Posted by Just Carol (other posts) on December 03, 2016 at 00:21:08 Previous Next
In Reply to: A Question on Future Baldness [PIC] posted by Joe on December 01, 2016 at 11:30:35:
There isn't really an easy answer, just a lot of old wives tales. My father was bald all through my childhood. But my two uncles (his brothers) have full heads of hair. I have 4 brothers, the older 2 have significant hair-loss similar to my dad's. The 2 younger don't, though the 2nd youngest has some thinning on the crown, he's 54 yo. He hasn't had any loss beyond that. There is Native American on my father's side (Iroquois Mohawk), and you generally don't see baldness among NA's.
The simple answer is, there is no way to know, short of a DNA analysis. If you were to go fairly bald, I would think the signs would be showing by know. Look at Prince William, he's inherited what is called the Windsor Curse, but brother Harry is a full-haired ginger. William's hair really began receding when he was 28, plus his crown thinned.
I think you would have seen a fairly receding hairline in the front, if you have the so-called 'balding genes'. But you could develop crown thinning, like my brother. Crown thinning is the easiest type to treat, OTC minoxidil is highly effective in treating crown baldness, especially if you start using it at the earliest sign of thinning. But it isn't very effective at treating a receding from the front of the scalp & sideburns. Finasteride or Dutasteride (available by prescription only) _may_ help.
I would say that the longer time goes by, that you don't notice any change, the more likely you don't have the classic baldness gene. If you are going to have crown thinning only, that's unlikely to show until you reach your 40's, and you can stop it with daily minoxidil topical liquid or foam. In that case, you've got a good 5 to 12 years before you have to worry about crown thinning. By then, there might be better treatments - laser light has been very promising.
Come back and share your findings in 5 to 12 years - I'm sure the MLHH will still be around.