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Hair Loss

How to Figure Out if You’ll Go Bald

There’s a common notion that, for men, if you want to figure out whether you’ll go bald, you can just look at your mother’s father.

If he was bald, the thinking goes, you’ll be bald too. If he wasn’t, you’re safe.

As it turns out, genetic research tells us that the complete picture is somewhat more complicated — but this idea isn’t too far off.

Male pattern baldness does appear to be mainly determined by genes. And if you’re a man, some of the primary genes that determine your hair loss over time do tend to come from your maternal grandfather (mothers dad) — although other genes from all of your parents and grandparents also play a role.

Facts:

  • 95% of men’s hair loss is genetic.
  • Genes determine 80% of male pattern baldness.

Of course, very few of your physical traits are determined by a single gene, and baldness is no exception. Over the past few decades, researchers have uncovered several different genes that appear to be involved.

The single gene most strongly associated with baldness is on the X chromosome (from your mother).

Research has shown that not all of the baldness-related genes are on the X chromosome — there are 11 other genetic sequences of varying importance identified so far. You inherited these chromosomes from your mother (X) and father (Y), who inherited them from their mothers and fathers.

All these genes interact in complex ways that we don’t yet totally understand to increase or decrease the chance of male pattern baldness. So simply having the baldness genes on one’s X chromosome is no guarantee of going bald, and not having them isn’t a sign you’re safe either.

So you can get a rough idea of your chance of baldness by just looking at both your maternal grandfather and your father’s scalps.

Basically, one bald guy = BAD. Two bald guys = WORSE.

Bear in mind that 20% of guys who experience male pattern hair loss can’t pinpoint the hair loss to their mother’s or father’s side of the family. So if there’s no visible hair loss in the family, it doesn’t mean you’re out of the woods. 

If you suspect you’re losing an excessive amount of hair and you’re starting to notice areas of thinning hair on the scalp, don’t live in denial. Get it checked out by a qualified practitioner. 

Although you can successfully treat male pattern hair loss, prevention of further hair loss is much easier than regrowing hair lost hair. So the sooner you take action, the better the outcome.

Not sure if you’re experiencing male pattern hair loss?

Click this link and get your free assessment by a qualified doctor.