What Is Androgenic Alopecia

Androgenic alopecia is the most common form of hair loss. So-called pattern baldness – which occurs in both men and women – is an inherited trait and largely based on genetics.

As adults, we often develop complicated feelings about our fathers – largely dependent on how they were present or not in our lives. But sometimes our feelings about dad have nothing to do with how he acted, but with his genetics.

We may wish he had given us genes for height or athletic ability, or maybe that he skipped the gene that makes it easy to gain weight. But one trait that we almost universally hope not to inherit is the gene that causes baldness.

According to the National Institutes of Health, if your father is bald then there is a good chance that you will be as well. But exactly how likely that chance is gets murkier.

In a gross oversimplification of DNA, we’ve been taught that half of our genetic traits come from each parent. While it’s not quite that simple, the numbers sometimes look like they are. If your dad is bald, chances are better than average you will be too.

The problem is that there are many different genes that contribute to hereditary hair loss and one (called the AR receptor) is found on the X chromosome. If you are assigned female at birth and dad has pattern baldness, he will almost guaranteed pass it on to you. After all, he only has one option for an X chromosome.

So, if Mom’s family has no history of androgenic alopecia, then you might be in the clear… Maybe. If you were assigned male at birth, your father could not have given you the AR receptor gene. But your mom might have.

Hair loss can come from both sides of your family tree. Androgenic alopecia is linked to your DNA from both sides of the family, so if your mother’s father or your mother have thinning hair then you are even more likely to inherit it.

But even if neither of your parents have hair loss, you might not be safe… as you'll see below.

Here’s the good news (and the bad news). If you have androgenic alopecia, you are likely to start losing your hair as early as puberty. And it impacts 50 percent of men by age 50, and 80 percent by age 70. But if you aren’t in that 50 percent, you still aren’t free and clear.

Other hair loss causes include stress, poor diet, illness, some medications, and more. So just because you don’t have genetic hair loss doesn’t mean you are going to be blessed with healthy follicles your entire life.

Left untreated, androgenic alopecia is permanent and many people opt to just live with thinning hair. But that doesn’t have to be the case.

In the United States, scalp treatments such as Minoxidil are the first line of defense against androgenic alopecia. But that’s not the whole story. Medical hair professionals can recommend a variety of treatments ranging from simple diet changes to full hair transplants.

When you make an appointment with H2T Hair Restoration, our first goal will be to identify the type of hair loss you are experiencing and do our best to stop it. We will devise an individualized treatment plan and help you look your best, no matter what genetics mom and dad gave you. Contact us today to get started!