A new genetic discovery suggests that men can no longer blame their mothers for their hair loss. Scientists have long been aware of a genetic variant passed by mothers to sons via the X-chromosome, causing them to lose hair around middle age. The independent research of two groups of international researchers from United Kingdom, Iceland, Switzerland and the Netherlands, reveals DNA responsible for increasing some men’s susceptibility to male pattern baldness.  That is where, the idea of baldness being inherited from the mother’s side of the family comes from, according to Dr. Brent Richards, an endocrinologist at McGill University and lead author of one of the studies.  Though, recognition was always there that several genes must be behind the male pattern of baldness.

The newly identified genetic region, which is an entirely novel area on chromosome 20, reveals that men with both genetic variations of the two chromosomes, are seven times more likely to see their hairline recede as they grow older, with one in seven men, or 14% of the population having both genetic anomalies.  However, more research is required on how this new gene or area of the genome influences male pattern baldness.

One-third of men lose hair by age 45 as a result of male pattern baldness, a loss that begins above the temples, resulting in a distinctive M-shaped hairline, while, 40% of women experience hair loss, mostly after menopause, but it tends to fall out all over, not in a specific pattern.  More research is needed to determine if the area on chromosome 20 has any role to play in female hair loss.

The research published in the latest issue of Nature Genetics involves a study of only Caucasian men, though one can assume all different races face similar risk factors.  Finding a mysterious stretch of DNA that makes men lose their hair is a big and exciting discovery, which could lead scientists to discover new ways on how to overcome male pattern baldness, by understanding the human genome better and determining how likely a man is to hang on to his hair.