Hair Loss And Avoiding Being Fooled

While there are plenty of arguments about appropriateness, the fact remains that human beings place a huge amount of emphasis on physical appearance. This tends to show up as finding specific traits more appealing than others depending on whether a person has XX chromosomes or XY chromosomes.

Hair loss is rare, in that it's one of the few physical traits that can affect any person and is always viewed as unappealing. People may find bald heads physically attractive, and people may find various styles of short hair physically attractive, but very few people find hair loss an especially attractive trait.

What can be done if you're experiencing hair loss? You have a few different options, depending on what kind of hair loss it is and your exact genetic disposition. Either way, there are a few things you should know about hair loss before you try to deal with it.

Hair Loss Is Genetic

While there are certainly some types of chemicals that can make you lose your hair, by and large, hair loss is genetic. It's generally passed on not by the biological parent with an XY chromosome, but by the biological grandparent with an XY chromosome. What's more, it's generally passed through the biological parent with an XX chromosome.

What this means is that "male-pattern baldness" shows up in a person, who then has a child. If that child has an XY chromosome, they genuinely may not have the genes for hair loss. If that child has an XX chromosome, they may or may not have the gene, and that gene may or may not affect them. However, that gene is then passed on to the next offspring with an XY chromosome, who is then affected by the gene.

What this means is that you can generally tell whether or not you're in line to lose your hair by checking whether or not your biological grandparent with an XY chromosome went bald. If they did, then chances are you will also go bald.

Hormones May Affect Speed But Generally Doesn't Start The Process

Many hair loss products make a big deal out of hormones. This is especially true of supplements that claim to help you fight back against hair loss. The problem is, hormones don't work in quite that way.

It's absolutely true that as a person with XX chromosomes gets older, their body produces less estrogen and more testosterone. And it is true that this change can cause loss of hair. But this change in hormones isn't why your hair loss starts. It starts because you're genetically built to lose your hair, the shift in hormones is simply the time in which your body starts doing it.

If you have XY chromosomes, the shift in hormones is completely unrelated. Increased testosterone is linked to the rapidity of hair loss, and testosterone production decreases as people with XY chromosomes get older.