Is baldness hereditary?

When I was in primary and secondary schools. I was what you may call a whaz-up boy!” I had a full-grown hair, with regular blow outs, and electric combing. I had the so-called afro-hair. It was the in-thing with friends. We regularly used glatts etc to blow out and jerry curl our hairs.

On gaining admission into a university to read Medicine, what everybody considered a serious course, my life pattern had to change. I had to barb my hair. I had to do a low cut. That was when tragedy struck. I noticed that the frontal hair was not growing as fast as the sides and back. I became apprehensive. Was I growing bald? I wanted to recollect whether my dad whom I left about four months earlier was bald. I knew for certain that he hadn’t the shining armour plate baldness that reflects under the sun, but how could I be bald when my father and elder brother were not. I was quite sure I was my father’s son. I was his carbon copy, so no insinuations. 

There and then I decided to make a journey to Lafia in Plateau State where my dad was, solely to look at his head and hair. On arrival at Lafia I was told my father had just gone home to Igbere in then Imo State, now Abia State. I boarded the train immediately in hot pursuit. The one-million-naira question was “if baldness is hereditary how could I be going bald when my father, in his late 50s, wasn’t? Any explanations.

   On arrival at Igbere I met father with my elder brother who was also home on a visit. While people were hugging and jubilating on my return, I was staring at my father and brother’s hairs. Lord, I thought my father was not bald. Although there was some thinning of the frontal hair. And he was more than 50 years. I was in my late 20s, and already growing bald. That means before I reach 60 years the front of my head will become a Sahara desert. I was bloody worried. My brother’s hairs were still intact. That was when I decided to do a research on baldness. Unfortunately for me, most of the medical books did not discuss baldness adequately.

   I found out that hair is found over the whole surface of the body except the palms, soles and parts of the genitals. There are three types of hair. Scalp hair, body hair and sexual hair. Scalp hair resembles the body hair of other mammals. Human body hair is very fine and usually less pigmented, sexual hair develops around the genitals, armpits and in men the face. Its growth is dependent on the male sex hormones produced by both sexes in puberty. The number of hairs on the body varies between individuals, but on average there are about 100,000 hairs on the head.

   Hair is made out of keratin, a tough type of protein. It grows out of follicles in this skin. All these follicles are established at birth and no new ones are formed later in life. The root of the hair is the only live part of the hair. It grows and pushes the dead hair shaft out of the skin. Hair growth is cyclical with a growth phase, followed by a rest phase, in which the hair in loosened. A new hair then pushes out. About 30 to 100 hair strands are lost from the scalp each day. In an adult scalp the growth phase is about three years, and the rest phase is three months. Hair growth is irregular and at different stages all over the body. Head hair rarely exceeds three feet in length.

   The vast majority of men, who go bald, do so, because of hereditary condition known as androgenic alopecia, more commonly known as male pattern baldness.  According to a Harvard research group, 95 per cent of hair loss in men is caused by androgenic alopecia.

   This inherited trait that tends to give guys a receding hairline and thinning crown is caused by genetic sensitivity to a byproduct of testosterone called dihydro-testosterone (DHT). So how exactly does this hormonal byproduct cause hair loss?

Well, hair follicles that are sensitive to DHT have a tendency to shrink over time. As the affected hair follicles get smaller, the life span of each hair becomes shorter. Eventually the affected follicles stop producing hair, or at least thetype of hair you are used to.

   If you find that your hair is thinning than it used to be, according to Prof. Owen Kramer writing for Healthline magazine, you can draw some comfort from the fact that you are not alone – male pattern baldness affects majority of men at some stage in their lives.

   Approximately 25 per cent of men who have hereditary male pattern baldness start losing their hair before age of 21. By age of 35 approximately, 66 per cent of men will have experienced some degree of hair loss. By the age of 50, approximately 85 per cent of men will have significantly thinner hair.

      Let us look at some of the diseases affecting the scalp. There are two types of dandruff, caused by hair loss. The first affecting 60 percent of the population to a wild degree, takes the form of fine dry scales which fall from the scalp. The second kind which is rarer, takes the form of thick, greasy scales adhering to the scalp.

   The cause of both types is unknown and there is no real cure for dandruff, but there are things that can be done to control it. Washing with ordinary shampoo may not be enough, in which case a medicated shampoo can be used. These shampoos are designed to remove the scales and delay the recurrence of dandruff. Some have a sample antiseptic and others contain stronger chemicals. If none of these succeeds in controlling the dandruff, it may be caused by a skin disorder or some other condition that a doctor can treat.

   If the hairs lost every day from the scalp are not replaced by normal hairs but by fine, downy hair, then baldness will result. This happens in varying degrees to nearly all men and women. 

Hair can be lost for various reasons. Physical ailments that cause hair loss include scars and burns that destroy the hair follicles. Skin disturbances such as dermatitis, psoriasis, or allergic reactions, general bodily ailments, psoriasis, or allergic reactions, general bodily ailments, such as serious anemia, and chemical pollution of the body (as in mercury poisoning).

Hair loss can also be caused by mental stress. This is because hair growth is linked with hormonal production, which in turn is closely linked to ones emotional state. The hair grows back when the period of stress is over.

In the above causes, by treating the illness, hair will usually be restored. But the commonest type of hair loss in male pattern baldness. This is caused by a male hormone influenced by hereditary aging factors. Nothing short of castration can be done about this condition. Not only can it not be reversed but it cannot be stopped or even slowed down by any means so far discovered. 

Hair loss clinics are a large number of clinics suggesting various kinds of treatment, which can include creams, lotions, massage, massaging shampoo and ultraviolet and infra-red radiation. Courses of these treatments are expensive, but there are no known medical grounds for them. In fact there is a risk of being wrongly diagnosed and being given inappropriate treatment for condition that could be dealt with by a physician.

Toupees are the traditional way of concealing hair loss. The hair piece is built from the base shaped to the bald area. Hair is attached to this base and cut to match the rest of the hair. The base can be hard or soft.

The hard type is made from fiberglass or plastic. The soft type is made out of silk cotton. Terylene or nylon netting. Human hair is usually used but animal hair can be added to give a special colour or texture.

The hair piece is fixed onto the scalp with strips of double sided sticky tape. This makes it unlikely to move accidentally.

Hair weaving is another way of covering up baldness. It is also known as hair linking, hair extension and hair replacement. There are two methods.  In the first a hair piece is made in the normal way and then attached to the scalp by stitching the sides of it to normal hair. In the second, threads are strung across the bald area, from one side to the other. The pieces of hair sewn together in clumps, are woven directly into this. In both cases, around the edge of the area to be concealed, the existing hair is gathered and woven into a strengthened line to take the strain off the hair weave. The fitting takes two to four hours.

Hair transplant is a recent technique. Hair follicles are surgically removed from parts where there is abundant hair, and implanted into the bald areas. But there is no guarantee that they will grow in their new location. 

Always be medically guided.

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