The Curse of Genetic Hair Loss

Genetic Hair Loss is a curse for us all. It's one of the rotten apples passed down from your family tree.

If you have learned about Male Pattern Baldness (click here if you haven't) then you should know by now how DHT affects the thinning of your hair. I will explain to you how your genes and DHT hand in hand cause hair loss.

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The Golden Questions of the Day

'If my uncle has hair loss, will I have it too?'

Well, the answer would be yes and no.

'What if my father and my uncle both have Male Pattern Baldness?'

Well then, it would be still a YES and no. (Notice I Capped the YES)

That is the beauty of genetics. Genetics itself is a very complicated science. Scientists just managed to map the human genome less than a decade ago. Till now, scientists are still looking for a way to understand genetics better.

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The Workings of our Genes.

Genes are our life blueprint. Imagine them as the engineers of our body. They tell our body how it is built.

When you are born, you get 2 copies each your genes from your mother and father.

In genetics,

• you get both copies of your parents characteristics (ie. Hair Color)

• if your father's genes are dominant, you will end up with your father's hair color.
• Your father gets his from his parents too. So if one of your father genes are dominant, you might end up with your father's family side hair color too.

So when the genes are passed down, you get a combination of genes that are good and bad acquired through your family tree. Its just a matter of whether which genes will be dominant. Same as the genes for your hair.

Confused? Look at the Diagram.

The top part of the diagram show X and O are both genes traits. If your paternal grandparents both have genes X and O, the will pass them down to your father. Same goes to your mother's parents. Then both your parents will pass this genetic copies to you. You will have a 50 % chance to get the X gene to be the dominant gene.

In the lower diagram, if your father's parents both got the X genes, your father will get both the X genes. If your mother's parents got both an X and O, your mother will have both of the gene copies and as she passes it to you. So your chances of getting the X gene is higher compare to O. But that does not mean you will surely get it.

It's all about the luck! Good Luck!

Note: This is just a rough example. Genetics are way more complicated that my little diagram. But I hope it paves way for you to know some basics of genetics.

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How Genetic Hair Loss Starts.

Like all other genetic defects, genes are passed down through generations from both sides of your family. That explains why you might have your father's nose or your grandmother's eyes.

Our hair grows in 3 phases

• ANAGEN (Growing phase)
• CATAGEN (Regressing phase)
• TELOGEN (Sleeping phase)

Please refer to Hair Growth about the 3 phases if you need to know more.

In Genetic Hair Loss,

• The defect gene manipulates your normal hair growth cycle.
• The ANAGEN phase is shortened means less time for hair growth.
• The TELOGEN phase instead is lengthened causing more hair to be in the resting phase.

Without enough growth during the ANAGEN phase, your hair will look thinner as the hair follicles will miniaturize through grow cycles. Genetic Hair loss is directly influenced by DHT. It has been found that if you do not have DHT then you will not experience genetic hair loss.

So DHT and your genes together make your hair falls faster.

Learn more about the effects of DHT to your hair follicles.

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It Affects Both Men and Women as Well.

Although the chances of women getting Androgenic Alopecia are less common than men, women can get it too. The male hormone Testosterone which is dominant in males, is also found in women. The female hormone Estrogen however, keeps the Testosterone in check from causing hair loss.

During menopause, where the Estrogen levels decrease, women are more susceptible to the effects of Testosterone. An increase in Testosterone coupled with several factors like stress can lead to Female Pattern Baldness.

See more of this in Hair Loss in Women

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The Solution

At the present moment, scientists and researchers are still finding ways to locate the genes that causes genetic hair loss. So what you can do is to reduce your DHT levels in your head.

That in part will slow down your hair loss. Find a suitable regimen of hair treatments to increase your hair growth and strengthen your hair.

Return to Top of Genetic Hair Loss
Back to Male Pattern Baldness
Back to Surviving-Hairloss.com

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