Why do so many men go bald?

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Why is baldness so common in men, yet so rare in women? Why can't men preserve their hair as well as women?

Simple, I heard that male pattern baldness is due to the effects of testosterone.

I've heard that too, basicly the more testosterone = higher risk of geting bald.

That's what I've read in medical textbooks. It's also heritable, so family will offer clues about a man's probability of experiencing male pattern baldness.

Or to put it another way, they lose their hair because they're just that manly. So manly in fact that their hair can't handle it and has to leave them for a woman.

It is a sex linked gene on the X chromosome of the male. There is no counterpart gene on the Y chromosome to offset it. For femaies to be bald the gene has to be on both their X chromosomes.

Male pattern baldness is inherited from the mother's side. So if the women has a bald father, there is a fifty percent chance that her sons will have pattern baldness. The women has pattern baldness, all her son's will have the condition too.

ruveyn

It's related to hormone called di-hydro-testosterone. It's made from 'regular' testosterone, by conversion through some enzyme in the body. Since women have less testosterone there's less DHT, and so fewer dying hair follicles. There's also hereditary factors also that influence how severe it will be.

And sometimes women do have hair loss that way -- the thing is a woman can take powerful testosterone blockers with few side effects. In a male, that would result in chemical castration. There's some drugs that block the T --> DHT converting enzyme but I don't know if they're really proven to work.