Are Female Balding and Male Balding the Same Thing?

Male and female pattern baldness, or Androgenetic alopecia, are caused by the same thing but usually have different clinical presentations. You may have noticed that men usually go bald from front to back, with hair on the sides and back of their head remaining the longest. Women, on the other hand, most often have a gradual thinning of hair, with actual baldness occurring only on the top and sides of the head.

Androgenetic Alopecia

The actual name for male and female pattern baldness explains a lot about the condition. Alopecia is used to describe balding or thinning of hair, fur, or feathers. The 'andro' in androgenetic is short for androgen, which is an umbrella term for male hormones. And 'genetic' in androgenetic refers to the fact that this condition has a hereditary basis. So when you put it all together it means hereditary hair loss that is caused by androgens.

Elaborating on Androgens

Actually, androgens aren't directly responsible for male and female pattern baldness. The real trouble starts when an androgen - testosterone, specifically - gets metabolized (chemically altered) by the enzyme 5-alpha reductase into dihydrotestosterone, or DHT. Now you may feel like that last sentence went completely over your head, so instead think of it like this: a little machine turns testosterone into DHT, much like an oven turns dough into bread. DHT is essentially a hair follicle destroyer. When it binds to a receptor on hair follicles the follicles gradually become narrower. Any hair that emerges from the narrowed follicle will be thinner. Over time, continuous exposure to DHT causes a hair follicle to become so narrow that a hair can no longer sprout from it. If this inhibited growth occurs over a wide enough area, baldness results.

Differences between Male and Female Androgenetic Alopecia

While both male and female androgenetic alopecia are caused by the presence of DHT, the extent or pattern of baldness in each gender are determined by different things. Women have a much more active metabolic mechanism which can protect them from excessive hair loss: the metabolism of androgens into estrogen.

• Cytochrome P-450 Aromatase: this is the enzyme (or little machine) responsible for converting androgens into estrogens. The concentration of this enzyme is six times higher in the frontal follicles of women in comparison with men. As a result, women often maintain hair growth along the front line of their hair.

• Alpha-5 Reductase: since this enzyme is responsible for the synthesis of DHT, its increased concentration causes a greater extent of hair loss. Women have approximately 3 times less alpha-5 reductase along their frontal hair line, further contributing to the salvation of women's frontal hair.

• Androgen Receptors: also remember that androgen receptors must be present on a follicle in order for DHT to cause its damaging effects. The frontal hair follicles of men contain 40% more androgen receptors than those of women, providing a third reason why men often lose their front hair first.

Sources: http://www.follicle.com/section2/2.html http://www.webmd.com/skin-beauty/guide/hair-loss-causes http://www.hairlossinformation.com/hair-loss-in-women/androgenetic-alopecia-women.shtml

[sniplet HairMax MD for Women]