Androgenic Alopecia (Male Pattern Baldness and Female Baldness) - Skull Expansion is the TRUE Cause! Part 1

Genetic hair loss (androgenic alopecia) can be annoying, frustrating and even depressing as it relentlessly encroaches on your life as well as your scalp. Make no mistake, for millions of men and women, this is a horrible condition to have!

As its name suggests, androgenic (or androgenetic) alopecia is a genetic form of hair loss that involves androgens (male sex hormones).

There's been much debate about the true causes of thinning hair, hair loss and alopecia. Several factors have been linked to it (genetics, hormones, nutrition, etc) and many theories attempt to explain exactly what mechanism is taking place.

However, there's no doubt that androgens are the main blame - it's long been known that a derivative of testosterone called dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is directly related to this condition.

But, exactly how DHT causes androgenic alopecia is still unclear to the hair loss industry.

Most hair loss professionals believe that DHT chokes the blood supply to the follicles. (A follicle is basically a pouch through which the hair shaft grows - see picture above).

Here's the current theory:

Testosterone first gets converted into DHT by 5-alpha reductase (an enzyme produced within the scalp). DHT then attaches to androgen receptor sites in the follicles (a receptor site is an arrangement of molecules that binds to other molecules with a complimentary shape).

If DHT is produced in excess, and attaches to a large number of androgen receptor sites, it may accumulate within a follicle and block its blood supply. This forces it to prematurely enter the resting stage of the hair growth cycle.*

* The hair growth cycle - Anagen (the growth stage) normally lasts 3 to 5 years. Catagen (a 2 week shedding stage) is followed by telogen (the resting stage) lasting 3 to 4 months. Anagen then restarts.

If a follicle enters the resting stage earlier than usual, the time spent in its growth stage will be reduced. This results in hair that becomes both shorter and thinner with each successive growth cycle, and also causes hair follicle miniaturisation. Eventually the follicle shuts down - it becomes dormant and hair growth stops.

If you ask almost any hair loss professional (trichologist, dermatologist, etc) for the mechanism behind androgenic alopecia, this is what they'll tell you.

Convinced?

You shouldn't be - this theory has its problems!

There's a lot more to hair loss than simply 5 alpha reductase and DHT!

I'll reveal all these problems shortly, but first of all, you might be wondering how male sex hormones can also cause hair loss and hair thinning in women?

Up to 50% of women will experience female pattern baldness to some extent during their lives.

The reason for this is simply because women produce a small amount of testosterone (mostly from their adrenal glands). Both men and women produce a small quantity of each others' hormones in this way.

For most women, their oestrogen levels are usually high enough to completely overwhelm the quantity of testosterone they produce. And the opposite is true for men.

It's when oestrogen levels become low (e.g., due to the menopause) or there's an increase in androgen production (e.g., through stress, etc) that androgenic alopecia can start to show itself as hair loss and hair thinning in women.
For most women, androgenic alopecia usually appears as diffuse thinning (evenly distributed hair loss) on the crown of the head (see Figure 1).

To explain all the problems this current theory has, take a look at Figure 2.

This picture of alopecia shows a typical example of a man with severe male pattern baldness (androgenic alopecia). You can clearly see that the familiar MPB region of hair loss has almost fully developed.

(Note: The term "MPB region" refers to both male and female pattern baldness because each involves the same region of the scalp).

Let's take a closer look at this MPB region:

Ok, first of all, see how his hair has receded from the left and right temples, but not entirely from the centre front region? In some cases, this area can keep growing reasonably strong, healthy hair throughout life despite extensive hair loss all around it. I call this, "remnant hair".

You can see more remnant hair trying very hard to grow within the centre crown area. And behind it, another significant area of hair loss has developed into a bald patch at the back of the head.

His baldness seems to have developed from the front (both left and right temples) and back of his head independently (i.e., two separate areas of hair loss). And, where these two areas of loss meet in the middle, some remnant hair continues to grow.

Now, notice how hair continues to grow normally on the sides and lower back of this head. This, of course, gives him that familiar "male pattern" profile, or horseshoe shape, synonymous with this type of hair loss.

Have you ever wondered why this pattern of hair loss always seems to emerge in nearly every severe case of androgenic alopecia?

It's been observed that both the androgen receptor gene and 5-alpha reductase appear to be more active within the MPB region in those who suffer androgenic alopecia. According to the current theory, this observation indicates that hair follicles within just the MPB region must be genetically programmed for this to occur.

But this still doesn't explain why only the hair follicles in this region should carry the androgenic alopecia gene(s). In other words, it still doesn't give a reason why hair loss should be restricted to the MPB region.

It's been acknowledged by the hair loss profession that the actual mechanism causing hair follicle miniaturisation within just the MPB region is still unclear. Furthermore, they accept that several genes may be involved and that some other mechanism must also be taking place.

Another problem with this theory is that androgens are hair growth stimulators.

That's right, androgens cause hair to grow!

The most obvious example of this is when pubic, facial and body hair starts growing during puberty, all of which is caused by androgens (especially DHT).

This fact has been pestering trichologists and dermatologists for years - DHT should help hair to grow, not hinder it. So there must be something else going on that's causing the follicles to shrivel.

No explanation has been given by the hair loss industry as to how DHT can cause both hair loss and hair growth.

Finally, DHT will not cause androgenic alopecia in someone without the genetic tendency towards it (even in high concentrations).

All of this now raises several questions concerning androgenic alopecia. Questions that must be answered before any theory can be recognised as the true underlying mechanism for this type of hair loss. The current theory cannot answer these very important questions concerning the hair loss process -

Q1. Why does remnant hair sometimes continue to grow within the MPB region despite extensive hair loss all around it?

Q2. What causes the same male pattern profile (horseshoe shape) to develop in almost all severe cases of androgenic alopecia?

Q3. How can DHT be linked to both hair loss and hair growth?

Q4. What is the genetic connection to androgenic alopecia?

Q5. Why does the rate of hair loss vary from person to person? (Up to 20% of men can suffer rapid hair loss starting as early as puberty. But most don't experience androgenic alopecia until later on in life, and for them, this can be a much more gradual process.

Q6. Why does the location of hair loss vary within the MPB region? Some people only lose hair from the front (temple recession) or back of the scalp (a bald patch), whilst others lose hair from both these regions simultaneously?

In Part 2 , I'll explain exactly how skull expansion causes androgenic alopecia, and provides answers to all these questions.

Or, you can download a FREE copy of "Skull Expansion - True Cause of Genetic Hair Loss". This ebook contains more information, more hair loss pictures and references that verify everything you've just read!

Grab your free ebook: click here - www.top-hair-loss-remedy.com/squidoo-1-mpb

Thanks for reading,

Click here for Part 2 - Skull Expansion: True Cause of Androgenic Alopecia.

Copyright © 2008 by Paul Taylor. All Rights Reserved.