Hanna Clinton
Androgenetic alopecia or common male pattern baldness (MPB) accounts for more than 95% of hair loss in men. By the age of thirty-five two-thirds of American men will experience some degree of appreciable hair loss, and by the age of fifty approximately 85% of men have significantly thinning hair. Approximately twenty five percent of men who suffer with male pattern baldness begin the painful process before they reach the age of twenty-one.
Contrary to societal belief, most men who suffer from male pattern baldness are extremely unhappy with their situation and would do anything to change it. Hair loss affects every aspect of the hair loss sufferer's life. It affects interpersonal relationships as well as the professional lives of those suffering. It is not uncommon for men to change their career paths because of their hair loss.
Source: http://www.americanhairloss.org/men_hair_loss/introduction.asp
Hair is made in hair follicles which are like tiny pouches just under the skin surface. A hair normally grows from each follicle for about three years. It is then shed and a new hair grows from the follicle. This cycle of hair growth, shedding and new growth goes on throughout life. The following is thought to occur in men as they gradually become bald:
Male hormones are involved in causing these changes. The level of the main male hormone, testosterone, is normal in men with baldness. Cells in the skin of the scalp convert testosterone into another hormone called dihydrotestosterone. For reasons that are not clear, affected hair follicles become more sensitive to dihydrotestosterone, which causes the hair follicles to shrink. It is also not clear why different hair follicles are affected at different times to make the balding process gradual. It is also not clear why only scalp hairs are affected and not other areas such as the beard or armpits. The condition is hereditary (genetic). Various different genes have been shown to be involved.
In the days leading up to his wedding day, the spotlight has been on Prince William. Glinting in that light is a spot a bald one. Why is the otherwise handsome 28-year-old already losing his hair? The simple answer is that androgenetic alopecia, or male pattern baldness, runs in William's family. His father is balding, his paternal grandfather is bald, and his maternal grandfather was bald: with such a genetic predisposition, poor William's hair may have been doomed from the start.
Several genetic defects have been tied to premature hair loss, and scientists suspect there is interplay between them. One highly influential gene appears on the X chromosome . Because men have only one X chromosome which they inherit from their mothers, the fate of their hair can be strongly affected by baldness passed down by maternal ancestors. But bald fathers can have a strong influence, too in fact, men with bald fathers are between five and six times likelier to go bald than men with non-bald fathers. However, there is no scientific consensus about which paternally inherited gene influences hair loss.
The X-chromosome gene linked with balding controls androgen, or male sex hormone , receptors. As men age, their increasing androgen level constricts the hair follicles on their heads, resulting in hair thinning and loss in a characteristic though scientifically unexplained pattern. Most Caucasian men go bald eventually: 50 percent to 60 percent start losing their hair by the age of 70. But a defect in the androgen receptor gene is what causes premature balding like William's.
A deeper question is why baldness evolved and spread in the first place.
Studies show bald men are perceived as being older and wiser than their hairy compatriots, leading some evolutionary psychologists to hypothesize that hair loss is a sexual selection tool: Women follow the visual cue as they select a mate to distinguish experienced men from boys.
In today's world, it seems counterintuitive that baldness would give men a sexual advantage. The book "Hair Growth and Disorders" (Springer, 2008) explained that "Current societal attitudes towards male pattern balding vary between indifference and negativity. An example of the latter is the reported high frequency of an apparent full head of hair amongst members of the American House of Representatives."
But evolution cooks up traits very slowly certainly slower than shifts in societal fashion and male pattern baldness may be a genetic remnant of an evolutionary advantage of the distant past. "Whereas balding is now seen as a feature of aging and declining vigor, it may have had quite different implications in our evolutionary ancestors , where only young men counted and amongst whom balding would have been relatively uncommon," Ulrike Blume-Peytavi, one of the book's editors, wrote.
Amongst young men competing for mates, a rare balding youngster like Prince William may have benefited by seeming older, wiser and more sexually mature. (It may be more than coincidence, then, that the aptly named Prince Harry, William's younger brother, has both a full head of hair and a reputation for being less mature and wise than his sibling.)
Baldness may have survived to the present day by linking itself to increased androgen production. Bald men have higher levels of androgens particularly a potent one called dihydrotestosterone than men with full heads of hair. "Whether this translates into greater reproductive success is unknown and difficult to verify," Blume-Peytavi wrote, "but it is perhaps the most likely explanation for the survival of balding genes into modern man."
