Wishing for Male Pattern Baldness

[Susan Beausang]

I’ve wasted so much time wishing my hair would grow back.  I’m done with it.  I don’t even want it to grow back because it just falls out again and I have to ride the same old roller coaster.  So I have a new wish.  Here it is: I wish I had male pattern baldness.

No, it’s not because I’d prefer to be a bald man.  Male pattern baldness (also known as androgenetic alopecia) is an equal opportunity hair thief, causing hair loss among women as well.  Instead of the fun of roving bald spots that come with alopecia areata, male pattern baldness tends to cause all-over thinning, but much more extreme on top, often leading to that telltale horseshoe ring of hair.  No, I’m not pining for that.

What I want is the cure!  Word has it that a researcher (my former dermatologist up in PA no less) has found the likely culprit, a protein that in high levels on the scalp blocks hair growth.  The next step is said to be the search for a compound that can block the protein receptor.  If they’re able to do so, it’s unknown whether such a compound would be able to reverse balding or simply prevent balding.

Though I’ll never really get my wish, I will be no less elated if they find a topical treatment that reverses such hair loss, not as mom to a son with male pattern baldness.  And anyone with alopecia areata takes heart from such a discovery as it fuels our hope that someday soon there just might be a cure for our hair loss.

Susan Beausang, 4women.com