Baldness

[JohnnyGus]

If a man starts getting bald at a certain age, will his sons go bald when they're that age? My dad is 50 and he is half bald, so I am wondering if this is any clue as to when I would start going bald.

[WaldoMcFroog]

No sort of clue whatsoever, since the genes for Male Pattern Baldness are allegedly carried in the female line, according to my doctor. Look at your maternal grandfather and find out when he went bald. I say allegedly since I went bald at 17, as did my father, so I'm a little sceptical, but the doc was adamant it was in the female line.

And I've found a badly written article here: http://nj.essortment.com/malepatternbal_rcad.htm

[gary baldy]

Yes - its supposed to be your mums dad but i have the same hair pattern as my dad (not a good look i'm afraid) and my brother has got a full head of thick hair (like i used to have!)

[gen2]

This site says Male pattern baldness is an inherited condition and the gene can be inherited from either the mother or father�s side. There is a common myth that inheritance is only from the mother�s side. This is not true.

[gen2]

It would appear that the inheritance of 'male pattern baldness' (MPB) is not through a single gene and so cannot be said to be inherited from either the father or the mother. Instead, it is an example of polygenic inheritance where multiple genes are involved, some of which may be inherited from one parent and some from the other.

One interesting fact is that increasingly severe male pattern baldness is associated with increased chest hair. Reference here

[gedtagius]

As is apparent there are some people who will go bald no matter what they do because of inherited genes etc. The main thing is not to worry about it. Don't let it rule your life.

The one thing that has always stuck in my mind is that you don't see many bald tramps! These poor characters who, for what ever reason, drop out of a so called normal or hygenic existence, generally have a full, thick head of hair! Do we mess about with our hair too much?