Hair loss: Dr Ranj discusses causes of male pattern baldness

Androgenetic alopecia is a common form of hair loss in men and women, also known as male-pattern baldness or female-pattern baldness. Do you have trademarks signs of this condition?

MedlinePlus stated: “Hair is lost in a well-defined pattern.” In men with male-pattern baldness, the hair loss begins above both temples.

Over time, the hairline recedes to form a characteristic “M” shape, and hair also thins at the crown (the top of the head).

Eventually, this form of hair loss will progress to partial or complete baldness.

Female-pattern baldness, on the other hand, is classified as hair thinning all over the head.

Androgenetic alopecia in women rarely leads to total baldness, and the hairline doesn’t recede.

Should you have this condition, would laser therapy be a good treatment option for you?

Published in the journal Lasers in Medical Science, three researchers have gone out of their way to answer this question.

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For their investigation, they enrolled 40 participants who have androgenetic alopecia – 20 men and 20 women.

The volunteers were either treated with low-level laser/light therapy while others were subjected to a “sham device”.

During the 24-week experiment, hair density and hair diameter were measured.

Photographic assessment was also included in the study, performed by investigators and subjects.

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Out of the 40 participants, 36 completed the trial – 19 of whom were in the laser group while 17 were in the sham group.

By week 24, those treated with low-level laser therapy had “significantly superior” hair density and diameter compared to the sham group.

The photographs supported this finding, as the laser hair group showed greater hair improvement.

Although it’s a small sample size, with no long-term follow-up data, the researchers concluded that light therapy was “an effective treatment option for androgenic alopecia”.

The MHR clinic regard low-level laser therapy as a “safe and effective hair growth treatment for men and women”.

However, it’s “most successful when combines with medicines and DHT-blocking lotions and shampoos”.

The clinic assured that the average power levels and light spectrum used by the laser “doesn’t allow heat-damage or carcinogenic (cancer-causing) effects”.

How does low-level laser therapy work?

MHR explained: “Low-level laser therapy directs photons from between 800 and 860 nanometres on the light spectrum at a person’s scalp.”

“This light band boosts blood circulation, protein production”, said the MHR, as well as encouraging the production of “adenosine triphosphate (ATP)”.

ATP then converts to adenosine monophosphate (AMP) inside the hair follicle.

This results in keratin content in the hair to increase “by up to 30 percent”.

The MHR added: “Low-level laser therapy contributes to the reversal of genetic male and female pattern baldness and the generation of a new (anagen) growth phase in your hair.”

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