Author: jsb44418

The Baldness Blog

The Baldness Blog

Genetic Testing for Male Pattern Baldness

By Joshua Baker

December 2nd, 2019

Men these days are judged ever increasingly more by their appearance; we need to be fit, handsome, well-dressed, and well-groomed. If we fail in any of these categories, we are instantly judged to be inferior. These are all important things to take care of, but perhaps no other physical characteristic exceeds the challenges posed by one’s own head of hair. Yes, it is our luscious locks that drive men to insanity about their appearance. But the insanity doesn’t set in until the hair follicles begin to fall out.

We are talking about male pattern baldness.

From thinning hair to a receding hair line, the condition can be devastating to a man’s self esteem and may even be linked to certain health conditions other than balding! With so much on the line, is there any way of predicting if you will develop male pattern baldness? And if so, is it even worth it? We will explore these questions and more in this blog.

WHAT IS MALE PATTERN BALDNESS?

Male pattern baldness is an inherited condition that results in the loss of significant amounts of head hair follicles. Symptoms include thinning hair, patchy bald spots, and a receding hair line1.

According to a 2017 study by Hagenaars and colleagues, male pattern baldness affects as much as 80% of men by the time they reach 80 years old. The dramatic and unstoppable change associated with this condition is often depressing and difficult to watch for many men, not to mention its damage to their perceived social attractiveness. The same 2017 study also found 112 autosomal genes as well as 13 genes located on the X chromosome that all are associated with male pattern baldness. Several of the autosomal genes are related to hair follicle growth while the most common X chromosome gene codes for androgen reception2. The genes linked with male pattern baldness naturally make sense. Because the condition concerns the loss of hair follicles, genes that cause male pattern baldness to develop must have some role in hair development. Furthermore, the fact that the androgen receptor gene is correlated with baldness raises the question that some hormonal process must be involved, which explains the sudden change that occurs.


Above is a man with moderate male pattern baldness. Notice the thinning hair and the bald spot1

WHY GET TESTED?

Since male pattern baldness is such a prevalent and unavoidable condition, why would one want to get genetically tested for it? If it is going to happen, then it will happen, right? For many, the emotional trauma of suddenly losing his hair is awful. But early-onset male baldness has been linked with several particularly nasty diseases, including prostate cancer and Parkinson’s disease3. As a result, getting tested early can provide relative peace-of-mind for those labeled as “low risk” and provide those labeled as “high risk” with plenty of time to prepare and start preventative measures, like prostate exams or even looking into alternatives to balding, like hair transplants.

Since there is such a massive number of genes and alleles that appear to cause male pattern baldness, it would perhaps be best to get a genome-wide sequencing test in order to detect as many of the potential variations as possible. This type of test typically runs around $1,5004.

For the most common alleles, it would be cheaper simply to test those specific genes. These tests cost approximately $220 for the entire gene, but for more than just one, it becomes more cost-effective to do the whole genome sequencing.

The previously mentioned 2017 study found a much higher frequency of certain variations of an X chromosome gene in men with early-onset balding than with late-onset. Therefore, it is possible to genetically test for the risk of developing early-onset male pattern baldness. In a 2012 study by Li and colleagues,Parkinson’s and early-onset male pattern baldness were found to be linked by one specific allele on chromosome 175.Getting tested may be worth it for both the peace-of-mind of keeping one’s hair and not developing Parkinson’s.

THINK BEFORE YOU SPIT

A genetic test, unfortunately, is not exactly a crystal ball. Simply having the genetic variations associated with male pattern baldness is not enough to declare that a subject will become bald. Only 51.9% of the variation in the human population with respect to baldness can be explained by the genetic variants found the Hagenaars et al study2. Some factors that may affect baldness outside of genes include weight, stress, chemotherapy treatment, and even simply getting older1.

Furthermore, there may be even more variations that have not been detected yet. Research on the genetics of male pattern baldness is still relatively lacking3, so the potential for more (or even fewer) variants that cause balding is possible.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Testing as a “high risk” candidate for balding will be terribly worrying for any man placed in such a situation. Given the possible correlations with various diseases, it would be hard not to stress over the test’s findings. Ignoring the potential for disease, even losing one’s hair, a symbol of one’s male identity, fills many with dread about future social and physical decline.

Luckily, there appear to be no major or common concerns for genetic privacy. Few companies would discriminate against an employee given his genetic propensity for balding, save those of the entertainment and modeling industry. As a result, few men should worry if getting tested for male pattern baldness might damage his prospects for future employment.

