Most authorities on hair loss and male pattern baldness agree that over 50 percent of American males will lose a substantial amount of hair before reaching old age. Just take a look around you sometime and you will likely see a number of balding heads visible in a crowded place at any given time. If you were to take a count of the number of men with balding heads versus men with a full head of hair, the numbers might surprise you. Many of the men you see with balding heads are at the peak of their lives and should be living life to the fullest. Instead they are experiencing a drastic change in their appearance which could ultimately affect their self image.

What most of these men is experiencing is a condition known as male pattern baldness. Androgens are the male hormones responsible for producing masculine physical traits. These hormones work together with inherited genetic tendencies, also responsible for most of the hair loss experienced by men throughout history in every culture in the world.

Male Pattern Baldness is a genetic syndrome. An individual inherits all physical characteristics such as eye color, build, height, facial features and hair color from his ancestors. Although the tendency toward baldness is an inherited characteristic. The pattern of hair loss and the rate at which the loss will progress are genetically determined. Common folklore says that badness is a masculine trait, actually baldness is carried through the female genetic line. Therefore, if a man's maternal grandfather was bald, the man is likely to bald as well. It is not unheard of for families to exhibit three generations of bald men, genetic patterns are not that simple. Many different genetic codes relating to hormone production, cellular sensitivity and other factors are inherited by each individual in unique combinations. These various genes may be inherited through either the mother's line or the father's line. The genetic programing an individual inherits may reflect either his maternal or paternal heritage. In some cases, the pattern may be recessive dating back to generations long since dead and sometimes the pattern of baldness is not like that of any known relative.

The specific mechanism that causes male pattern baldness is initiated by an androgen, or male hormone, called testosterone, which is acted upon by a specific hormone at a genetically programmed point in an individual's life. Testosterone itself does not cause baldness. However, when it is acted upon by an enzyme called 5-alpha reductase, a new related hormone is formed. The new hormone, called dihydroxytestosterone, or DHT, causes the follicles of the hair to become sensitized and to turn off their typical renewal cycle.

The actual process within each strand of hair is a gradual one. The average two-to six-year growth cycle is shortened so that an ever increasing number of hair follicles are in the telogen or resting stage. Those hairs still functioning within the balding area grow more slowly, and the hair begins to thin out. Finally a few or no hairs grow within the balding area. Tiny Vellus hairs do continue to grow but they are hardly visible. As metabolism in the hair follicles slows, the blood supply to the bald area decreases causing the epidermis of the scalp to become more and more thin. This is a result of baldness, not a cause.

As the scalp becomes thinner, the sebaceous glands in the bald area tend to become more active. This activity causes an oily, shiny scalp as well as a dandruff problem in many cases.

Androgens also appear to be the culprit, at least in part, for hair loss in women, particularly later in life. All humans produce both male and female hormones. Males produce greater amounts of testosterone, and females produce greater amounts of estrogen. When the normal production of the hormone specific to the gender of the person is thrown out of balance by age, disease or surgery, greater amounts of the hormone characteristic of the opposite sex sometimes results. In women whose ovaries are removed during surgery or destroyed by disease, thinning of scalp hair and increased growth of body hair are not uncommon. Those same characteristics can also develop as the body's natural hormone production declines with age.

Age, naturally is a contributing factor to hair loss and male pattern baldness. As a man grows older the likelihood that he'll also grow bald increases dramatically. As testosterone levels decrease with age, baldness continually progresses as more and more follicles become sensitized to the hormones.