Hair Loss Cause:
Genetics and
Hormone Connection

• Roughly speaking, 20% of men will start losing hair in their 20's, and this figure rises by 10% per decade up to 80% in their 80's.



• About 40% of women have visible hair loss by the age of 40, and this rises to 50% by the age of 60.



• Androgenetic alopecia accounts for up to 95% of all hair loss cases (and this includes both men and women).


These statistics basically mean that androgenetic alopecia will eventually affect nearly everyone!

Androgenetic alopecia is also known as androgenic alopecia, male pattern baldness (MPB), female pattern baldness, hereditary hair loss, etc. But, whatever you call it, the big question is, how is hair loss caused by this type of alopecia?

Are male androgens and genetics really the true
hair loss cause for all these men and women?

Current research states that the cause of androgenetic alopecia is not fully understood, but definitely involves genes and hormones.

Genetic inheritance will usually determine whether or not you'll lose your hair. If either of your parents have androgenetic alopecia, then there's a very high chance that you'll suffer from it too. (Androgenetic alopecia can also skip a generation, so it's important to see whether any of your grandparents experienced this type of hair loss as well).

The hormone link to MPB involves testosterone. And because testosterone is a male hormone (androgen) men are much more likely to experience it than women (as shown by the statistics above).

So, why do both men and women suffer androgenetic alopecia?

Women quite obviously produce large amounts of female sex hormones (oestrogen and progesterone). But, they also produce a small quantity of testosterone from their adrenal glands - one above each kidney. Normally, testosterone is completely overwhelmed by the female sex hormones (which explains why fewer women than men suffer androgenetic alopecia).

However, following the menopause, there's a very large decrease in their oestrogen levels. This means that the testosterone they produce is no longer overwhelmed by oestrogen, and so it can start to manifest itself on the female body (i.e., facial hair growth and scalp hair loss).

Note: female pattern baldness can sometimes start before the menopause - as early as puberty in fact.

It should also be noted that, just as women produce small amounts of testosterone, men produce small quantities of oestrogen. Again, this is from the adrenal glands.



Humans obviously evolved to produce both male and female sex hormones like this for a reason - testosterone is released during the "fight or flight" response (along with stress hormones), whilst oestrogen will provoke the nurturing instinct so essential for the family structure in which we live. Such behaviour is, of course, vital for life within a social group by both men and women (e.g., to find and keep a partner, raise offspring, etc). Both male and female sex hormones are, therefore, needed by both sexes - this helps us maintain balance in our lives (and may also be considered as part of our "yin and Yang").



For men, a huge increase in androgen production occurs during puberty. Testosterone circulates throughout the male body and starts causing a number of changes - the voice deepens, there's an increase in skeletal and muscular development, and pubic hair begins to grow. Facial hair also starts to emerge, and with it, a lifetime of shaving begins!

What I find really interesting in all this, is that testosterone, which has long been claimed as the definitive hair loss cause, will also produce hair growth at puberty).

How is hair loss caused by testosterone
- a hormone that promotes hair growth?

Most research suggests that it's dihydrotestosterone that provokes the hair loss caused by androgenetic alopecia.

Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is a biologically active metabolite (derivative) of testosterone. It's about 5 times more powerful than testosterone and currently thought to be the most potent androgen that affects human hair growth. It's formed in the testes (testicles), prostate gland, adrenal glands and hair follicles by an enzyme called 5-alpha reductase (types 1 and 2).

Most hair loss professionals agree that the attachment of DHT to receptor sites in the follicles (that grow hair) is largely suspected as the hair loss cause. (A receptor is an arrangement of molecules that will bind to other molecules with a complimentary shape).

This theory states that, when DHT binds to these receptors, it can force a follicle to shrink and enter the resting stage of the hair growth cycle. And, because this happens earlier than usual, it will also reduce the length of time subsequently spent in the growth stage. This results in the production of hair that becomes thinner and shorter with each successive growth cycle. Eventually, when the DHT has attached to a large number of receptors, the follicle shuts down - it becomes dormant and hair growth stops.

Note: telogen effluvium is usually the type of hair loss caused by growth cycle deviations in this way.

Although DHT has definitely been linked to MPB, this theory does not explain how DHT could actually make the follicles shrivel in size and, in so doing, be the underlying hair loss cause.

There has been much research and study of course, and suggestions made that DHT, 5-alpha reductase or the receptor sites are more abundant in those who lose hair (especially in the MPB region of the scalp).

But all these suggestions still fail to give the actual mechanism that would cause follicles to shrink and hair to fall. Specifically, this theory fails to answer the following very important questions:

Q1. Testosterone and DHT will stimulate hair to grow in other parts of the body (especially during puberty as mentioned earlier). So, how can it be linked to both hair loss and growth?

(This is the "fly in the ointment" that's been pestering trichologists and dermatologists for years - DHT should help scalp hair growth, not hinder it. This means that there must be something else that's causing the follicles to shrivel).



Q2. Why does remnant hair sometimes last long after baldness has developed? (Remnant hair is thick, strong, healthy hair that grows within the MPB region despite extensive hair loss all around it - as shown in this picture). But, whilst this DHT/receptor site theory cannot answer these questions, skull expansion can. Hormones and genetic inheritance do cause hair loss, but not in the way most hair loss professionals believe.



Whether or not you lose your hair has very little to do with your DHT levels and everything to do with your skull shape...

Skull expansion is directly responsible for ALL thinning of hair and hair loss caused by androgenetic alopecia.

Find out more about skull expansion? Get your copy of:

"Skull Expansion - True Cause of Genetic Hair Loss"

This ebook is completely Free - see below.



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