If you are a man in your late teens or early twenties experiencing hair loss or a receding hairline, you are not alone. It is actually a rather common occurrence. You might have heard family members joke about how baldness runs in the family. Nevertheless, the jokes are probably not very funny to you.
It is important to understand why this is happening. Hair loss is mostly linked to an increase in dihydrotestosterone, also called DHT, in the body. DHT forms after direct contact between enzymes known as 5-alpha reductase and testosterone. DHT then binds to the receptor sites on the scalp and hair follicles. DHT hair loss occurs when the hormone actually takes over the receptor cell. Since cells on the hair follicle bind to the DHT, they send false signals to the cells responsible for typical hair growth. This interrupts the normal three-phase process: growth, shedding and resting. This cycle can take up to six years to complete, but DHT causes shedding in abundance of growth.
After the hair recedes, men often find hair loss on the crown of the head, then the vertex, or top, of the scalp. This occurs because of a concentration of sweat glands that carry DHT to these specific areas. If some of your extended family members lost hair early in life, do not panic. There is medicine that blocks the DHT in your body. Additionally, consider a hair transplant to address the hair lost due to DHT.
