Reasons for no DHT receptors in back and sides of head??

[HairIsThere]

This is something that I have always wondered ever since I started going bald when I was about 17 or so..I can't think of any medical or scientific reasoning behind this phenomenon. Does anybody have any ideas on this? I've often thought about Darwin's "survival of the fittest" (yeah I know that sounds weird) to try to figure out what possibly could be beneficial/detrimental about this occurence but I can't think of anything. It just seems like in my opinion that logically either all the hairs on one's head should be vulnerable to DHT or none should. Anyways, just a thought!

[Marvin]

Who says there has to be a reason? A random mutation that gives no disadvantage or advantage can survive just fine due to luck or due to the founder effect.

[HairIsThere]

Well I agree it can be a random mutation, but why only the hair on top? I just don't understand why only the hair on the sides and back of the head is shielded from the DHT effect.

[Marvin]

I don't know. Even chimps go bald, so maybe the reason applies to apes but not to us.

[Dr. Glenn Charles]

In individuals who have the gene for MPB (male pattern baldness) those effected hair follicles have something called a DHT receptor. In simple terms that is like saying that the hair follicles in the thinning/balding areas have a small lock attached their outer surface. The DHT molecules are like keys and when they float through the blood vessels which travel adjacent to the follicles the key may fit into the lock. This binding of the DHT to the receptor (key into lock) is what causes the weakening and eventual death of the hair follicle. It has been proven that the hair follicles in the donor area do not have the DHT receptors (locks) so the DHT cannot bind to them. That is why you can take hair follicles from the donor area and move them to the areas of hair loss and they act as if they are still in the back of the head.

[Lastchance]

Originally posted by Dr. Glenn M. Charles:

In individuals who have the gene for MPB (male pattern baldness) those effected hair follicles have something called a DHT receptor. In simple terms that is like saying that the hair follicles in the thinning/balding areas have a small lock attached their outer surface. The DHT molecules are like keys and when they float through the blood vessels which travel adjacent to the follicles the key may fit into the lock. This binding of the DHT to the receptor (key into lock) is what causes the weakening and eventual death of the hair follicle. It has been proven that the hair follicles in the donor area do not have the DHT receptors (locks) so the DHT cannot bind to them. That is why you can take hair follicles from the donor area and move them to the areas of hair loss and they act as if they are still in the back of the head.

 

Dr Charles, do you reckon that these follicles develop this lock over time ( if I may borrow your analogy ) Or is it always present in the follicle ,through genetic makeup, but that some follicles are harder to breakdown than others, hence the gradual progression of hair loss across the head

 

I guess I'm asking , what causes one follicle that has the DHT receptor to function well for a number of years but then deteriorate?

[HairIsThere]

I understand the DHT and DHT receptors and that then leads to MPG for those vulnerable to it..but my main question is why are those receptors solely located on the top of the head and not the sides and back..Has there been any consensus on why this is the case?

[SharpTooth]

Probably part of the same grand design that grows hair on men's knuckles and in our ears as we age!!

[Acrobaz]

I started a similar thread here. Not sure if it adds much light though:

http://hair-restoration-info.c...=133104361#133104361

[HairIsThere]

Hey thanks acrobaz yeah that was a very interesting thread....I liked the theory on the pacific islanders being more so of geographical phenomenon because of the sun and that's why they keep theyre hair to protect their skin. That's a very interesting thought. Too bad it's not like that here in Texas where it's really freakin hot all the time!! Also with living in Texas and being so close to Mexico, I've kind of noticed (because when I look at people I always look at their hair first and then their face) that Hispanics, from my observations at least, usually have pretty thick hair and there's not a whole lot of them I see without hair. Maybe with it being so hot in Mexico it could be a comparable situation to the Pacific Islanders?

[TC17]

While there may appear to be a relationship between a resistance to MPB and geographic location in a warmer and sunny climate, such a link does not appear to truly exist. The scientific community has proffered that if hair on the top of the head existed to protect from the sun as a result of our bipedality, that hair on the shoulders, neck, and upper back should also have been selected for. Because those traits were not selected for, the theory goes that hair on the top of the head also was not selected for that particular purpose.

[HairIsThere]

Another thing is DHT is also responsible for body and facial hair..so that bast*&@d of a molecule essentially takes hair off your head and distributes it around your body and face! Damn DHT....