A Crystal Ball for Baldness?

If it were possible to know when I was to die, I’ve often wondered if I’d actually want to know. There are positives and negatives to that knowledge – a list too long to list here – but ultimately I think I’d rather not know.

There is one thing that I would like to know, though, and I’m fairly certain everyone would like to know as well: Will I wind up losing my hair?

Of course, this question is moot for many people, particularly those men whose hairline now resembles a horse shoe or whose widow’s peak is becoming increasingly prominent. But because hair loss is genetic, being able to predict hair loss would likely come as welcome news for teenagers and young men who could carry on the family name, not the family hairline, by taking proactive steps to keep their hair intact.

Now, it’s true, there are no surefire ways in which to prevent hair loss, but researchers have identified specific genes that are believed to be linked to future male pattern baldness. These identifications could lead to more proactive ways to treat baldness.

According to BBC News, a team of international researchers analyzed DNA samples from approximately 5000 men, half of whom were balding, the other half having full heads of hair. Among the men, they found that one gene was particularly common among those balding, the androgen receptor gene. This gene has been linked with male pattern baldness in the past through previous studies, but they also identified another gene among the men who were balding. That gene is called chromosome 20, a gene that researchers say people get from both their mother and father, perhaps explaining why young men are told to look toward their father and grandfather to know how and in what way they will start to lose their hair (if in fact their father and grandfather are bald, of course).

It is these two genes – androgen receptor and chromosome 20 – that were most often found on the DNA samples of the men that had male-pattern baldness. So prevalent were these two genes, in fact, that as many as one in seven of those going bald had these two genes. The researchers’ findings are published in the journal Nature Genetics.

Now, as I mentioned, there’s no surefire way in which to prevent hair loss. There’s certainly no surefire way to grow hair back (despite what the latest hair replacement infomercial may say) other than through hair replacement surgery or unattractive hair plugs. This finding should lead to some improved sort of treatment for hair loss, but these treatments are likely not right around the corner.

In the meantime, there are a number of natural remedies one can adopt in his (or her) own life to help prevent hair loss or to help stave off the rapidity of dying follicles. You can find out more about these natural methods in my article titled “9 Herbal and Nutritional Remedies to Halt Hair Loss.”