Hair loss caused by androgenic alopecia presents itself as a pattern. Hair loss starts from the front part of your hairline and then on the lower part of your head. Your hair will lose length, color and thickness. When the illness has developed, both areas will meet generating a horseshoe design around your head.
The best form to identify whether or not you have androgenic alopecia is to get a clinical diagnosis, just go to a doctor and get his to look at the affected area. There are some special cases when the patient will need a hormonal study.
There are many medical treatments for androgenic alopecia, but the definitive one is hair transplant.
There is no medical treatment that completely eradicates androgenic alopecia, but it is possible to solve throughout a surgical procedure: experts recommend hair transplant using the FUE technique.
The hair transplant treatment consists in using the patient’s own hair and transplanting it onto the affected are. Once the hair in transplanted, it will stay in place forever.
Who does androgenic alopecia affect?
Men with genetic predisposition for alopecia frequently start to lose their hair at 25 years old, but there are patients who start at earlier ages:
This means that if you have androgenic alopecia there is a higher possibility that your children and grandchildren suffer from it too in some stage of their lives.
What causes androgenic alopecia?
If you have a history of hair loss in your family, it’s probable that you have already lost your hair or that you will in the future. Androgenic alopecia has a solution.
Apart from the aesthetic reasons, having hair reduces the impact of UV rays on your scalp, reducing the possibilities of skin cancer.
Etiology of alopecia, or the causes
Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is produced when the 5-alpha reductase enzyme acts on testosterone. The levels of DHT and its receptors cause constant injuries to the hair follicle, leading to alopecia.
This way, the hair is constantly getting weaker and weaker, and when the natural change of hair occurs, this is produced thinner each time. In the end, these follicles stop working correctly and the hair that has fallen is not replaced. This is when the first areas with hair loss appear.
Nonetheless, according to research on androgenic alopecia, the weakening of the follicles does not depend on high levels of DHT, but of the genetic predisposition of the hair follicles.