Predicting final Norwood level?

[alex82]

Just wondered if there is any way to reliably predict this by looking at current situation (areas of loss/ minaturization) combined with known family history? I suspect as with all things hairloss it is a grey area...

But would it be likely that if mothers dad was NW 7 when he died at 60. and fathers side Ok and I'm NW2-3 at age 30, and had massively thick hair until fairly recently. Am I destined to follow his path? he was maybe NW4 at my age so I'm fairing slightly better. maybe due to heathier lifestyle. no smoking / better diet etc.

Is it fair to assume that it will only progress if left?

I'm currently on Fin to try and maintain what I have but this only seems to be making matters worse at present.

[mpb47]

The better known HT docs see a large # of men over the years and sometimes see patterns to mpb and they can sometimes give you a ball park idea of where you will end up. I saw this mentioned on a HT site 10 years ago and asked them for more specifics and this is basically what they told me:

In order to get a ball park idea of what will happen to you , you must match your actual pattern and time of onset with one or more of your relatives.
For instance my crown started thinning as the same time as my uncle. It also had the same basic shape (sideways oval) he had at that time. Now his did advanced at a faster rate but that was because he had no meds to stop at in the beginning. They told me that you can not always make a prediction because sometimes your mpb is a mixture from both of your parents and not just on one side. So it will not always work but better than nothing.

Oh and ask your relatives as my grandmother told me what to expect even in my 20's as I already had the same hairline as both my uncle and grandfather when they were my age according to her.

[alex82]

Cheers man, I certainly seem to be following maternal grandfather in terms of hairline ahh Although my grandmother said he went bald a lot earlier than 30. so maybe doing a bit better.

Sadly I'm astranged from my fathers side of the family but know he had good hair from photos etc...

Wondering if presence of minaturized hairs is a good indicator of areas that will eventually go. I guess so...

[mpb47]

Cheers man, I certainly seem to be following maternal grandfather in terms of hairline ahh Although my grandmother said he went bald a lot earlier than 30. so maybe doing a bit better.

Sadly I'm astranged from my fathers side of the family but know he had good hair from photos etc...

Wondering if presence of minaturized hairs is a good indicator of areas that will eventually go. I guess so...

Investigate your family history as best you can as you can learn a lot about your overall genetic inheritance, not just the mpb part. As I said my grandmother accurately predicted I would get the same mpb as my mom's brother, father and grandfather. Old pictures and watching my uncle progress over the years pretty much confirm it. But there seems to be a strong genetic pull on that side of the family anyway. His oldest daughter and granddaughter look like a clone of my mother when she was young. So does his youngest daughter. My camera went off the other morning and took a pic of the side of my face rather than my crown. Creep-ed me out when I saw my mother in the pic! People have said it for years that I looked like her too but I am just now seeing it. So I look like her in the face and her brother in the hair dept. And all his daughters, him , my sister and myself have had the same exact medical issues in the past. It kinda creeps me out if I think about too much as I wonder if we are really individuals or just genetic computer programs

I have an article bookmarked at home that talks about your last question. If I remember right it says if you have 5% or more miniaturization then that area will be bald one day....

[jman91]

I would say if you're thinning all over the top, even a little bit (like me) then your screwed becuse it shows you that all of your potentially vulnerable follicles are vulnerable to dht and you should get on the fin asap

[Dr. Glenn Charles]

Miniturized hair that are present at a early age can be a indicator of future MPB. How long have you been on the Finasteride?

[stratofortress]

I think it's pretty much a safe bet I'll be NW6-7 as I'm 24 and already thinning all across the top and slightly at the vertex.

Dad's side has that pattern.

Even my donor area feels thinner than it did.

Yet, I bet 99 percent would have no clue I'm balding, though.

I'm just hoping fin will do it's job for the foreseeable.

[Dr. Glenn Charles]

Certainly worth a try. The time to try and preserve the hair is when you still have it.