Why do men go bald but not many women do?
Snappy Tue 16/11/04 14:51
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Male pattern baldness is most often caused by an excess of testosterone - the male hormone - produced in their bodies. the condition is usually hereditary. Because testosterone is a male hormone, the myth has arisen that bald men are more virile - and myth it is (I'm sad to say!) Occasional hair loss can occur as a result of stress, or a change in hormone levels, and this can affect women, sometimes after childbirth, but it is usually temporary, and responds to treatment. the other cause is alopecia - the inability of the body to grow hair anywhere - the most famous sufferer of this condition is Duncan Goodhew, former swimmer.
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I never knew that about Duncan Goodhew, I thought he did that to streamline himself. Does that sound stupid? I never thought to assume any different.
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I thought Duncan Goodhew fell out of a tree causing all his hair to fall out.
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I thought that too j2buttonsw. Perhaps that triggered alopecia? Can that happen?
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Duncan Goodhew did fall out of a tree as a child, and his body's reaction caused alopecai to develop. It's a reasonable assumption that he shaved his bodyhair as a swimmer, although during his career, shaving all hair was far less common that it is now - Mark Spitz won a fist full olf gold medals sporting a bouffant hairstyle and Zapatta moustache any 70's adult film star would envy!
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Make that alopeacia - typing trouble.
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Old Chinese Proverb: Grass does not grow on a busy street.
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I have read that baldness can be caused not by an excess of testosterone but by a conversion of testosterone into dihidotestosterone - an excess of testosterone would lead baldy people to be, in general, bigger and stronger than their hirsute brethern - which clearly isn't the case.
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Alopeica is horrible whoever has it. My brother got alopecia when he was 13 and everyone at school thought he had leukaemia. He hated it for years, but now, at 22, he actually really suits a skinhead.
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