Hair-raising. The latest news on male-pattern baldness

The initiating event in balding seems to be an abnormal sensitivity to the male sex hormones. In addition, a multifactorial model is emerging in which hormones affect the hair follicle in a way that causes it to be perceived as a foreign body by the immune system, which then mounts an attack. Several new classes of agents have the potential to treat hair loss. More than 40 U.S. and several hundred foreign patents have been issued for hair-loss treatment agents. As is common in dermatology, no single agent works universally against hair loss, so the treatment process is often one of trial and error.