There are other downsides, though, to consider.  Given the cost and potential for inaccuracy in predicting risk of developing male pattern baldness, it may not be worth the $1,500 to sequence one’s entire genome. However, there is an added bonus. Once a genome has been sequenced, it will be available in its entirety for further analysis of other potential diseases, like risks for certain cancers. Even if the balding prediction does not hold true, having the option to also check for those awful diseases might just be worth it.

ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS BEFORE THE TEST

In order to determine if genetic testing is right for you, here are some important questions to consider.

  • Do you have a family history of balding, on either side?

This is important to ask because if not, then there is very little chance that the cause of any balding you might have in the future will be due to genetics.

  • What will you do if you test as a high-risk individual?

If you cannot answer what you would do after being labeled as high-risk for balding, then perhaps the genetic test is not right for you. It is too expensive to simply do it for the peace-of-mind; it is best to go into the test with a plan for either treatment (if desired) or coping with balding.

  • What will you do if you test as a low-risk individual?

Being labeled as a low-risk individual does not necessarily mean you are in the clear. You may still develop male pattern baldness in the future. On another note, you need to still continue to remain healthy as general health can also affect hair loss.

  • Consider discussing getting the test and the results of the test with a doctor or geneticist.

Not so much a question as much as advice. If you would like to explore being tested, it would be wise to discuss your risks of balding before spending all that money on the test. Furthermore, if you have been tested and would like to consider potential treatment options and/or other genetic risks, doctors and geneticists are excellent resources to find out more about such topics.

  • What are you willing to change after being identified as high-risk?

To reduce your overall chances of developing baldness even after being labeled as high-risk, it is important to try to be healthy and fit. To even further reduce risk, it may be best to consider changing your hairstyle, which can damage hair follicles, or trying to reduce stress, which can induce hair loss.

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Regardless of whether you decide it is best to get tested for male pattern baldness, it is important to maintain a healthy sense of what matters. If you are legitimately concerned about your appearance and you actively want to prevent losing your hair, then getting genetically tested is not a bad idea. But if you honestly don’t mind the prospect of balding, then that’s ok too! It is all a personal choice; no two people will have the same reasons for either decision. And regardless of that decision, above all, you need to learn to love who you are, whether that’s with a full head of hair or none at all.

Sources Cited

1Hair loss. Mayo Clinic Web site. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hair-loss/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20372932. Updated February 12, 2019. Accessed December 2, 2019.

2Hagenaars S, Hill D, Harris S, et al.Genetic prediction of male pattern baldness. PLoS Genetics. 2017. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5308812/. Accessed December 2, 2017.

3The role of genetics in male pattern baldness. 23andMe Blog Web site. https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/the-role-of-genetics-in-male-pattern-baldness/. Updated March 8, 2017. December 2, 2019.

4The cost of sequencing a human genome. National Human Genome Research Institute Web site. https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/fact-sheets/Sequencing-Human-Genome-cost. Updated October 30, 2019. Accessed December 2, 2019.

5Li R, Brockschmidt FF, Kiefer AK, et al.Six novel susceptibility Loci for early-onset androgenetic alopecia and their unexpected association with common diseases. PLoS Genetics. 2012. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22693459/. Accessed December 2, 2017.

Rivers Alive Outreach Project – Joshua Baker

At Carriage Lane, trash ranged from as small as a receipt from Arby’s to as big as a stack of illegally dumped tires.
  1. Chase Ghannam and I volunteered for clean-up at the Carriage Lane site for the Rivers Alive Outreach project. This road is directly adjacent to two sets of apartments and a Greek-life house. As a result, there is bound to be a large amount of litter throughout the area, including beer bottles with varying amounts of liquid, partially eaten Lunchables packages, and filled-baby diapers. With several teams, we all spanned out across the site. Chase and I assigned ourselves to the patch of woods next to the Greek-life house, which proved to be a very challenging region to clean.
  2. Despite initially thinking there would be a large amount of rubbish, I was very much surprised at the sheer amount of trash scattered throughout the woods. It made me extremely concerned for two major reasons. 1) If this area were not a recognized clean-up site, would the trash have ever been picked up? If not, would it have just continued to pile up without any community response? 2) How many other areas in Athens are left with this excessive amount of trash littering the environment that no one cleans up? Seeing the trash concerns me deeply that some people lack so much regard for the environment and throw out that much trash into the woods.
  3. Despite the concern I initially felt, I now have significantly more hope. I now know that there are several organizations that are actively trying to improve the conditions of some environments that are plagued with trash. The selflessness of the people who regularly volunteer for Rivers Alive is astonishing. If more people follow the example of these amazing human beings and if efforts are expanded to more sites, so much can be accomplished in improving the environment.
  4. I learned so much from this experience. I cannot put into words the amazement and appreciation I have for Rivers Alive. I look forward to volunteering again next year at another site, hopefully bringing along even more friends to show them what I now know to be true, that littering is not only present in our society, but it is an epidemic.

