Androgenetic Alopecia

I have a couple of questions about androgenetic alopecia.

1. How fast can the onset of AGA be? Is it possible to have AGA and notice dramatic loss/thinning within a three-month period or less, without any previous awareness of a problem?
2. Can AGA involve some patchy hair loss, in addition to the thinning hair? Or would the patches have to be due to a separate disorder happening at the same time?

Thanks very much.

AGA is often first noticed after 50% or more of the hair loss has already occurred. This is unfortunately a common finding. Men deny or refuse to see the hair loss in its earliest stages. It is not something normal men look at unless they are unusually primed by balding in the family or amongst friends.

Patchy hair loss can be associated with diseases and should be looked at by a good hair doctor or dermatologist. The two can happen at the same time, but the diseases that produce patchy hair loss must be diagnosed.