Article: Gone today, hair tomorrow. (Ask Our Experts).(causes of male-pattern hair loss, treatments )

I'm thinning on top, even though I'm pretty hairy all over. What gives, and what should I do?

--M.A., San Diego, CA

Alex Khadavi, M.D., board-certified dermatologist, supports a proactive approach--short of growing a mullet and turning it into a gravity-defying comb-over.

"The description you give indicates that you have male-pattern hair loss," he says. "This condition is caused by a hormone by-product of testosterone called dihydrotestosterone, or DHT. When DHT is produced locally within the hair follicle, it causes regular hairs to turn into miniature hairs, eventually killing the hair follicle. This process doesn't happen overnight--in ...

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