Hair loss pattern

[TC17]

Regarding hair loss and genetics, does anyone know if looking at the manner in which your male relatives lost hair can be used to accurately gauge your eventual hair loss pattern? For example, my dad started in the front and then quickly lost it in his crown. When he was 35 he was about a NW 3a in the front with crown thinning and no tuft of hair left in the hairline. My dad is 60 now and is a NW6. My mom's brother started in the crown as well, began losing some in the front and is a NW 5/6 at age 55, but has retained a tuft of hair that appears as though it will stay forever. I started thinning in the crown about 6 years ago and it has been a slow process, but in the past year or so I've noticed that my front is starting to get thinner in a pattern that more closely resembles that of my uncle. I will most definitely have that tuft of hair in the front because I can see the hair behind it thinning out. Do you guys think this matters? Is there a correlation between how the hair falls out and your eventual pattern? (meaning looking at the hair loss progression of your relatives and their final NW level)

[TC17]

Regarding hair loss and genetics, does anyone know if looking at the manner in which your male relatives lost hair can be used to accurately gauge your eventual hair loss pattern? For example, my dad started in the front and then quickly lost it in his crown. When he was 35 he was about a NW 3a in the front with crown thinning and no tuft of hair left in the hairline. My dad is 60 now and is a NW6. My mom's brother started in the crown as well, began losing some in the front and is a NW 5/6 at age 55, but has retained a tuft of hair that appears as though it will stay forever. I started thinning in the crown about 6 years ago and it has been a slow process, but in the past year or so I've noticed that my front is starting to get thinner in a pattern that more closely resembles that of my uncle. I will most definitely have that tuft of hair in the front because I can see the hair behind it thinning out. Do you guys think this matters? Is there a correlation between how the hair falls out and your eventual pattern? (meaning looking at the hair loss progression of your relatives and their final NW level)

[SJD]

In my case thats the way i see it. My father has the whole horse shoe thing goin on, my brother does, my fathers father did. I can see that i am going down the same road as well.

[hdude46]

no two people are the same....its too hard to predict hair loss but looking at family history does help some. My dad is a NW1 yet I'm a 2-3. His brother is a NW4 and my grandpa is a NW4. Does that mean that is where I'll end up? No one one knows.

 

I would start to do something about it rather than sitting around worrying about it though. get on propecia, get on rogaine, try prp, heck maybe even give the lasercomb a try. Do everything you can to stop and or slow it down. While there are no guarantees, it would be a pretty safe bet that there will be better treatment options in the next 20 years. So if those options above can save you 20 some years, do it.

[TC17]

I should clarify my above question.

 

Say your father and paternal grandfather both suffer from hair loss and they are the only two members of your family to do so. Your father began losing his hair in the front and ended up a NW5. Your grandfather started in the crown and ended up a NW3v. If you start in the crown, is it accurate to say that you will be more likely to follow your grandfather's pattern rather than your dad's?

 

I realize hair loss is unique to the individual, but if there is a member of your family with a similar balding pattern to you, doesn't it stand to reason that you will follow his pattern? I could be grasping at straws here, but I'm praying that because I'll be left with a tuft that my dad NEVER had, that I escaped his particular pattern and instead took after that of my maternal uncle.

[hdude46]

I think your grasping at straws.

[Raphi Salem]

Unlike what many believe, the genetics for male and female pattern hair loss have not been fully determined. In otherwords, you may have baldness on your paternal side, however you may not inherit the genes for pattern baldness. Pattern hair loss is Multi-Genetic, so there is no way to really know for certain. You may be able to get some clues and some patterns, however the environment also plays a role here as well. And finally, pattern loss is not the only cause of hair loss! More later. For some additional info, the Anapelli Hair Clinic has good information about this as well.

Their website is http://www.HairClinicUSA.com

[Stimpson]

I always sort of wondered about this too. I do not really know my fathers pattern of hair loss through the years. There is no heavy baldness on my mothers side, until my generation. However, my own started in the front very early (I had a naturally kind of high hairline anyway), and there was no crown thinning until relatively recently (I am mid 30's). I have progressed through the 'a' variants. I was a Norwood 4a and now a Norwood 5a. Naturally I read somewhere that this progression of balding is likely to be a little less severe than say someone who has a lot of initial crown loss at the beginning. This makes me hopeful for HT purposes, but then reality kind of kicks in, and I come to the conclusion that I am 'grasping at straws', to quote hdude46 from a few posts above. I'll end up where I end up, I guess. That's the unfortunate situation. You can guess. But it is just a guess.

 

Stimpy