John J. Bannan
Registered Senior Member
Why would the body give us a head of hair and then take it away? P.S. I'm not bald.
Why do people go bald?
- Thread starter John J. Bannan
- Start date
Maybe its better to ask why the body chooses to giive us very little body hair at all.
John J. Bannan
Registered Senior Member
No. The body starts out giving us very little body hair, and it generally stays that way. However, to give hair on the head and then take it away seems very odd. Isn't head hair to protect us from the sun and keep our head warm in winter etc. Why take it away when those functions are still necessary?
Hair loss is linked with testosterone, so why inhibit an important chemical to reproduction when we have given up most of our hair and can clothe our bodies anyway?
John J. Bannan
Registered Senior Member
Exactly. Why should some people lose their hair? Doesn't make sense.
wouldn't the comb over keep your slaphead warm?
John J. Bannan
Registered Senior Member
Doesn't look like it would from the picture.
Although there can be a number of psysiological problems that cause baldness (including some environmental things) the primary cause is genetic. There are a few labs that are working on it from a genetic standpoint - few - because it's not really considered all that important.
It's worse than you think. Not only does the hair on top of your head start to fall out, but hair starts growing in all kinds of places you never had it before and don't want it.
It's like the hair is getting lost and keeps popping up anywhere but where you want it. (ie your ears, your back, your eyebrows start to grow, it's bizarre.)
I remember the first time the barber asked if he should trim my eyebrows. I was like, "My eyebrows? You don't need to cut my eyebrows. WTF?" Then he handed me the little mirror and I realized they needed to be trimmed!
Have you seen Andy Rooney? His eyebrows hand down past his nose! Apparently nobody ever told him to trim those things.
But to answer the question, we go bald because hair on our head is not needed for survival. Nature is lazy. If it can get by without producing hair, all the better. We only have hair at all because it was once needed for survival.
Sure, cue ball.
I think the question is why has male pattern baldness been naturally selected? Is there, or was there, some survival advantage that accompanied it? It doesn't happen to all men, and though some women lose their hair, they don't the way that men do (hence the name male pattern baldness).
The hormone that causes it is dihydrotestosterone, not standard testosterone. I don't know if bald men have higher levels of DHT than other men, or more sensitive hair follicles. But there are plenty of men who have more than adequate testosterone levels who do not go bald.
Maybe it is similar to teenaged acne. All teenagers go through puberty, and the sudden increase in hormones. Some have no acne at all, most a little, and some unfortunates have a terrible reaction, and end up with permanently disfiguring breakouts. This generally ends before the prime reproductive years begin; so even though it will put women off while it is happening, it is usually long gone by the age at which one would most likely reproduce. So the trait gets passed on.
Most men have reproduced before male pattern baldness becomes too noticeable.
The hormone that causes it is dihydrotestosterone, not standard testosterone. I don't know if bald men have higher levels of DHT than other men, or more sensitive hair follicles. But there are plenty of men who have more than adequate testosterone levels who do not go bald.
Maybe it is similar to teenaged acne. All teenagers go through puberty, and the sudden increase in hormones. Some have no acne at all, most a little, and some unfortunates have a terrible reaction, and end up with permanently disfiguring breakouts. This generally ends before the prime reproductive years begin; so even though it will put women off while it is happening, it is usually long gone by the age at which one would most likely reproduce. So the trait gets passed on.
Most men have reproduced before male pattern baldness becomes too noticeable.
Dragon: Just by posting the anagen cycle does not in any way support your hypothesis that hair loss is due to a shorter anagen cycle. The best hypthosesis that I have heard seems to be a decrease in testosterone levels with age. This is very logical and makes sense. Can anyone else back this up? On a related note - regarding fur shedding in dogs - the convential theory says that it is due to melatonin secretion from the pineal gland, but if it is only regulated seasonally (temperature and light), then what causes the cycle for dogs to shed their hair in near equatorial regions where the variation in sunlight and temperature would remain about constant and thus so would melatonin levels. Could testosterone also partially account for canine fur shedding?
HHmm, once again, you ask what is a silly question, and demonstrate some knowledge related to the topic, yet apparently fail to carry out the simply internet search that would enable you to complete your understanding of the topic.
Also, what do you mean by "take away from us"? That is a teleological statement that has no place in scientific discussion.