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In the most literal sense: it's associated with high levels of male hormones ("Men with androgenic alopecia typically have higher 5α-reductase, higher total testosterone, higher unbound/free testosterone, and higher free androgens, including DHT"). TMU it's a completely different phenomenon from hair loss in the elderly. In many young men's case, balding at the apex of the skull occurs concurrently with facial hair and body hair growth - in a very real sense it's another side of the same coin. The fact that we've come to associate it with old age and feebleness is just one of those things where cultural beauty standards have diverged from the biological reality of the human phenotype, like women having body hair, and I just think it's a bit silly in principle.
Not sure about the phenomenon but I'd guess you're not correct as the same meds are handed out and work well for all age groups, hair loss mechanism remains the same.
A guy in his 20s has better hormonal profile and higher virility, regardless of his genetic makeup. Most people on finasteride are in their 30s or beyond as until your mid 20s, the effects of male pattern baldness aren't as apparent.
I didn't post the clean shaven vs beaded soyjak meme but it does apply. The same guy who has higher levels of dht will have lost far more hair at 28 than at 48. Is he more virile at 48.
Vikings had long braids, so did the Indo Aryans, Eastern European pagans, plenty went bald then too, probably the same rates but young men don't have massive fiveheads by default requiring them to style their hair like Stallone before his transplant.
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