Balding Men Research Articles

Alterations in androgen conjugate levels in women and men with alopecia

To assess levels of androgen metabolites thought to reflect, at least in part, peripheral androgen activity in women with androgenic alopecia and men with premature balding in an effort to determine if a common abnormality exists. Prospective study in various groups of women and men. Reproductive Endocrine Clinic at our university medical center. Ten normal ovulatory female controls and 50 hyperandrogenic women divided on the basis of hirsutism and alopecia as follows: [1] 8 hirsute women with androgenic alopecia; [2] 12 nonhirsute women with androgenic alopecia; [3] 18 hirsute women without androgenic alopecia; and [4] 12 nonhirsute women without androgenic alopecia. Ten normal men and 10 young premature balding men matched for age and weight also were compared. Blood was obtained from all subjects. Comparison of blood hormone levels in the various groups. Serum T, androstenedione, and DHEAS were similarly elevated in hyperandrogenic women with and without alopecia, compared with controls. The female groups were then divided on the basis of hirsutism. Hirsute groups with and without alopecia had similarly elevated levels of unconjugated 3 alpha-androstanediol, 3 alpha-androstanediol glucuronide, 3 alpha-androstanediol sulfate, androsterone glucuronide, and androsterone sulfate compared with controls. In the nonhirsute groups, androgenic alopecia patients were compared with hyperandrogenic females and cycling controls. The androgenic alopecia patients had elevated levels of 3 alpha androstanediol (0.75 +/- 0.12 versus 0.46 +/- 0.1 and 0.41 +/- 0.1 nmol/L), 3 alpha-androstanediol sulfate (200 +/- 31 versus 79.6 +/- 6 and 67.0 +/- 4.0 nmol/L), elevated ratios of 3 alpha-androstanediol sulfate:3 alpha-androstanediol (267 +/- 49 versus 170 +/- 20 and 164 +/- 49 nmol/L), elevated ratios of 3 alpha-androstanediol sulfate:3 alpha-androstanediol glucuronide (32.2 +/- 6 versus 10.8 +/- 1 and 10.0 +/- 1) and lower ratios of 3 alpha-androstanediol glucuronide:3 alpha-androstanediol glucuronide (8.3 +/- 1.8 versus 17 +/- 1.7 and 15.2 +/- 1.6 nmol/L). In men the premature balding group had lower levels of 3 alpha-androstanediol glucuronide compared with the male controls (29.8 +/- 4.4 versus 15.2 +/- 1.6 nmol/L). Also, the ratio of 3 alpha-androstanediol glucuronide:3 alpha-androstanediol was significantly decreased, whereas the ratio of 3 alpha-androstanediol sulfate:3 alpha-androstanediol glucuronide was elevated. These data provided evidence confirming that enhanced 5 alpha-reductase activity occurs in androgenic alopecia but also suggests that a disorder of androgen conjugation, favoring sulfurylation over glucuronidation, may be a characteristic feature of scalp hair loss.

The Minigraft Revolution: Can We Keep up Ethically?

Hair transplantation is fast becoming a boom industry. It is being fueled by a high demand for service, a short supply of providers, and a high value of product. As millions of bald or balding men and women are becoming more aware of self-improvement options, hair restoration is rapidly gaining more attention. One of the most significant problem confronting physicians entering the field of hair transplantation is the general unavailability of formal or informal training. The high value placed on the service reflects 1) the new technology of Minigrafting in Megasessions; 2) the general unavailability of trained physician in the art and science of modern hair transplantation techniques; and 3) the increasing demand for service. Physicians are rallying to the demand for service disproportionately to their ability to achieve a quality product. Great care must be taken not to allow one's enthusiasm to exceed one's skills and abilities.

Psychological effects of androgenetic alopecia on women: Comparisons with balding men and with female control subjects

Several studies have examined the psychological impact of androgenetic alopecia on men but scientific evidence is absent regarding its effects on women. Our purpose was to determine the psychosocial sequelae of androgenetic alopecia in women and, comparatively, in men. Subjects were newly referred patients with androgenetic alopecia (96 women and 60 men) and 56 female control patients. Subjects completed standardized questionnaires to assess their psychological reactions to their respective conditions and to measure body image, personality, and adjustment. Androgenetic alopecia clearly was a stressful experience for both sexes, but substantially more distressing for women. Relative to control subjects, women with androgenetic alopecia possessed a more negative body image and a pattern of less adaptive functioning. Specific correlates of the adversity of patients' hair-loss experiences were identified. The results confirm the psychologically detrimental effects of androgenetic alopecia, especially on women. The implications for patient care are discussed.

Bad news for balding men

Bad news for balding men

The psychological effects of androgenetic alopecia in men

Despite the prevalence of androgenetic alopecia among men, little is known about its psychological effects. This investigation examined the psychosocial sequelae that balding men attribute to hair loss and compared balding and nonbalding men in personality functioning. Subjects included 63 men with modest balding, 40 men with more extensive balding, and 42 nonbalding controls. All anonymously completed a battery of standardized psychological measures. Reported effects of balding reflected considerable preoccupation, moderate stress or distress, and copious coping efforts. These effects were especially salient among men with more extensive balding and among younger men, single men, and those with an earlier hair-loss onset. Relative to controls, balding men had less body-image satisfaction yet were comparable on other personality indexes. Personality correlates of the psychological responses to hair loss were identified. Although most men regard hair loss to be an unwanted, distressing experience that diminishes their body image, balding men actively cope and generally retain the integrity of their personality functioning.

