Lend a hand writing the Wikipedia encyclopdia article on male pattern baldness

Brandon Mthson · May 30, 2005

I'm relatively new to hair loss research, but as I go, I'm trying to write a comprehensive encyclopedia article on the subject at Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org). Hairlosstalk has been very helpful during this time. Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia that is collectively written and edited by 25,000 registered volunteers and countless unregistered contributors.

I've found hair loss research to be a difficult area to become proficient in, and a number of my balding friends have given up on finding treatments for this reason. If anyone wants to lend their experience to the article, it would be very appreciated. Any anonymous visitor can easily edit articles (though their edits are reviewed by registered users).

Wikipedia is the #47 most visited english language website, according to the web site ranking service Alexia.com, and has nearly 5x as many articles (575,000) as Encyclopedia Britannica Online (120,000), the largest english-language encyclopedia.
(http://www.alexa.com/site/ds/top_sites?ts_mode=lang&lang=en)

If we can put together a comprehensive encyclopedia article, maybe we could even save new users the fate of asking repetitive questions in the discussion forum. :lily:

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/baldness)

Dave001 · Aug 18, 2005

Re: Lend a hand writing the Wikipedia encyclopdia article on

Brandon Mthson said:
I'm relatively new to hair loss research, but as I go, I'm trying to write a comprehensive encyclopedia article on the subject at Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org). Hairlosstalk has been very helpful during this time. Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia that is collectively written and edited by 25,000 registered volunteers and countless unregistered contributors.

[...]

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/baldness)

Not to be rude, but there are some serious mistakes on that web page. It's important to remember that an encyclopedia is VERY different from an article that might be published in a popular magazine. It must be objective and factual, and the facts must be easily verifiable by credible sources. Opinions should be left out of encyclopedia articles altogether. Even relatively small mistakes, such as the failure to capitalize certain proper nouns, can cause the critical reader to question the integrity of the whole work, the entire encyclopedia in this case.

Here are a few examples:

Wearing a hat shouldn't generally cause this, though it is a good idea to let your scalp breathe for 7 hours a day.[2]

1) No relationship between alopecia and wearing hats has been established in the scientific literature.
2) No relationship between alopecia and hat-wearing hours has been established in the scientific literature.

And why are seven hours are required? Why not six or eight hours? I checked the supporting reference. It was a popular men's health magazine. That is a no no. Furthermore, it did not provide any substantiating evidence, just a claim.

Revivogen is a non-FDA approved topical DHT inhibitor...

"DHT inhibitor" is an ambiguous term, even in a casual forum. This is an encyclopedia article.

The following just left me speechless:

For men, frequent ejaculation may have an influence on male pattern baldness. Semen is rich in zinc, with each ejaculate containing around 5 mg., one third of the recommended daily nutrient intake.[4] Zinc is an inhibitor of 5-Alpha- Reductase (5AR) and may regulate its activity. 5AR is needed by the body in order to create DHT, which is thought to play a central role in male pattern baldness. Propecia works by inhibiting 5AR. Most men may not get enough zinc to replenish what's lost in semen if they ejaculate every day. Low levels of zinc may in this way cause more DHT to be produced, which could increase the rate of male pattern baldness.