Male pattern hair loss is perhaps the most feared type of balding and/or thinning.
If you are currently experiencing this condition you are not alone; some believe the number could be over 70 million in the United States alone.
It impacts primarily men though one in four women will eventually fall prey.
Ironically, male pattern hair loss is not a disease or an illness which a person can be vaccinated against.
Instead it is inherited, and in many ways it is simply an unwanted acceleration of the natural hair replacement cycle driven by genetics and hormones.
The average human scalp is inundated with approximately 100,000 hairs each of which emerges from a sac like pouch called a follicle.
In a person not experiencing any type of balding or thinning about 100 hairs a day are lost only to replaced by new growth.
But for those who are gradually falling under the spell of male pattern hair loss the number of hairs being replaced does not keep up with the number of hairs lost leading to balding.
The speed of the balding process depends entirely on the degree of imbalance.
The imbalance is caused by the accumulation of the androgen hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT) deep within the hair follicle.
It often takes years before the damage is recognized, and at this point perhaps 30 percent or more of all existing hair follicles have been either damaged or rendered incapable of producing new growth.
In men male pattern hair loss is follows a very predicate blueprint.
Balding is first seen on the top of the head or around the forehead.
A receding hair line which forms an M pattern is almost always present.
Some men only lose a portion of their hair but for others the balding is severe on top.
The group who experiences the most severe balding are those whose hair loss began early in life, perhaps in their teens or early twenties.
For females the pattern is much different, less extreme, and generally begins later in life; though not always.
Male pattern hair loss in women begins on top as well but is normally seen as an overall thinning without the much feared receding hair line.
Though not completely understood it is thought that the difference in patterns has to do with a different configuration of hormone receptors and enzymes in the scalp.
Lower levels of blood testosterone also are a major factor.
What Next? There are currently a handful of hair re-growth products (specially formulated for both men and women) which have been proven effective both in blocking harmful hormones and bringing the all important dead hair follicles back to life.
These specially formulated treatments can be used both as a preventative tool, starting before hair loss becomes severe, or after loss of hair has become noticeable.
Whatever the level of balding or thinning you are experiencing these products could be just what is needed to overcome this latest life challenge.