When a young man reaches puberty the enzyme 5 alpha reductase starts converting testosterone into a new hormone knows as dihydrotestosterone or DHT. This DHT is 10 times the strength of testosterone and is responsible for a young mans voice changing, developing body and facial hair as well as being able to produce children. The very chemical, or hormone, that make him a man, eventually lead to the main reason he may also lose his hair.

In patients who have male pattern baldness we also find the 5 alpha reductase in the scalp area. If the hair follicle is sensitive to DHT that is produced, it may shrink to a hair comparable to a baby's hair, or it may even die. Fortunately, if you can catch the hair before the conversion of DHT you have a chance of saving the hair. A similar process can happen for women, too.

99% of all hair loss in men and women is caused, or accelerated by one thing, an excess of DHT. Sebum, oil with DHT in it, clogs the pores of the scalp and stifles follicle growth. In time the root is asphyxiated, making it impossible for the follicle to grow a healthy hair.

Early hair loss is usually seen as a receding hairline or thinning spot on the back of the head. If allowed to continue, it may become hereditary male pattern baldness, or MPB, which is properly known as androgenetic alopecia. This condition afflicts approximately half of the male population by the age of 50, and is the cause of the overall thinning most often experienced by women. In another form, especially seen in women, we may see sudden balding in irregular patches on the scalp known as alopecia areata. It is suspected that in most of these cases, the bodies nervous system may have been injured in some way, causing the affected area to be poorly nourished.

Hair loss is, according to geneticists, influenced by hormones as well as the positioning of the hair on the head. This is why men’s hair loss may follow a specific pattern while a woman’s experience with hair loss may be seen as a more general thinning due to having a different hormonal structure. Female loss may also be seen as less of a pattern because their hair grows at more of an angle and with the follicles set deeper into the scalp.

The follicles on top of a man's head grow straight up and consequently, when oil is released from the scalp, it has no place to go other than right back to the scalp causing a potential buildup of sebum. On a woman's head, the oil can slip down the hair shaft toward the end causing less buildup, and damage, to the hair follicle.

If the scalp is not cleaned properly, this oil becomes wax, clogging the pores. When hair is shed, its successor cannot penetrate the surface so it becomes weak and literally goes to sleep under the scalp. The few hairs that manage to push through that waxy barrier are often so puny they are ready to fall out as soon as they break through. These circumstances eventually lead to the condition known as Male Pattern Baldness (MPB).

click here to see graphic of a healthy & unhealthy hair folicle