that's strange
In male pattern baldness, it is well-known (atleast all the hair transplant sites say so) that in the early stages, the follicular density (i.e. the total no. of follicles, regardless of whether terminal, intermediate, or vellus) is the same as before male pattern baldness onset. But the AVERAGE diameter of hairs in the area is markedly diminished. Remember, diameter plays a considerably greater role than density in giving the impression of coverage - one thick hair (say 100 microns) covers not twice, but FOUR TIMES as much area as one fine hair (say 50 microns). While two fine hairs, obviously, cover only twice as much area as one fine hair. So doubling the average diameter will help a lot more than doubling the density. Similarly, halving the average diameter will give the impression of a lot less hair than halving the density.
It is paradoxical that those with "thick" hair usually have less density (no. of hairs) than those with fine hair. But remember, even if the thick-haired person has only half the density of the fine-haired person, the former will still appear to have TWICE as much hair as the latter. Hair density only varies by a factor of 2 at the most among non-balding people. Hair diameter can vary by somewhat more than that.
Cheers,
Arjun
