Is hair loss genetic? I’m only 16, and have a pretty decent head of hair, but my father has been bald since I’ve known him. Can I do anything to prevent hair loss? Or baldness?
Hair loss prevention
This is what I found on wiki and another site:
Hair loss problem in this 21 st century became one of the most common health issues that generally affects the confidence and general well- being. While many would consider their hair loss is due to genetics, many people that suffer from alopecia, or other conditions of baldness, simply don’t know what to do other than shaving their heads, wearing bigger hats or just resent their ancestors. Fortunately, there are many solutions for hair growth as there are many types of treatments to reduce, reverse or regenerate our hair loss.
Hair loss treatment is something that is part of a general collection of many treatments, which is designed to manage hair loss that occurs due to androgenic alopecia. This is a medical condition that is transmitted genetically and is a collection of genes causing male pattern baldness. Ninety- five percent of the reported cases of baldness in men are caused by male pattern baldness which is inherited from either mother or father. This same condition also explains the need of hair restoration for women.
These are not necessarily for prevention, but more like proactive steps:
Medications:
Minoxidil:
Minoxidil is a popular drug used for hair loss treatment for men and hair loss treatment for women in order to reduce hair loss. It stimulates the hair follicles to rapidly produce new tissues or cells. This rapid multiplication of hair follicles results in better hair growth and helps to improve the density of hair.
Therapies:
It’s never too early to start hair loss therapy. Provillus therapy is as good for ladies as it’s for men, providing quick and good results for many kinds of hair loss. As an oral health supplement, it functions quickly to stem hair loss and to spur new growth.
Finasteride:
Finasteride is a popular medicine for hair loss. It interferes with conversion of testosterone to DHT, which happens in many tissues of the body including the scalp. The effect of DHT on the scalp is to shrink the hair follicles- a progressive effect which takes many years. The follicles become less and less active, producing finer and weaker hairs until, eventually, they shed their last hairs and cease to function at all. Cutting DHT production will halt or delay this process, and restore hair growth.
Hair transplant surgeries:
Hair transplant surgery – the permanent solution to your receding hairline. Hair follicles that are not genetically susceptible to balding are taken and surgically replanted into a balding area. The transplanted hair is not genetically programmed to be lost. So most of this transplanted hair will continue to grow for a lifetime, giving you a fuller head of hair and a more youthful look.
It is genetic, I’m afraid. Some genes cause premature hair loss or baldness.
If one of your parents (in this case your dad) started losing hair by early adulthood, chances are, you will too. This is called Androgenic Alopecia and is by far the commonest form of hair loss and can be inherited from your parents or grandparents.
There is a hormone called DHT which binds with hair follicles and prevents nutrients from reaching and feeding the hair. Some researchers also theorise that DHT may cause the body to treat hair as a “foreign body”.
If your hair loss is caused by DHT, you can use medication such as Propecia, which reduces DHT production in the body. There are also topical treatments, which may block DHT in the scalp - Minoxidil is one of them.