Climate Change Negotiation Simulation – Joshua Baker

  1. When I played my role in the policy exercise, I felt like I was the good guy in a struggle for the fate of humanity. Being a representative of Europe, I was tasked with delivering the most liberal approach to combating climate change and, therefore, I had to be a climate-hard-liner as well as one willing to do more than his fair share.
  2. As time went on during the negotiations, I felt more and more that we, as the EU, had to take the lead on this issue, so after initially committing $100 billion to the fund, we raised it to $150 billion simply to show the world that we are serious about tackling climate change and that they should step up and join our efforts, especially the developing countries, who needed more money than we expected.
  3. We changed our ideas by listening to the developing countries, but only for the need for greater monetary investment. We more so changed the positions of other countries towards more commitment to fighting the climate crisis with more money.
  4. We changed other countries’ positions not so much by negotiations, but by example. After they saw our amount of money committed to the fund increase, every other country felt much more inclined to commit more, especially the US and China, who then raised their commitments to about $15 billion.
  5. Of course emissions can be cut! It’s more of a question of whether emissions can be cut enough to stop the significant increase in temperatures we’ve been seeing across the globe. Deep down, I believe that we can cut emissions enough, simply because as time progresses, companies will have an economic push via market preferences from consumers to be more eco-friendly as consumers become more environmentally cautious.
  6. The major costs and barriers result from the cost of the imposition of regulations, the cost of transitioning to more green energy sources, and protecting rain-forests. All those cost a lot of money and require significant commitment of those who may be at least somewhat skeptical of the science.
  7. We can effect change in the US via education. If more people simply were more aware of the danger of climate change, then they would be more willing to support efforts to prevent it. The biggest reason people are skeptical of the climate scientists is largely due to a lack of understanding of what the science means to us all, so education, not aggressive arguing/debating will be our only path forward.

-Joshua Baker

Joshua Baker – Watershed Walk – A Surprising Find

  1. Taken across the street from Joe Frank Harris Commons, this photo shows the Lily Branch Watershed. A fairly basic image of the water flow, it illustrates the relative closeness of the watershed to a major part of campus.
  2. What is so striking about this photo is the way the architecture of the surrounding human-made facilities was designed to take into account the watershed. The sidewalk gently bends to avoid the water; the roads are actually bridged over the water; the sheer amount of engineering required to build a structurally sound area with a watershed running underneath is astounding to me. To cap it all off, it’s right in the heart of the East Campus region, yet the architecture around it is designed such that no one even realizes the water had any sort of influence on its final layout.
  3. Some might see this photo as an example of the lush and beautiful greenery found across our campus. I agree with those people. It makes me think about and truly appreciate the natural wonder that surrounds the many buildings and green-spaces on our campus.
  4. When I look at this picture, I feel at peace. I love to explore nature (generally when it’s not so hot out) and take pictures and enjoy the scenery. That’s what I get from this image. It’s a peaceful brook in a large cluster of green trees. What could be better and more relaxing on a hot summer day (other than a cool breeze…)!
  5. I think this picture is about the amazing potential blend between the natural and the man-made. Being situated in East Campus, the watershed is certainly not far from a lot of human activity and construction. Yet, despite this juxtaposition that seemingly has been lost in most big cities, the two merge into such a peaceful and beautiful sight (and its civilized!), as the water gently flows towards the Oconee.

Joshua Baker

  1. This is me! My roommate/best friend from middle school took this photo of me last night while I was reading something!

2. A. I took a lot of physical sciences in high school, including AP Physics C. I last took a life science in 9th grade and I was not the biggest fan of the class to say the least (to be fair, I was a gifted student who was wrongly placed in a lower level class, so…)

B. I liked physics a lot because it explains how our world works in a mathematical way. I think that’s the thing I like most about Statistics, my major. They both mathematically model our daily experiences. I haven’t found that same excitement in Biology yet but maybe this year will be different!

3. I want to enjoy biology and learn more, especially the data-oriented side of it. Among my potential jobs in the future, I am considering working as a statistician for the CDC so Biology would be very important.

4. I love visiting bodies of water and admiring their beauty so any project involving the preservation of that beauty is interesting (ie the watershed cleanup). I was pretty good at Statistics in high school so I could maybe help with the data analysis portion of the project. The health and wellbeing of our environment is probably a major concern for many students so they will react in a more positive way to try to preserve the watersheds if they see the trash.

5. I think I’ll learn how much it helps just to try to help one piece of trash at a time. Every little bit helps and no one piece is insignificant.

6. I want to learn about immune diseases and any potential link to other factors. Many of my family members have an autoimmune disease, myself included, so I would be very interested in learning more about it.