seriously, wtf is up with it? I could understand general baldness or general thinning of the hair, but what the hell is up with the pattern?
do we have any idea what this derives from? could it be a neutral mutation that was coupled to a really good one? I know we can’t tell from fossils, but do we have any idea how long this has been going on?
It is caused by male hormones which is why balding men (such as myself) are also very sexually driven and incredibly good lovers. (please help me spread the word)
yeah, but most other male animals have male hormones too. have you ever seen a slightly balding bull?
According to this site, it’s not ordinary testosterone that causes the problem, but a substance called Five Dihydrotestosterone (5DHT), made when an enzyme attaches itself to testosterone. Whether you lose your hair seems to depend on whether your hair folicles are sensitive to 5DHT. An element of genetics is involved. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the baldness drug Finasteride works by preventing the production of dihydrotestosterone. Some believe that the herb saw palmetto works the same way. Dihydrotestosterone is necessary for the maturation of sperm cells.
Sailor brings up a endocrinology question that I have wondered about. Does frequent sex increase testosterone levels or reduce them? Does sexual satiety reduce the hormone and its effect on your brain (and also on your scalp I am thinking)? Would abstinence increase the levels of the hormone, effecting your brain (constantly thinking about It) and, as a side effect, making you grow bald from elevated levels on your scalp. Or is it the other way around?
I doubt it has any link to how often you get any. But while we’re on the subject, why the pattern? Why should the hair be sensitive in the tonsure, but not on the sides? Why a receding hairline? If there is a difference in the sensitivity of those follicles to 5DHT, it immediately leads to the question of why that sensitivity should be distributed in such a seemingly arbitrary pattern.
yeah. me temples are receding, but that’s about it. but i know i’ll go bald at some point. i really don’t care, not gonna use any drugs or anything (I’ll waste my money on smokes, not propecia, thank you very much).
I just wish it didn’t take all of the good useful hair. I’d much rather have the negative happen, so all old men wind up looking like eraserhead.
jb
p.s.- wouldn’t dogs look funny if they had male patter baldness too? just hair from the top of their heads. hee hee, i really think that’s a funny image.
I don’t know the answer to any of these, but my mom told me that frequent masturbating would lead to hair growth…
on my palms!
BAHAHAHAHA! Nice one, Lance.
There was a time in my life when I was horribly oversexed-- I’m talking like five times a day, every day, for a couple of years. I became an agressive little asshole, I grew some muscles I didn’t know I had, and my hair thinned slightly, although it grew back later when my Scandinavian sex-mistress moved on to presumably bigger and better things. I think that constant sex does raise testosterone levels, at least for me.
It was pretty funny when, after a couple of months sans my fellow hobbyist, I noticed that I had a pseudo-fro of inch long hairs standing straight out of my head around my pony tail. It proved the point to me, convincingly.
No one really knows why the pattern is. That’s just like asking why we have two arms.
no, cuz we have two arms and two legs, which is an adaptation of the forelimbs and hindlegs which many other animals have.
but no other animals go Curly Joe DeRita bald like we do. and women don’t do it either.
Women go bald, although not as early and not as frequently as men do. It usually doesn’t happen in a pattern, but more like a general thinning out of their hair.