Male Pattern Baldness (MPB) is a genetical problem that is inherited from either our mother or father, and starts shortly after puberty. When the male sex hormone testosterone reaches the hair cells around the body, it stimulates them to produce hairs (on the chest, face and legs etc). Paradoxically, when it reaches the hair cells in the scalp whose follicles are already producing hair, it causes them to shrink and die over a period of time, to the fronto-vertex region. Female Pattern Baldness (FPB) is very similar, only women's hair loss is not as severe and the frontal hairline is rarely lost. This can be brought about by an imbalance in her sex hormones due to a numbers of reasons, which include having given birth and polycystic ovaries. How does this happen? When testosterone enters the hair cells in the fronto-vertex region of the scalp (top), it can take either of the two-biochemical pathways available to it. The first pathway converts it to 5 alpha dihydrotestosterone (DHT) by the action of enzymes known as 5 alpha reductase (Type I & Type II). DHT then enters the androgen receptor, which in turn triggers off the genetically inherited process. The second pathway is that testosterone itself enters the androgen receptor, which then triggers the genetically inherited process. Men who have inherited MPB, not only produce more DHT in these hair cells, but also have more receptor sites (a genetical sensitivity) to this hormone.  Either way, the only real effective way to treat this therefore, is to block the hair cell androgen receptor. Some treatments reduce the amount of DHT in the hair cell by reducing the amount of 5 alpha reductase (Type II only), but this does not stop testosterone getting to the androgen receptor. Therefore, these treatments are not entirely effective, and patients usually see very little results. TRICHAGEN® is the only truly effective treatment, and is available in oral tablet form (men only), or in a topical lotion form. List of suppliers: www.medical-specialists.co.uk