Male pattern baldness / male hair loss

Male patterned baldness is the most common form of hair loss and begins with hair receding from your temples, forehead and crown. Eventually you find you're left with a horseshoe of healthy hair around the sides and back of your head and nothing on the top.

This classic model has been classified into various stages, known as the Hamilton Classification system. When treating male patterned baldness it's important to know which stage you have progressed to before selecting a remedy or treatment. The more modern Norwood scale is another more-simplified classification system.

The scientifically accepted cause of male patterned baldness is the production of a chemical known as DHT in hair follicles, resulting from an excess of testosterone in the body. The level of testosterone that is produced in early and mid adulthood is related to several factors but is largely hereditary. DHT is believed to inhibit or slow down the follicles' ability to produce new strands of hair.

Male pattern baldness does not affect all hair at the same time; some hair is more 'androgen sensitive' than others, usually on the crown and upper forehead.

There is also a positive correlation between a tight scalp and male pattern baldness. This theory, proposed by Dr. Lars Engstrand of Sweden, maintains that the scalp is covered by a thin tendonous membrane, known as the galea, which tightens after puberty. Once again testosterone is believed to be the root cause, and the result is supposedly a restriction of blood to the hair follicles.

A number of treatments have produce mixed results in restoring hair, but once the follicle's ability to produced hair is hampered it's difficult to reverse the process of male patterned baldness. People suffering from the problem in its later stages find a variety of products, aimed at thickening existing hair, to be cheaper and more effective.