What is the anthropological/evolutionary explanation for balding men keeping NW7

[JimmyJones]

I understand that the NW7 hair is DHT resistant and I am not curious as to why the gene came about. However if one day the gene got passed on so men lose their hair what are the reasons for nature letting us retain hair in the NW7 pattern? Seems too specific in my opinion. What in evolutionary terms is different from the top of our head to the sides and back. It's really weird when you think about it. It almost freaks me out to a certain extent.

 

[Wolf Pack]

I am aware of all the sciency stuff behind it but I did read about some evolutionary factor. It said when humans were primitive, baldness probably suggested maturity/wisdom and perhaps gave them tribal leadership roles.

 

[JimmyJones]

I wrote an article about that a while back on my website on why do men go bald in the first place. I did not cite the references but you can google them yourself. It is just theorizing, not definite. You choose what to believe and what makes the most sense.

My current theory (and it's only a theory, and by "my" I don't mean exactly my, but a combination of existing theories, studies and some of my own thinking) is that men who started to move from central Africa or rather the equator (where human's evolved from primates) up north to Europe and other places, experienced a lack of sun exposure. Less sun exposure means less vitamin D, and vitamin D is directly related to testosterone levels. Testosterone is what drove civilizations on (the will to procreate, take risks, go hunt, move forward..).

A man with a bald head has more skin exposed to the sun and can so absorb more vitamin D. That why baldness is more common in Europe, where it then spread to other continents due to emigration.

Baldness is correlated with body hair.


This map shows where androgenic hair is most prevalent, that's also where the biggest % of balding men are. I live in the black area and hair loss is sure as hell common.

You could theorize even more and say beards are then a result of balancing body heat. Since there is less head hair on the head in order to keep warm, bald men can grow thicker beards... and so on.

It's very interesting, there are a lot of studies on the internet.

That's a very interesting theory, but why does nature let men keep the NW7 pattern in your opinion? Why not lose all our hair?

 

[drgs]

I wrote an article about that a while back on my website on why do men go bald in the first place. I did not cite the references but you can google them yourself. It is just theorizing, not definite. You choose what to believe and what makes the most sense.

My current theory (and it's only a theory, and by "my" I don't mean exactly my, but a combination of existing theories, studies and some of my own thinking) is that men who started to move from central Africa or rather the equator (where human's evolved from primates) up north to Europe and other places, experienced a lack of sun exposure. Less sun exposure means less vitamin D, and vitamin D is directly related to testosterone levels. Testosterone is what drove civilizations on (the will to procreate, take risks, go hunt, move forward..).

A man with a bald head has more skin exposed to the sun and can so absorb more vitamin D. That why baldness is more common in Europe, where it then spread to other continents due to emigration.

Baldness is correlated with body hair.

This map shows where androgenic hair is most prevalent, that's also where the biggest % of balding men are. I live in the black area and hair loss is sure as hell common.

You could theorize even more and say beards are then a result of balancing body heat. Since there is less head hair on the head in order to keep warm, bald men can grow thicker beards... and so on.

It's very interesting, there are a lot of studies on the internet.

To compensate for the lack of sun exposure, northerners developed light skin and blond hair (which is really translucent hair, which servers like a light fiber, and leads the light to the scalp)
Otherwise baldness would be prevelant in the north, and completely absent in africans, but its not the case

 

[maher]

Also keep in mind that live span, back then, was probably somewhere between 25-30. So..the individuals that developed full NW7 were rare.

 

[Cue Bald]

and if this vitamin D thing were true, then you would lose ALL the hair all over your scalp surely, instead of keeping it in a specific horseshoe shape. It is weird why you keep this shape. What is so special about the hair on the back and sides that we get to keep it, while that on top disappears?

I heard that male pattern baldness also happens in apes (gorillas have it), so I think maybe it was used to signal status in apes, and it is just an evolutionary holdover that has survived in our genes since then.

 

[californiaoceans911]

To compensate for the lack of sun exposure, northerners developed light skin and blond hair (which is really translucent hair, which servers like a light fiber, and leads the light to the scalp)
Otherwise baldness would be prevelant in the north, and completely absent in africans, but its not the case

Hate to break it to you but blond hair is not the same as a fiber optic cable. Actually the opposite would occur, light that hits blond hair is reflected back.

Another theory would be head lice. I think the only reason we still have hair on our head is based off of sexual selection. male pattern baldness is actually a dominant trait.

The dominant trait would be the one that occurs most often, but the desired trait may not be the dominant one. In my opinion, natural selection is a dead horse compared to what it used to (and arguably SHOULD be). Though, almost every single person has a few genetic defects, ie: poor vision

Technology and human civility has changed the game quite a bit.

 

[JimmyJones]

and if this vitamin D thing were true, then you would lose ALL the hair all over your scalp surely, instead of keeping it in a specific horseshoe shape. It is weird why you keep this shape. What is so special about the hair on the back and sides that we get to keep it, while that on top disappears?

I heard that male pattern baldness also happens in apes (gorillas have it), so I think maybe it was used to signal status in apes, and it is just an evolutionary holdover that has survived in our genes since then.

Yeah this is what is really confusing, suddenly someone inherited a gene to go bald but the gene is specific and lets us keep hair at the sides and back of our head. Really bizarre.

