From everything I'm able to find so far about the natural progression of male pattern baldness (with respect to Father Time), it seems to be nearly completely unpredictable. I haven't yet found any sources that suggest even broad generalities regarding this. Is this because it is simply too unpredictable to make any generalies at all?

I've only just started taking Propecia, which I understand may very well stabilize or even prevent(?) future losses that would otherwise occur naturally. I'm certainly hopeful that medication will actually prevent further hairloss, but I'm still curious about predicting the progression of natural male pattern balding for the "average" man thoughout a typical lifespan (20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's +).

Have any of you researched this and found more than I was able to find? Do you have your own opinions based on your own observations throughout your life? Any other opinions?

Baldness is too erratic at this point for my liking.

I went totally bald in 3 years from 23-26.

Many Docs believe that only 11 to 17% of men will reach a NW7 in their lifetime. I am not sure where this information comes from, but I would have to say that if you lose a significant portion of hair before 30, you are headed for NW7'sville, or at least a NW6.

With medicine we have been able to stave off advanced balding to some degree and stabilize loss in the donor/crown areas. It is however, a lifelong committment to medication, and the studies are not present that show 20, 30, 40 years of use and the subsequent effects. I know that some guys have reported Propecia losing effectiveness after 5-6 years. I really don't know, it is probably different for everyone.

Anyway, I would say mid to late 30's for some thinning, mid to late 40's for noticeable hairloss, mid to late 50's for advanced loss, for the male balding pattern. Just a guess.

My Dad went thin at 37 and is a NW6 at 48, so anyting is possible I guess.

Just some thoughts!!!!

Middleson...

Its all up to our internal time clock. There is no way of really predicting when and how much. In youth to middle age the predominent cause of hair loss it attributed to DHT, but as we age other factors come into play. This may be the reason why drugs such as finesteride work better in younger individuals than they do in older men.

Some studies have shown the circulating amount of DHT in younger men is twice that of those in their fifties, further reinforcing this theory. Hairloss therefore in these men must met by a multimodal approach, addressing not only DHT, but microinflammation and scalp circulation which have been found to be contributory.

Therefore it seems that the progression is not truly predictable, it varies solely due to which processes we are more vulnerable to at various stages of life.

Middleson,

I agree with the above. By doing simple observations, it's obvious that men lose their hair at different points in their life AND advance only to certain levels of hairloss. But everyone is right...DHT is the primary factor and there are certain genes that make some more susceptable to it than others. Additionally as Cousin It points out, there certainly can be other factors that contribute to it, especially as one gets older, however, predictability, to my knowledge does not appear possible (yet at least). If you find a way, however, keep us posted

Falc