EFFECT OF CASTRATION IN ADOLESCENT AND YOUNG ADULT MALES UPON FURTHER CHANGES IN THE PROPORTIONS OF BARE AND HAIRY SCALP*

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Abstract
A study of 21 adolescent and young adult males, before castration and for eight to eighteen years afterwards, showed that after orchiectomy there was no development of male pattern baldness (MPB) nor of any grossly recognizable denudation of the scalp. There was no expansion of bald areas in existence at the time of castration. At the end of the study the eunuchs, compared with intact males of similar age, exhibited a significantly lower incidence of MPB (P = .01) and had no further loss of coarse hairs in the pattern that in most males results in recession of the frontal hairline (P < .01). After castration, no increase in the number of coarse hairs was detected in bald or sparsely-haired areas of recession of the frontal hairline. It is concluded that the remedial value of drastic reduction in androgenic stimulation is probably nil with regard to return of coarse hairs which have been lost along the frontal hairline in young men. In 3 men with baldness of the crown of the head at the time of orchiectomy, a limited increase in the number of coarse hairs occurred after the operation in 1 but not in the others. Further study is required to ascertain the potential for partial re-growth of coarse hairs in subjects with late-appearing forms of MPB involving the dorsum of the head.