Genetics the only culprit of male pattern baldness?

[Kramer3]

Last night, by chance I ended up coming across my dad's old yearbook. I've heard alot said about how this generation has more extreme cases of balding at a younger age then previous generations did. I have to say that after looking through my dad's yearbook, that generalization may be true. I couldn't find one case of noticeable male pattern baldness or even recession in my dad's entire yearbook. Searching through some kid from Texas's yearbook today I noticed at least 15.

Obviously if someone is predetermined to go bald then it's going to happen regardless of the lifesyle the person leads. What I'm thinking though is that certain deleterious environments may act as an accelerator thus making the gene apparent at a younger age. Could it be that today's youths poor eating habits ( proliferation of fast food chains) and excessive use of hair product has acceleratered their hairloss?

Any thoughts?

 

[The Gardener]

I THINK, and mind you this is Doctor Gardener here and not a Medical Doctor, that environmental factors such as nutrition and lifestyle DO have an impact on accelerating male pattern baldness. Now, please hear out my logic here...

I DO NOT think that it is the poor nutrition or lifestyle that directly cause the accelerated DHT assault/miniaturization process, etc.

BUT

I DO think that poor lifestyle habits send some sort of cue to the body's internal ageing clock that make it age faster. The chemicals and hormones that cause genetically-programmed ageing are regulated by the brain. If the brain is happy or healthy or think that it is housed in a human body that it feels is doing generally 'well' with life, then ageing happens slower. If the brain is unhealthy, ageing happens more quickly.

That's Gardener's stand. Okay, now give me a few minutes to put on my thermosuit and find a comfortable chair, and then you can commence the flaming.

 

[Guest]

Gardner don´t worry about the flaming - however I don´t belive that fastfood will turn the clock ten years forward when you are 18.

 

[jason566]

my personal view is that the enviroment has changed more pollution etc doesnt help also our eating habits our worse..i dont believe hairsprays and gels cause hairloss or wearing a hat as any derm or hair transpnat surgeon would tell u..but i think bad eating habits of todays generation and the climate and enviroment where each of us live play a role..plus life today lets face it is very stressful too..
but mostly if u look at asians rate of hairloss is much worse today than 50 years ago and its because of the foods they eat due to westernazation of there culture i believe anyway..what other reason is there?..also more electronics in todays society could mean more exposure to electromagnetic radition waves etc..anyway its a far fetched theory but could explain it to some degree..or maybe its evolution?

i once heard as we evolve one day we will have no hair body or otherwise ..i dont know but i figure medical science will one day correct male pattern baldness before your even born of course thats like playin god too..

 

[Guest]

The male pattern baldness gene is a dominant gene. Only one person needs to
have it to pass it on. Non-dominant genes both Mon and Dad need
to have it to pass it on.

People are getting less hairier and taller.

When I left college (1983) average male height was 5'8" now it is 5'9"
Height is another dominant gene.

Before you attack me, I realize I am generalizing.

 

[Kramer3]

I DO think that poor lifestyle habits send some sort of cue to the body's internal ageing clock that make it age faster. The chemicals and hormones that cause genetically-programmed ageing are regulated by the brain. If the brain is happy or healthy or think that it is housed in a human body that it feels is doing generally 'well' with life, then ageing happens slower. If the brain is unhealthy, ageing happens more quickly.

Gardener: I agree. I think that our current environment in which so many people have such poor lifestyle habits has accelerated the male pattern baldness gene in some cases, where people were already prone to express it eventually.

Jason: I agree with most of what your saying too.

FDD: male pattern baldness was orignally thought to be a dominant gene, but if I'm not mistaken it's now thought to be caused by the combination and interplay between various genes. Even if it was a dominant gene that would not explain the sudden proliferation of male pattern baldness in younger males. I don't think this gene's prevalence would increase that dramatically in a 20 year period, as you suggest it would.

 

[Guest]

I agree it's more complex then that. But speaking in general terms the dominance of the gene is a major factor.

 

[Yardbird]

This is a simple question, so let me answer it in a simple and clear way. Men without hair get fewer dates, so they have more time to spend at work. The more that they are at work, the more money they make. The more money they make, the more they can spend on topical treatments, which as you know are a big turn on.
After aquiring all the necessary treatments, the next three steps in life are in the following order:
- Norwood groove (see Gunner's posts)
- Procreate
- Pass on the sacred gene

I hope that clears up any confusion on the topic.

 

[Guest]

Is there actually any evidence to support the claim that males are starting to bald at earlier ages? I don't think so. Its just that we hear more about it because of this forum. Most 16-20 year olds that are starting to bald are almost unnoticable to most people. The only person that really notices is the guy who is losing it. Then he comes on here and posts that he is young and losing it. I don't know....

 

[Yardbird]

There have been studies to show that instances of hairloss have been on the increase in Japan since the end of WWII when the country went through massive changes and started taking on more of a western diet.
I've got some articles on that topic.

Here's a survey showing hairloss instances on the increase in Japan since the early 80's:
http://www.aderans.co.jp/e/3/030206/

Here's another article suggesting why hair loss in Japan is on the rise. Note, especially, the last two paragraphs:
http://www.hairvitamins.net/hair_loss/process.htm

Personally, I do believe hair loss is on the increase worldwide compared with previous generations, but why it's happening is too complicated for me to grasp at this point.

Like Gardner, I do think diet is playing a critical role. Many on this board respond to that by saying that eating healthy won't give you a brand new head of hair. That's an extremely reductive argument that takes a valid point and turns it on its head. I don't think anyone here would imply, Gardner nor myself, that the right diet would put hair on the head of someone who is already balding.

What I *would* imply is that a healthy diet could have some effects to slow down the balding process.

Now flame me for failing to produce the results of a 20 year double blind exeriment on the subject. :roll:

 

[Guest]

I see the studies that hairloss is rising in japan, but what i don't see is that it is afflicting people at younger and younger ages. Correct me if i am wrong.

 

[Yardbird]

I see the studies that hairloss is rising in japan, but what i don't see is that it is afflicting people at younger and younger ages.

That's a good point. If hairloss is on the rise, I presume it would just *seem* like hairloss is affecting people at younger ages. That's just my guess.