Can Baldness Be Prevented When You’re a Child?

Can the possibility of genetic balding be prevented when you are still a child? I was trying to find a clue to how balding progresses in our family. i looked at my grandfather’s pictures when he was young and at my father’s pictures too. They are both bald now. I am 22 and i am somewhere between class 2-3 hair loss pattern.

I have a brother who is now only 6 years old. What could be the right way for him to keep his hair, knowing that every man in the family is balding after a certain age (19-20)? Or there is nothing he can do? thanx.

The answer to your question is yes, but not with current technology. Discovery of the human genome has opened a new horizon to treatment of different diseases in humans using gene therapy. Gene therapy one day will treat diseases by manipulating human genes (blocking genes that cause diseases and stimulating necessary genes that are suppressed). Baldness is known to be a disorder with a strong genetic influence. It means that there are genes involved in the balding process and once they are identified and can be ‘fixed’, balding may become a historical notation in human history. In theory, if the gene of balding was found and addressed with genetic tools, we could potentially treat baldness before it started.