Absolutely no one in my family is bald except for one uncle who went bald at like the age of 40. I’m 19 and my hair is getting thinner. I’ve always had thinning hair but now its getting worse. I don’t think it’s genetic and the only thing i can think that’s causing my hair loss is that I’m a gym rat and possibly be the whey protein I take daily – could this possibly be affecting my DHT levels? If any of you guys can give me any kind of feedback it will be much appreciated.

This question was posed by a hair loss sufferer seeking hair loss help on our hair restoration forum and answered by Dr. Brandon Ross of LaJolla, CA who is one of our recommended hair restoration physicians. His professional answer is below.

Hair loss is really a crapshoot. Genetics plays a huge role, of course. But it is possible to have everyone in your family have no loss, while you have tons, and vice versa. There are multiple genes involved in male pattern baldness, so it is not easy to predict who will get the loss and who won’t. Some of the genes reside on the X chromosome, which explains why people try to look at “their mother’s side of the family” for clues.

If you are a guy, you have 1 X chromosome, which you got from your mom. But the problem is, you can’t just go and look at her dad and expect to have similar loss. There is only a 50% chance that you got that chromosome, because your mom had 2 different ones to potentially pass along. You would have to evaluate everyone from that side of the family including history of hair loss for any valuable information.

There are other factors which also can lead to hair loss, such as endocrine disorders (i.e. thyroid, etc). Certainly anabolic steroids make one very prone to balding rapidly. However, simply working out a lot will not significantly elevate your DHT levels or cause you to experience hair loss.

Bottom line is you probably still have male pattern baldness with DHT as your culprit. However, it would be a good idea to go to your primary care doctor at some point for a check up and basic labs (which would check your thyroid, anemia, etc.)

Dr. Brandon Ross

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Bill – aka Falceros
Associate Publisher of the Hair Transplant Network and the Hair Loss Learning Center
View my Hair Loss Weblog

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