalp for miniaturization". You'll have to spend about $75-$100 on a USB microscope, but you'll get at least as much info as you will from a dermatologist that doesn't give a sh*t about hairloss, and the cost is probably comparable to that of a visit.
I'm not a geneticist, and everything I've written here could be total bullshit.

 

[Avery]

I think, though I'm not sure, that you can't get a balding pattern from your paternal grandfather unless your father has it as well.

My paternal grandfather is very bald. My father has a fantastic head of hair. =/

 

[ClayShaw]

I think, though I'm not sure, that you can't get a balding pattern from your paternal grandfather unless your father has it as well.

My paternal grandfather is very bald. My father has a fantastic head of hair. =/

So that means you can't get baldness from your paternal grandfather because your father did not get the gene, right?

 

[heyitsthatguy]

I think, though I'm not sure, that you can't get a balding pattern from your paternal grandfather unless your father has it as well.

My paternal grandfather is very bald. My father has a fantastic head of hair. =/

So that means you can't get baldness from your paternal grandfather because your father did not get the gene, right?

if baldness is a recessive gene then yes, because you could have gotten it from your dad and mom ...i think

 

[ClayShaw]

I think its dominant in men.

 

[WhatYouEgg]

My dad has a NW2 hairline but is clearly thinner in the NW7 area (his horseshoe is thicker to the naked eye), but then again, he's in his late 50s with diabetes, kidney failure, needed a triple bypass, all sorts of nasty sh*t going on with him, but he's still got hair, just very, very, thin hair. He's got the same hairline has his father, who died a peaceful, natural causes related death in his 80s, except the grandfather died with far thicker hair.

Grandfather on the other side, when I was looking through old photos, appeared to have a NW2-3 from the front, but I also remember he had a fairly sizable bald spot.. but then again.. he also had heart problems, leukemia, kidney failure as well, and died when I was about 11. Neither this grandfather or my father took care of themselves and lost hair, whereas my other grandfather died with a perfect head of hair after a long, healthy life.. I know that you can be healthier than Schwarzenegger and still lose it to male pattern baldness, but I can't help but feel theirs could have been avoided.

For the record, the uncles on my dad's side (have 4 of them, one of them in his 50s) all have NW2's, and EVERYONE on my dad's side has an asymmetrical hairline - their right temple rises above their left. we call it the "family curse' and it's caused no end of grief in my styling - i have an extra 'ridge' on my right brow that just isn't there on the left, so my hairline goes up further.

I'm just trying to figure out where I'll end up, worst case scenario, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how much of the hairloss in my family is 'natural' and how much is induced by serious illness, and I'm hoping to dodge it all by taking the utmost care of my body.