Where Does the Hair Loss Gene Come From?

I am 23 years years old and have been losing hair since a litte before I turned 20, but only in the form of a receding hair line. Aside from my fairly quickly receding hair line, the rest of my head, including the crown, remains covered with thick hair. Would taking Propecia be a waste of time at this point since it supposedly does not help in the temple region? Should I just wait until I start losing hair on the top and crown of my head before I start taking it? Is there anything I can do to slow the progession of the receding hair line? Also does the hair loss gene come soley from one of your grandfathers, or is the state of your hair a result of a variety of genes from one side of your family? I ask this because one of my grandfathers died with a full of head hair in his late 70’s and one was completely bald in his thirties. Given that I am experiencing hair loss at such an early age it is obvious that I am taking after the side with the balding grandfather. Does this mean that I’m undoubtedly destined to suffer complete hair loss if I do not take action? Thank you.

If you are losing hair now, you should start Propecia now. The longer you wait, the worse the genetic toll will become if you are prone to it. You will not bald any further than your genetic pattern, but alas, no one knows the genetic pattern of anybody until you finish balding. A good doctor can do some estimating based upon the degree of small hair (miniaturized hair) in the areas that to your naked eye look normal. Many times what you see is not what is really there.

We can inherit it from anyone in either side of the family, male or female. The gene can skip generations, so sometimes people can not identify a balding person in their family. If you take after one of your family members in pattern and age of loss, it is more possible that you may be like him. There is no way to determine that final pattern, as I said above, but you can control it if you treat it with Propecia early and then get transplants to return what was lost. Between the two, people are often able to control what they look like.