Bald men have a lot of testosterone?

[jenwexler]

The men in my family have GREAT hair genes. No men are balding and they have thick barely graying hair. My dad has the best out of my uncles. His hair is extremely soft, dark brown, only a few grays on his sideburns, and his hairline has not receded at all. He's 52! On the other hand, my stepbrother is doomed. On both sides of his family he has balding relatives and his hair is already starting to thin. When it came up in conversation between my father and his wife, she made my father's gorgeous hair into a negative thing! She says it's a sign that he has low testosterone and my stepbrother is LUCKY because he apparently has a higher content of testosterone than my dad. I find that rude! My father is a handsome man and she shouldn't turn his amazing hair into a sign for low hormones. She should be proud to have a husband who looks like he's still in his 30s. Now my father is overly conscientious of has "lack of testosterone" instead of being proud of his hair. When the subject is brought up he lacks confidence. Do you think he should be proud of his amazing hair instead of seeing it as a negative sign?

[feralnature]

Look at peoples ring finger in comparison to their pointer finger. If the ring finger is the longest, then extra testosterone.

This works for women as well as men and is not an old wives tale.

I have a loner ring finger so I have extra testosterone. I also have broad shoulders and slim hips. And I am agressive and have always been a tomboy.

I know this is not what you asked but it popped into my head and it is sorta related :)

[ravenreed]

I agree that it is a rude comment. If his wife wanted to make your stepbrother feel better about balding, she should have made that comment privately to him, out of earshot of your dad. It sounds like she wanted to hurt his feelings.

In addition, I am not sure that her comment is 100% correct. Besides, who said that more testosterone is better? Obviously your dad has enough to carry on the family line.

[Anje]

There's a genetic component to male pattern baldness, but there's definitely also a testosterone component (hence, women with both copies of that x-linked gene don't tend to go chrome-dome like their male counterparts). If your dad doesn't have the genes for baldness, it won't necessarily indicate his testosterone level.

You know, if he's worried, he could get it checked. But frankly, testosterone's a toxin anyway (ETA: probably should back that statement up... link1 (http://discovermagazine.com/2006/jul/rawdata), link2 (http://jcn.sagepub.com/content/21/10/825.abstract)), so if he's not having problems that would be related to seriously low testosterone, I don't think being on the low end of the bell curve would be a bad thing.

[jenwexler]

I agree that it is a rude comment. If his wife wanted to make your stepbrother feel better about balding, she should have made that comment privately to him, out of earshot of your dad. It sounds like she wanted to hurt his feelings.

In addition, I am not sure that her comment is 100% correct. Besides, who said that more testosterone is better? Obviously your dad has enough to carry on the family line.

It definitely hurt his feelings. He's already self conscious and that made him worse =[ Plus I don't know what his hair has to do with low testosterone levels really. He looks like a normal man so I assume he's just fine.

[feralnature]

I agree that it was a horribly rude comment and that his hair is NOT a sign of low testosterone!

[jenwexler]

What she said was terribly rude and completely unnecessary. That would mean all the men in my family have low testosterone which I highly doubt.

[Dreamkitty]

That is definetly rude and absoluetly ridiculous.

He is a lucky man to still have thick, coloured hair, in his 50's. His wife should be proud. :) Having a full head of hair is healthy in all ways. I think she is just being nitpicky.:D Why make a good thing sound bad?

By the way does anyone know if females can have too much testosterone?

[aenflex]

Fits with the bald men I know and work with. Probably not all of them, but the ones I can think of offhand do not seem to lack any testosterone at all :)

[Islandgrrl]

I agree. Rude. And hurtful.

I don't know anything about the veracity of the statement, and don't have the time to do any research on it at the moment. But I wonder a lot about a woman who would say such an unkind thing to her husband. Not cool.

[lilalong]

I think the connection between testosterone and baldness (in men) has been debunked a while ago.

[trolleypup]

Well, there is a grain of truth in this...but only a grain.

If you are genetically predisposed for baldness, testosterone levels *can* affect the progression of male pattern baldness...however there are a number of genetic factors that also affect how much, how fast, and where.

However, if you are not genetically predisposed for baldness, testosterone levels have no effect on your hair growth or loss.

What a remarkable comment from your dad's wife. Besides being wrong, it is a pretty nasty stab in the back.

[jenwexler]

It definitely is a stab in the back. I'm sure baldness is probably a sign of high levels of testosterone, but a nice head of hair probably doesn't mean there is something wrong with a man. I hope my future kids are as lucky as my dad is with his hair.

[princessp]

Wow. I don't know if it is true but it was terribly insensitive. I would never say anything that could be perceived as critical about my wonderful man. More accurately I guess we do have critical discussions (not about testosterone) but those are private conversations. I would not want either of us to publicly humiliate the other.

[Shield31]

For me, a couple weeks from my 56th birthday finds me with a head of hair that has a few greys at the temple, a couple singletons here and there, but mostly my teenage color and quality. My eyebrows and mustache are very grey tho.... When it comes to testosterone levels I must say that, as a family man, my levels were in the acceptable range and remain there.

I don't feel that the comment about good hair equaling low "T" levels was a stab in the back. A strong poke in the ribs and a shot across the bow for an argument surely. :agree:

[Honeylove]

I have noticed that baldness occurs mostly to men of European origin. Don't know why. But sure as hell a nice head of hair is NO sign of low testosterone levels or anything else wrong with a man!

[Lianna]

By the way does anyone know if females can have too much testosterone?

Yes, and women can have hirsutism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirsutism

[jenwexler]

For me, a couple weeks from my 56th birthday finds me with a head of hair that has a few greys at the temple, a couple singletons here and there, but mostly my teenage color and quality. My eyebrows and mustache are very grey tho.... When it comes to testosterone levels I must say that, as a family man, my levels were in the acceptable range and remain there.

I don't feel that the comment about good hair equaling low "T" levels was a stab in the back. A strong poke in the ribs and a shot across the bow for an argument surely. :agree:

I don't even believe it I think it's a terrible rumor. My grandpa even has a full head of hair still and he's in his 80s. He used to be a great athlete until his knees gave. He even walked on his hands! Sounds like a healthy man to me =]

[Purdy Bear]

What a horrid person to say such a thing! I would just tell him to ignore her remarks which were obviously done from jealousy and to enjoy his wonderful hair.

[jenwexler]

That's exactly what I tell him. no way there's something wrong with him. That would mean all of the men in my family are screwed. Including my mom's side. there's no one on her side whose bald either and they look healthy to me.

[RecklessCharlie]

How rude. Your father sounds like a great guy and I agree with the other posters, thick hair in an older man is not necessarily a sign of low testosterone at all.

My father also has a thick head of dark brown hair with only a few greys at the temples and he's 57! And I know for a fact his testosterone levels are just fine, his doctor has said so, in fact they are a bit higher than usual.

I must have inherited that from him because my testosterone levels are high for a woman according to my doctor. Also have longer ring fingers, broad shoulders and slim hips and develop muscle very easily. But that doesn't make me feel 'less of a woman' somehow. And men who may have lower testosterone shouldn't feel 'less of a man'. That is just silly.
I hope your father can overcome the hurtful thing your mom said and understand that he is blessed to have such a beautiful head of hair! :)

[jenwexler]

Thankyou =D