Hair Loss Without Heredity

[distanthorizon]

I'm 20 years old and have had a receding and thinning hairline for about 6 months. I have accepted it and been handling it pretty well but the only thing I wonder about is how I am balding when there is virtually no hair loss in my family at all.

My dad is in his 60s and has no hair loss whatsoever, his brother is a similar age and also has no hair loss, and their father never went bald up until he died.

My mother's side is also very good. Although her father eventually went bald, he didn't show any signs until he was in his 60s. Some other relatives on her side eventually went bald, but again, no one did anywhere near my age, only by 40 plus.

People often comment I am lucky to have good hair genes, so I wonder, is it possible to go bald at 20 with no history in your family of baldness? I got my scalp checked at a GP, who said it just looked like normal male pattern baldness and nothing else. I have been under stress over the last year, but I've read that stress related hair loss looks different from normal male pattern baldness.

Do people think it's strange I'm going bald at 20 with no family history? Are there any explanations people can offer, and do you think it might be something other than male pattern baldness?

 

[freakout]

Are you or were you into some kind of sports or some kind of physical activity and then suddenly stopped months before hair loss began?

 

[distanthorizon]

Thanks for your reply. My physical activity has stayed pretty much the same. I exercise about 2 days per week but this has stayed constant over the last few years.

 

[the_dude]

You do have a family history of balding on your mother's side. According to research, the most important gene in male pattern baldness is the androgen receptor gene which is located on the x-chromosome which you inherit from your mother.
Other genes are also involved which determine when you go bald, how severe the balding is, etc. These genes you get from both sides of the family.

Since your mother's father is bald he has the "wrong" androgen receptor gene, you have 50% chance of inheriting this gene (and since you think you are balding you probably inherited it). The other genes that determine when you go bald, how severe etc, come from both sides of the family. You probably inherited a bad combination if you go bald this early (if you really are balding of course, but reading your story i think that is very likely).

 

[distanthorizon]

Yeah you're right it was probably an exaggeration when I said I had no family history of baldness.

The main thing I was wonder is how I'm going bald at 20, whereas I can't find any relative who started balding before 40. There is some balding in my mother's family but no-one as young as me.

Is it possible to go bald so much younger than any relative?

As I said, I've been handling it well and don't really mind that much, but I was wondering if you think there might be other causes?

 

[freakout]

Months before hair loss began, was there a change in your life such entering college or something that forces or requires you to sit down for extended periods?

 

[hopetainted]

I don't understand it either. My father has very healthy hair in his 50s. His father and my mother's father, both now deceased, also never had any hair loss. Yet here I am at 22 with my badly thinning crown, which I never noticed until just a few weeks ago.

 

[distanthorizon]

Months before hair loss began, was there a change in your life such entering college or something that forces or requires you to sit down for extended periods?

Yeah, I started college a bit before the hair loss started. However, I used to have to sit down for extended periods in high school as well, as I've always been pretty studious. Even in college I still exercise about 2 days per week.

 

[freakout]

Yeah, I started college a bit before the hair loss started. However, I used to have to sit down for extended periods in high school as well, as I've always been pretty studious. Even in college I still exercise about 2 days per week.

There must be some difference between college and high school that affected you e.g. more hectic schedules, more to think about, drastic changes in eating habits. Did you get a job as well when you entered college? Only you can find those changes. They are like triggers.

As part of my regimen, I cut my work hours in increments of only 30 minutes. In between those I exert some form of physical activity that gets my heart beat going just a bit higher for about half a minute.

I probably have the strictest set of regimen.

Stress is endemic in the cities. We are all affected. Here's the only way to get away from it: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21431424 If anyone thinks one day in the forest will make a difference, he's wrong.

 

[distanthorizon]

I'm not trying to deny the problem, just trying to get to the bottom of the cause. I've been reading online about telogen effluvium and wonder if it could be that.

When I look closely at my scalp under lights, it is quite thin throughout (you can see my scalp in most places). I think there has been a change in my hairline at the front, but this is minor. There is no balding at the crown at this stage.

I notice hairs coming out when I shower, sometimes during the day and also on the pillow.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I have had a stressful last year with several traumatic events, and the timing is consistent with the hair loss.

When it was checked at the GP, the GP said my scalp looked very healthy and therefore thought it only looked like male pattern baldness. However, I've read that the scalp still looks healthy when experiencing Telogen Effluvium.

As I've said, there really isn't much history of male pattern baldness in the family and those who did went bald much later than at my age (I'm 20).

From what I've described, does anyone think it sounds like Telogen Effluvium?

 

[slurms mackenzie]

This probably doesn't apply to you, because you state

When I look closely at my scalp under lights, it is quite thin throughout (you can see my scalp in most places).

but i've seen this question asked at least many times, and i think the stats show that people are losing hair at a younger age than before, and if you look at the changes in post war japan they can explain some changes.

However i genuinely think in some cases, people do have the balding gene but either through adoption or through not having the dad they thought they had, they did have the gene despite thinking otherwise (see Steve Martin in 'The Jerk' for a case study).

I know that sounds harsh i don't think it's true in your case i just find it weird that nobody ever mentions it because it seems statistically more likely than other causes

Your best bet is to go and get some thyroid tests done.