While the primary baldness gene is on the X chromosome, which men get only from their mothers, other factors are also in play. The hereditary factor is slightly more dominant on the woman's side, but research suggests that men who have a bald father are more likely to develop male pattern baldness than those who don't. Studies have shown that after five years of treatment with Appecia, 90% of men maintained their hair or increased hair growth. Except of, 48% of men treated with Appecia demonstrated an increase in hair growth, 42% were rated as having no change (no further visible progression of hair loss from baseline) and 10% were rated as having lost hair when compared to baseline. For example, in comparison, 6% of men treated with placebo demonstrated an increase in hair growth, 19% were rated as having no change and 75% were rated as having lost hair when compared to baseline. Appecia does not affect hair on other parts of the body.
Try Rogaine (Minoxidil). Rogaine is an FDA approved topical treatment to treat male pattern baldness. It is a solution that stimulates the hair follicles to grow and is applied directly onto your scalp.
Rogaine slows hair loss and some men experience growth of new hair. However, hair loss usually returns if the medication is stopped, so you must continue using minoxidil to continue to see results.
Adverse events associated with Minoxidil include itching, skin rash, acne, burning, inflammation, and swelling.
Serious side effects that may indicate too much of the medication has absorbed to your body include blurred vision, chest pain, dizziness, fainting and irregular heartbeat.
Ask your doctor if you should take finasteride. Finasteride (marketed under Propecia) is an oral prescription pill and somewhat more effective than minoxidil. It works by binding to the enzyme that would otherwise convert free testosterone to DHT.
Finasteride slows hair loss as long as you take it. However, as soon as you discontinue therapy, hair loss typically returns within a year.
Side effects associated with finasteride include chills; cold sweats; confusion; dizziness; hives; swelling in the legs, arms and face; tingling; erectile dysfunction; decreased libido; and ejaculatory dysfunction; and weight gain.
Over 20 years ago a drug by the name of Proscar was approved for prevention of Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH). Its active ingredient was 5mg of Finasteride, and it was taken once daily by men over 60. Finasteride was shown to inhibit the formation of the hormone Dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which is known to help in the formation of Prostate Cancer. Dihydrotestosterone is also known to be the cause of male hair loss.
Merck Pharmaceuticals sought to find the smallest effective quantity of finasteride and test its long-term effects on 1,553 men between ages 18 and 41 with mild to moderate thinning hair. Based on their research, 1mg daily was selected, and after 2 years of daily treatment, over 83% of the 1,553 men experiencing male hair loss had actually maintained or increased their hair count from baseline. Visual assessments concluded that over 80% had improved appearances.
Finasteride (Proscar) 5mg was split into fifths and packaged as a 1mg daily treatment for hair loss. It was named ‘Propecia’. Propecia is the newest clinically proven prescription treatment on the market for men experiencing hair loss. Propecia also has the longest, most successful run of any hair loss treatment to have undergone FDA trials.
Generic Propecia (Appecia) contains 1mg of Finasteride, a systemic DHT inhibitor which has been used for over 20 years at five times the dosage (in the form of Proscar) to help treat men with Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH). When taken, Propecia works to inhibit the formation of DHT within the system. Within a few months of using Propecia the overall DHT levels will have remained low enough on a constant basis that the adverse effects DHT is having on the follicles will stop, resulting in a cessation of hair loss.
Generic Propecia is used for treating certain types of male pattern hair loss (androgenic alopecia) in men. It is also used to treat symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in men with an enlarged prostate. The Appecia is generic for The Propecia. The active substance is finasteride. Each tablet contains 1 mg finasteride.
Studies have shown that after five years of treatment with Appecia, 90% of men maintained their hair or increased hair growth. Except of, 48% of men treated with Appecia demonstrated an increase in hair growth, 42% were rated as having no change (no further visible progression of hair loss from baseline) and 10% were rated as having lost hair when compared to baseline. For example, in comparison, 6% of men treated with placebo demonstrated an increase in hair growth, 19% were rated as having no change and 75% were rated as having lost hair when compared to baseline. Appecia does not affect hair on other parts of the body.
This video shows my results using Generic Propecia ONLY over about 18 months (roughly). I have gotten so many questions about my prior video that I decided to release more of the video footage.
A video showing my results from taking Propecia. 7 month update.
The part of the customer support team on the awesome online drugstore www.adrugstore.net and a hungry student of St. Louis College of Pharmacy.
