MANILA, Philippines—When you’re a race-car driver like international champion Mike Potenciano, a full head of hair isn’t really necessary for a successful career. Or so he believed. Mike, who was once asked to endorse a popular car brand, was doing okay while he was driving the vehicle on a track during the shoot.

“I had my helmet on the whole time,” he says. “But when they asked me to take off my helmet and change into a suit, the director took one look at me and said, ‘Let’s get something to cover his head!’”

Mike, who started racing after college, maintained a thick Afro as a teenager.

“But when I got into racing, friends told me I’d look better in a cap,” he says with a chuckle. Apparently, his hair had already started to thin, and the cap, he realized, would make him look more his age.

According to Dr. Adolfo B. Bormante Jr., clinical associate professor of University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital Medical Center’s section of dermatology, and an active member of dermatology section of the VPR Medical Center, some 5.4 million Filipinos suffer from Male Pattern Hair Loss (MPHL) or androgenetic alopecia.

Stress, certain medications and illnesses somehow contribute to MPHL, but for the most part, it’s heredity that causes this highly progressive condition.

Testosterone converts into dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and hair follicles that are sensitive to DHT (usually in the scalp) eventually miniaturize, or shrink in length and girth.

In time, this manifests as hair loss, usually along the hairline, temples, or crown. From his practice, Dr. Bormante has seen MPHL in patients who are in their 20s and 30s—though he’s known the condition to also strike those in their late teens.

MPHL seemed inevitable

Mike whose dad and brothers were bald by the time they were in their 30s and 40s. Mike, in fact, exhibited the signs sooner than his siblings did: the third born noticed his hair had begun thinning earlier than his older brothers.

So what’s a man with more head than hair to do?

The combined use of Minoxidil (in two- or five-percent solutions applied twice daily) and the oral drug Finasteride (take one 1-mg tablet every day) explain why Mike still has the hairs on his head.

While Minoxidil is said to improve the size of hair follicles, Finasteride blocks the conversion of testosterone to DHT, thereby allowing the hair to grow thicker and longer.

“It stabilizes, if not arrests, the progression of thinning,” says Bormante. Mike will attest to that: the race car driver has been on the combined treatment religiously for five years.

Side effects

Though safe, effective and cost-friendly, these medications (approved by the US Food and Drug Administration) are not without their side effects. Rashes are a rare (yet possible) occurrence among Minoxidil users, and some two percent have complained of erectile dysfunction after taking Finasteride.

Bormante is also quick to remind that the results are neither instant nor dramatic.

“The combination of Minoxidil and Finasteride is not a magic potion,” he says, “but you will see an improvement.” Consulting with a professional dermatologist (instead of self-medicating), therefore, is highly recommended.

As is opening up to others struggling with the same condition. The advocacy website www.prohair. com.ph helps men with MPHL cope by providing them with information, possible solutions, professional attention, and support in an “environment” that spares them from the humiliation of having to address their hair loss issues in public.

Highlights of this proactive site include a “Find a Doctor Directory,” where one can search for an accredited specialist nearest him; a “Members’ Corner,” or forum for sharing experiences and words of encouragement with other MPHL patients; and a “Doctor’s Station,” where specialists and their patients can interact online.

Who says you have to lose your self-confidence when you lose your hair?