More young men are balding now

[Guest]

This may be news to some people but news to myself and others on here.

Around college campuses, including mine, I see so many men who are balding. Men my age, early twenties, some late teens. I would say that i can spot hair loss in 25-30% of guys on my campus. Some have shaved their heads but I can still see the gray scalp where hair used to be and the receded hairlines. I do see more hairline and temple recession than crown recession, but there is plenty of both to go around.

I know college had a thread on this awhile back, but maybe we could discuss the reasons here further, because I don't think we came to any conclusions why.

 

[dem]

I think as balding people here, its almost as if we are trained to see spot these things. I know that I certainly have been more aware of younger men who are thinning. I've been an undergrad, researcher and currently a grad student now on a college campus for nine years and have definately noticed my fair share of younger men loosing their hair.

One thing we should be aware of is that a college campus is very diverse. There are many people from all over the world. I personally have noticed that more foreigners actually suffer from hairloss than young white men. This is jsut my take. I too have come from a european culture and since balding at an early age, I definately was hoping not to be the only one suffering.

 

[joe32]

maybe its because of all the pollution..
or maybe its because of the media..hmmm :hairy:

 

[Guest]

dem my campus is pretty homogenously white and native born American. I can't comment on foreigners and minorities because there aren't many on campus but I can comment that a lot of whites I know are losing their hair and losing it early.

 

[shetdedo]

hey do u go to school in mobile?

 

[CCS]

in order to say more men are balding early, we must know how many were balding before, which we don't.

but I see plenty of hair loss on campus. my physics instructer is a very young, handsom stud and is a diffuse NW5, though he still acts confident.

funny that we have propecia now but it seems more people are going bald. Maybe we did not notice as kids because we had hair then and did not care, but now notice and think it is more common.

I just tried talking 3 guys into getting on propecia in the last two days. Both said they were content just going bald. they would prefer it if they kept their hair, but they are affraid propecia will have long term side effects or won't work. I spent 10 minutes of my time on each explaining the biology. It was just a big waste. At least I know that they have the info.

another guy told me I should just accept the fact that i'm going bald. this was one of my friends, and a very intelligent one with perfect genetics. He thought that all treatments are snake oil.

 

[Guest]

you're right that it's tough to quantify how many were balding before compared to now. it doesn't make sense that there would be an increase.

 

[Guest]

hey do u go to school in mobile?

no i'm from New York.

 

[CCS]

the biggest differences we have are less non-hydrogenated fats and more UV rays. I don't know what else would contribute.

 

[Felk]

I'd say it's to do with insulin resistance being so much more common these days.

Hell, girls hit puberty on average 1.5 years earlier than their mothers did, and 2 years earlier than their grandmothers did. Something is changing hormones for a lot of people, and I'm sure it's the insulin resistance epidemic.

 

[Guest]

The thing about women is due to diet today. Many children are more overweight now and larger bodyfat equates to more estrogen. Hence earlier menstrual cycle. Maybe we are all going bald earlier because we are fatter than our dads were at this age.

 

[Guest]

felk can you tell me what insulin resistance means?

 

[Guest]

Maybe we are all going bald earlier because we are fatter than our dads were at this age.

i doubt it. i see plenty of fat people my age on campus with a full head of hair, and i also see plenty of guys in the gym where i work out who are nw4's in their early 20s.

 

[porajj]

An assload of French foreign students at my school are bald or near it.

Hell, I dont even think I know one that still has all of his hair....

 

[pratc]

I read somewhere that the Germans were worst for balding early then the UK. To get an idea if things are worsening you could look at old photos and newspaper pictures for a non-scientific sample.

 

[kalbo]

I've heard a theory numerous times before, it's in relation to younger people reaching puberty earlier so I think it would also apply to hairloss. The theory is that because of the growth hormones we digest from eating our genetically modified foods, we're developing much more quicker than we should. And it's appears to be true considering the young teens who're more sexually active nowadays.

 

[Armando Jose]

Is the lenght of hair a key?

Did you noticed a difference incidence of male pattern baldness in guys with short hair or long hair?

It is possible a relation between hair lenght and the incidence of common baldness in my opinion.

In this study (*) scientist pointed out that people with high density and hair more thicker are less prone to develope male pattern baldness, and possibly with a longer hair.

Armando

(*) Natural progression of male pattern baldness in young men.
* Rushton DH,
* Ramsay ID,
* Norris MJ,
* Gilkes JJ.

School of Pharmacy & Biomedical Sciences, Portsmouth Polytechnic, UK.

Twenty-six men who presented with male pattern baldness (androgen-dependent alopecia), were quantitatively evaluated for scalp hair variables and compared with 13 age-matched controls. Compared to controls, significant mean differences for hair variables were found in the frontal-vertex area, while in the occipital area, a reduction in total hair density (hairs/cm2) was the only significant (P less than 0.05) finding. A large proportion (48.5%) of meaningful hair (non-vellus hair) was less than or equal to 40 mm in length, yet had diameters similar to hairs growing much longer. In controls, these hairs accounted for only 12.2% of the total population. Compared to baseline, mean values from the frontal-vertex area of subjects with androgen-dependent alopecia were significantly lower for total hair density, meaningful hair density (non-vellus hairs/cm2) and percentage of hair in the anagen growth phase, 12 and 24 months later. During this time, total hair density decreased by 6.5% after 12 months and by 11.9% after 24 months. Similarly, meaningful hair density declined at 12 months by 10.8% and by 22.7% after 24 months. No change in any hair variable was detected in controls after 12 or 24 months. Our findings suggest that medications capable of maintaining the existing hair population should be regarded as effective treatments for this condition. Left untreated androgen-dependent alopecia progressively deteriorates. The induction of non-vellus hairs less than or equal to 40 mm in length to grow longer, would substantially improve the aesthetic profile without the need to generate new hair.

PMID: 1934570 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

 

[Armando Jose]

An excerpt of the cited study:

In controls, for example, the percentage ofnonvellus
hairs <40 mm in length was 12.2o/o( range 5.7-
2l'5o/), while in subjects with androgen-dependent
alopecia, the mean frequency of these hairs was 4g.0o/o
(range 8.0-84.2%). Should it be possible to induce these
hairs to grow longer, either by increasing the rate of
protein synthesis or prolonging the anagen phase, then
the aesthetic profile could be significantly changed
without the need to generate any new hair. This aspect
has received little or no specific attention and warrants
further investigation.


Armando

 

[Bryan]

Is the lenght of hair a key?

Did you noticed a difference incidence of male pattern baldness in guys with short hair or long hair?

Armando, you and Stephen Foote just never give up, do you?

Bryan

 

[powersam]

JayMan - Insulin resistance is when your body becomes insensitive to insulin. ie/ the things which are meant to measure and control insulin levels don't do it so well anymore so your body produces far more than it should. It results in high insulin levels after eating and drinking, which in turn cause high glucose levels. insulin levels have been shown to effect cortisol levels and androgen production.