By far the most common cause of hair loss in men is androgenetic alopecia, also referred to as male pattern or common baldness. It is caused by the effects of the male hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT) on genetically susceptible scalp hair follicles. This sensitivity to DHT is present mainly in hair follicles that reside in the front, top, and crown of the scalp (rather than the back and sides) producing a characteristic and easily identifiable pattern.

Baldness, or severe hair loss, is much more common in men than in women. Hair loss can result from genetic factors, aging, local skin conditions, and diseases that affect the body generally. Some medications, such as those used to treat cancer, also cause hair loss. Perhaps a poor diet with lots of junk food over a period of years and decades is involved in hair loss but scientists still don't have a good understanding regarding the relationship of food and hair loss.

The most common cause of hair loss in men is male pattern baldness, a condition with a hereditary basis. In women the most common conditions are androgenetic alopecia baldness, and telogen effluvium which causes thinning of scalp hair but not bald patches. A condition of unknown cause called alopecia areata occurs in both men and women, causing hair loss in small circular patches.

Its not that men only suffer from it in few cases women and children has also been reported to be affected with the issue of hair loss. A number of reason can be behind the hair loss among men. The foremost which comes is stress and illness which makes prone to hair loss to occur.

In summary, male pattern hair loss is an inherited condition manifested when androgens are present in normal amounts. The gene can be inherited from the mother or fathers side. The onset, rate, and severity of hair loss are unpredictable. The severity increases with age and if the condition is present it will be progressive and relentless.

Hair loss in men is likely to occur primarily between late teen-age years and age 40-50, in a generally recognizable "male-pattern" baldness. Men with male-pattern hair loss may have an expectation of hair loss if they have male relatives who lost hair in a recognizably male pattern.

By the age of 50 more than half of men are affected by hair loss problem. People have always been faced with different kinds of humiliating situation due to male pattern hair loss. Baldness is caused due to most common condition like hereditary-pattern baldness.

Common baldness cannot occur without the presence of specific inherited genes. These genes can be passed on by either parent. A gene is a single bit of chemically encoded hereditary instruction that is located on a chromosome and actually represents a tiny segment of DNA. Chromosomes occur in pairs (humans have 23 pairs), and every individual gets one set of chromosomes from each parent. Hair loss in men is now felt to involve more than one gene. When several genes govern a trait, it is called polygenic.

For men who suffer from excessively thinning hair or excessive hair loss for which there is no known underlying medical reason, it is probably due to this genetics. In fact, most hair loss is inherited it can come from mom, dad, or both parents. The culprit in male pattern hair loss seems to be the enzyme 5 alpha-reductase (5-AR), which converts testosterone into dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT shrinks the hair follicles in men with a genetic predisposition, and in time, the smaller follicles produce shorter and thinner hair. Men who are genetically without the 5-AR enzyme do not develop pattern hair loss