Blame your mother’s father all you like, but he’s not the only reason things are thinning up top.

Hair loss theories abound, and you’ve probably heard a few of the standard reasons thrown around.

To get technical, androgenetic alopecia – which is the clinical term for male pattern baldness and is sometimes referred to as hereditary hair loss – shortens each hair’s growth cycle, leading to short, thin hairs that eventually disappear.

Cool, cool, but what do the experts, and the studies they have conducted, point to as the reasons for this?

The Daily Beast went on a myth-busting mission, roping in some dermatologists along the way, and we’ll start with the maternal grandfather one.

Myth: It’s all your mom’s fault.

Want to know if you’ll go bald? Look no further than your maternal grandfather’s head. That’s how the common wisdom goes, anyway. There’s some truth to it: The androgen receptor gene is located on the X chromosome, which a male infant receives from his mother.

But Dr. Amy McMichael, a professor of dermatology at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, says it’s not so straightforward.  “Androgenetic hair loss can come from either side of the family,” she said.

Yeah, blame your own grandparents, too. Fun for the whole family.

Myth: It only happens to men.

In fact, an estimated 30 million American women deal with androgenetic alopecia. But their hair loss looks a little different. Classic male pattern hair loss begins at the temples and the crown; eventually, the two converge into a single large bald patch. Women tend to see thinning all over, most noticeably at the part line.

Myth: There’s one “baldness gene.”

It’s true that research has found a link between male pattern baldness and the androgen receptor gene. But a 2017 paper found almost 290 different genetic predictors of androgenetic alopecia. And even those predictors don’t guarantee that you’ll go bald: the researchers found that among the participants with the most hair loss genes, only 58 percent actually reported losing their hair.

“It’s like a lottery,” Dr. Marc Glashofer, a New Jersey dermatologist, says of the genes. “You might have a couple extra tickets to the lottery, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to have that condition.”

You’re just unlucky, balding men.

Maybe you can become a world-class cricketer like Jacques Kallis, and then Advanced Hair will pay for your treatment.

Myth: It’s linked to high testosterone.

Dr. McMichael struck down this misconception, too. “Men can have normal testosterone in their blood and have very severe hair loss,” she said. “They can even have low testosterone.”

Hair loss is actually linked to sensitivity to dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a converted form of regular testosterone.

To finish, a fifth and final Myth: It’s caused by stress, poor health, or styling choices.

Trauma, major health changes, and super-tight hairstyles can cause hair loss—just not classic male and female pattern baldness. Hair loss after pregnancy, illness, or extreme psychological stress is called telogen effluvium; thinning caused by the strain of tight hairstyles is called traction alopecia.

That said, people dealing with androgenetic alopecia may want to steer clear of tight hairstyles or harsh styling methods, which can damage the hair they have left.

Enjoy those man-buns while you can, hipsters, because nobody knows what lies ahead.

It’s winter – wear a beanie and hope for the best.

[source:dailybeast]