Could My Diabetes Be Causing My Neck Hair to Thin?

Dear Dr. Rassman,
I’m a 55 year old male in good health with the exception of being a type 1 diabetic. I have been using propecia and rogaine for 10 years with very good results and have maintained almost all of what I started with.

Here’s my question. My hair is thin at the nape of my neck. I can pull on it and 5 or 10 hairs will come out each time. I don’t think I have DUPA because I cannot see any change in my crown,vertex or hairline. I have read on your site that this type of loss is genetic. I know you prefer not to diagnose online but could the diabetes have anything to do with it? my A1c is 7.5 to 8.0 which I know is an the high side – Thanks

I doubt that the diabetes is causing your neck hair loss. I have seen men over the years (in airports, on the streets, in shopping centers, etc) who have lost just their neck hair and not their scalp hair, so I believe that this is a genetic trait in these men. I suspect that the number of hair cycles your neck hair has is limited and those hairs develop apoptosis (meaning that they have reached the end of their lifetime); if this is the case, there’s not much you can do. Perhaps applying minoxidil to the area will cause new hair growth? Also, I agree with you — it doesn’t sound like it is DUPA if it is limited to the nape.