DOES WEARING HATS CAUSE BALDNESS?
DR. CHARLES: There are a lot of misnomers about hair loss. Hats causing hair loss is simply not true. Hair loss is a function of the follicle shutting down, or more precisely, being suffocated by dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and not producing hair. Remember hair loss is both genetic and hormonal. COSMETIC TODAY: WHICH SIDE OF THE FAMILY CAN YOU INHERIT THE HAIR LOSS GENE FROM? DR. CHARLES: You can inherit hair loss from your mom or your dad’s side. It can even skip generations and we have found cases in twins where one has hair loss and the other does not. Again, if you have hair loss in any part of your family tree it can be passed to you. COSMETIC TODAY: HOW DID YOU BECOME INVOLVED IN HAIR LOSS RESEARCH? DR. CHARLES: My own interest in hair loss began in medical school. I started to lose my hair at a drastic rate. I began to look for options but at that time, there were no good options. I began to wear hats instead. I had a closet full of different hats. I began to take a very strong pe