Why Men Lose Hair

A sore subject, if there ever was one

Photo by Isi Parente on Unsplash

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It’s a sore subject, but many men will eventually end up balding or losing at least some hair as they get older, which will be mostly on the crown and temples of their heads.

It comes from a condition called male pattern baldness, which is often hereditary (scientifically known as androgenic alopecia). If the cause of balding is genetic, there isn’t much you can do to prevent it completely, but there are steps to slow it down or even stop it in its tracks.

Male pattern baldness happens because of DHT, or dihydrotestosterone.

Testosterone is the principle male hormone (women have it too, just in lower quantities), and DHT is essentially a stronger form of testosterone.

Men naturally produce DHT. It’s thought about 10% of testosterone in adult males gets converted to DHT, and it’s converted by an enzyme called 5-alpha reductase (5-AR)

DHT is the chemical which binds to hair follicles on the head and ‘switches them off’.