Men Hair Loss
Of greatest concern in past and present ages is male hair loss. Males usually develop a receding hairline, which develops into the typical ‘M’ shape as they begin to lose hair from the lateral sides of the forehead. At the same time, a progressive bald patch develops on the crown on the head. When these two areas join, they leave the remaining hair in a horse shoe-shaped area.
Male hair loss occurs when the hair follicles shrink and produce increasingly finer hair. Finally, they yield no hair at all any longer. The causes can range from genetic predisposition to changes in the levels of testosterone, the male sex hormone. Though it is also marginally present in females, testosterone determines the physical differences between men and women – including the degree of ‘hairiness’. For instance, an excess of it can cause an abnormality termed ‘hirsutism’, or abnormally prolific hair growth.
Close to 65% of all males suffer from hair loss to some degree or the other. For those who do, male hair loss may have more serious ramifications than merely cosmetic ones - a recent study conducted by Harvard Medical School linked it to a higher incidence of heart disease. The study proposed that male hair loss on the front of the head indicates a 9% increase in such a risk, while hair loss on the crown indicates a risk factor of as high as23%.
This ominous aspect aside, the options for treating male pattern are presently limited to the use of oral finasteride, topical application of minoxidil, natural hair transplants (artificial fibers being banned by the FDA due to high rejection rate). Of course, camouflage via hair weaving, wigs and toupees is an alternative – probably the most cost-effective and least risky one.
Male hair loss is not a problem that can be taken lightly and the medical community certainly been hard at work isolating cures and treatment modules for it.