The Male Foreheadplasty

Many surgeons remain mistakenly preoccupied with aging in the jowl and neck and often overlook more objectionable changes in the upper face. These changes produce not only an old or aged appearance but also inappropriate expressions. This article outlines the elements of aging in the upper face and details the planning and execution of the foreheadplasty. Topics discussed include upper facial aesthetics, pseudoblepharochalasis, incisions for bald or balding men, and techniques for minimizing scars.

Hair loss and electability: The bald truth

This study probes one particular component of the well documented linkage between personal appearance and impression formation by investigating the extent to which and the mechanisms through which bald and balding men are underrepresented in high elective office. Study 1 compares the prevalence of hair loss among governors and members of Congress, on the one hand, and the general public, on the other, and concludes that officeholders are much more likely to have a full head of hair than would be expected of men of their age. Study 2 poses an experimental test of voter bias against bald and balding candidates by presenting voters in a simulated congressional race with materials depicting otherwise identical candidates in either their natural bald or balding condition or wearing a professionally fitted hairpiece. No voter bias against bald or balding candidates is apparent, a finding that suggests that the causal mechanism underlying underrepresentation of bald and balding men is not voter bias.

Individual Differences in Men's Perceptions of and Reactions to Thinning Hair

Data obtained from 91 American male respondents, ranging in age from 23 to 66 years of age, indicated that a personality trait, public self-consciousness, pertaining to habitual attention to and concern for public self-aspects, was related to both perceptions of men with thinning hair and reactions to one's own thinning hair. Men with high public self-consciousness were not only more likely to believe that balding men were less attractive, but were also more likely to believe that balding men were less desirable romantic partners for women. Furthermore, faced with their own hair loss, they expressed greater concern and were more willing to try prescription hair remedies to grow thicker hair than were their low self-consciousness counterparts. Despite the concern that hair loss appears to cause many men, there was no evidence that the onset of hair loss caused changes in level of public self-consciousness.

Losing Hair, Losing Points?: The Effects of Male Pattern Baldness on Social Impression Formation1

In the voluminous research on the psychology of physical appearance, the psychosocial effects of common male pattern baldness (MPB) have been largely neglected. The present experiment examined the influence of MPB on the initial social perceptions of men by both sexes. Eighteen pairs of photographic slides of balding and nonbalding control men were matched on the actual age, race, and other physical attributes of the men. In a first‐impressions context, 54 men and 54 women rated these stimulus persons on seven dimensions of social perception. MPB caused generally less favorable initial impressions, including lower ratings of physical attractiveness, judgments of less desirable personal and interpersonal characteristics, and misperceptions of age. The moderating effects of perceivers' sex and age and stimulus persons' age were examined, mostly without consequence. The baldness stereotype was substantially attenuated when physical attractiveness was statistically controlled.

The inheritance of common baldness: Two B or not two B ?

So far, it is a widely accepted opinion that androgenetic alopecia is caused by an autosomal dominant gene with reduced penetrance in women. This view is essentially based on a family study performed by Osborn in 1916. She believed that balding men would be either heterozygous (Bb) or homozygous (BB), whereas balding women would be homozygous (BB). By contrast, we here present five arguments favoring a polygenic inheritance of the trait: (1) the high prevalence of the trait, (2) the distribution of balding patterns in the general population along a gaussian curve of variation, (3) the fact that the risk increases with the number of relatives already affected, (4) the slightly increased risk of relatives of severely affected women as compared to the relatives of mildly affected women, and (5) the fact that a predisposition inherited from an affected mother is of greater importance than that inherited from an affected father. In conclusion, the simple mendelian model of Bb and BB can no longer be upheld.

The Metabolism of Dehydroepiandrosterone by Human Scalp Hair Follicles

Human scalp hair follicles of both sexes actively metabolized dehydroepiandrosterone-4-14C or dehydroepiandrosterone-15-3H in vitro. The principal metabolites were 7α-hydroxy-dehydroepiandrosterone, 7-keto-dehydroepiandrosterone, 5-androstene-3β,17β-diol, 4-androstene-3, 17-dione and 5α-androstane-3,17-dione. Testosterone or 5α-dihydrotestosterone were not detectable. Dehydroepiandrosterone-l,2-3H-sulphate was not converted to free dehydroepiandrosterone, but sulphoconjugation of the free steroid occurred to a limited extent. The metabolic activity of the follicular bulbs was several times higher than that of the sheaths. No sex differences were detected in the quality or quantity of the major metabolites isolated. Hair follicles obtained from balding men, however, exhibited severe metabolic deviations from the control pattern of metabolism seen in non-balding individuals.