 

[Theedge]

Funny thing is look around most men are balding I mean more the 50 pct its RARE to see a middle aged man who does not have the dreaded sun roof .
I personally think there is more to this then genetics . Just my two cents

 

[Theedge]

Your not getting it bro this world has so much damn radiation from so much sh** we have done and continue to do you don't think that effects people really?
Its a fact man some people are just more sensitive to it .

 

[JimmyJones]

Nah. Our forefathers were just as bald as us. They all used to wear fake big white wigs like George Washington and Mozart.

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Besides the point of the thread is to theorize why we keep hair on the sides of our head but lose the hair on the top. Not why we are going bald. Vitamin D definitely seems to be the main winner IMO. If you are standing during the time of day the sun is going to have the most potency, noon, to absorb vitamin d the most efficiently you would only need to lose hair on the top of your head. Why this didn't happen to women is another question.

Good points, but the sun isn't always directly above us, throughout the day it rises and sets - it could be true though. No one here has come up with any other theory. I would really like to know, it's racking my brains haha

 

[Ventures]

DONOR HAIR is also susceptible to balding but at much slower rate since it has less AR sensitivity and less DHT follicular production (which we forget). On the other hand androgen and scalp DHT levels decrease as we age, so in your 50s and 60s you have less DHT inside your body and inside follicles. That means it's more likely donor hair will last forever.

It would be interesting to transplant donor hair on frontal scalp (were more DHT is generated compared to occipital region) before the onset of puberty and then see how constant androgen exposure affects its growth cycles. Usually people undergo hair transplant procedure in their 30s, 40s or even later, and in that period of life, androgen levels have already significantly dropped down compared to levels in puberty and early 20s.

NW7 hair is therefore also susceptible to balding, but reasons why it doesn't fall out even in old age are:

• less AR sites located in donor hair follicles
• less DHT follicular production compared to hair follicles located at front and top of the head
• increased blood flow/nutrient and oxygen supply due to occipital muscle
• other yet unknown factors obviulsy connected to its location on scalp, I found paper that suggests that even sebaceous glands on top of the head are bigger than those located at donor region. Sebaceous glands squeeze hair follicles and shafts causing mechanical degradation/miniaturisation

 

[JimmyJones]

DONOR HAIR is also susceptible to balding but at much slower rate since it has less AR sensitivity and less DHT follicular production (which we forget). On the other hand androgen and scalp DHT levels decrease as we age, so in your 50s and 60s you have less DHT inside your body and inside follicles. That means it's more likely donor hair will last forever.

It would be interesting to transplant donor hair on frontal scalp (were more DHT is generated compared to occipital region) before the onset of puberty and then see how constant androgen exposure affects its growth cycles. Usually people undergo hair transplant procedure in their 30s, 40s or even later, and in that period of life, androgen levels have already significantly dropped down compared to levels in puberty and early 20s.

NW7 hair is therefore also susceptible to balding, but reasons why it doesn't fall out even in old age are:

• less AR sites located in donor hair follicles
• less DHT follicular production compared to hair follicles located at front and top of the head
• increased blood flow/nutrient and oxygen supply due to occipital muscle
• other yet unknown factors obviulsy connected to its location on scalp, I found paper that suggests that even sebaceous glands on top of the head are bigger than those located at donor region. Sebaceous glands squeeze hair follicles and shafts causing mechanical degradation/miniaturisation

Thank you for your contribution but I think you are missing the point. I am aware of the reasons why they NW7 hair is less susceptible to be lost. This thread is concerned with the evolutionary reason behind this matter. It's more of a question for anthropologists rather than scientists per se.

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Well the suns uv radiation is at it's highest from 11 am to 2 pm. The part of the day where it's the highest in the sky. People with fair skin need to wear sunscreen during this time of day usually. That's why I think it's only the top of the head. Another theory could be from wearing hats. I know people hate this theory on this site and will probably give me neg rep points from even mentioning it but humans have decreased body hair I think due to the wearing of clothes. Less need for hair to warm up our bellies and back. This is in comparison to our ape ancestors who don't wear clothes. So if we wore hats to keep warm that May have played a part in the loss of hair up there over time.

Interesting point about the hats, does seem to make sense. Our male ancestors would of done the majority of hunting and gone outside of their caves and hence wore something on their head to keep warm. This would explain why perhaps the gene was passed on to males only. Good points.

 

[dps]

there is no anthropological reason... anthropology is nothing but monkey business - you guys should stop getting your doses of bull**** main stream science.
science has proven the universe is intelligently designed, this means evolution goes out the window, and baldness has its root in spiritual realms.

baldness happens where it hurts most.
would you not prefer to lose donor area but never lose a single top of the head strand opposite to how it really happens?

 

[JimmyJones]

there is no anthropological reason... anthropology is nothing but monkey business - you guys should stop getting your doses of bull**** main stream science.
science has proven the universe is intelligently designed, this means evolution goes out the window, and baldness has its root in spiritual realms.

baldness happens where it hurts most.
would you not prefer to lose donor area but never lose a single top of the head strand opposite to how it really happens?

1. I hope you are being sarcastic.
2.It's not a question of what I would prefer. This topic is concerned for the reason behind it.