Importance of Family History

[Spanker]

First, let me say that I searched "family history" in titles only and found nothing.

 

I always hear doctors talk about family history and mine is a concern to me.

 

One side of my family has baldness and the other doesn't. Most of the men on my dads side were noticeably bald by the time they were my age. I am 33. They all had large crown loss by now and mine is solid. I am losing from the front and don't consider myself noticeably balding. Point is, I seem to be keeping mine a lot longer than most men on my dads side.

 

Men on my moms side seem to have hair.

 

What does that mean for me? Should I consider myself a future because my family are? Also, I don't look a lot like them. Skin and hair wise. I have darker skin and almost black hair. This is the color of my mom's mom.

 

What are your thoughts on that?

[TakingThePlunge]

Spanker,

 

I've read Dr. Rassman say several times that family history is not an accurate predictor of hair loss. It can skip a generation or two. Someone with not recent history of balding on either side can still end up with hair loss.

 

My dad is a NW 6 and I may eventually head that way myself. He is now 80 years old but he's probably been a 6 since his mid to late 40's. Even before my hair transplants I'm sure I had much more hair than he did at the same age.

 

My mom's side of the family has no hair loss. My grandfather died past 80 with a full head of white hair. My uncle is almost 70 and has great hair. I've got four male cousins on that side all between the ages of 35 and 50 with no hair loss.

 

To make matters worse, my dad's brother was bald but his son (who is two years older than I am) has no hair loss. It's just me and dad in the entire family at this point.

[Dutch]

Doesn't mean much. Both grandads had a full head of hair, dad was a NW7 so I hoped dht would skip a generation, but it didn't

[Spanker]

I mentally to say, should I consider myself a future nw6 because my dad is.

[chrisdav]

All you can do Spanker is do everything you can with what is currently is available.

 

As the years go by, medication/surgery etc will advance futher and aid the fight against hairloss.

 

I have had the same thoughts as you have, as I expect every other hairloss sufferer has.

Edited March 17, 2012 by chrisdav

[RCWest]

I mentally to say, should I consider myself a future nw6 because my dad is.

 

No. It all depends on how the balding gene expresses itself. You could end up with a completely different pattern of hairloss than anyone in your family.

 

To be 33 with a solid crown and barely receeding hairline, my guess is that you would be safe from NW6. Most men who get that advanced start losing hair a little earlier in life.