The Proportion of Catagen and Telogen Hair Follicles in Occipital Scalp of Male Androgenetic Alopecia Patients: Challenging the Established Dogma

The study, conducted on 14 Caucasian males with androgenetic alopecia, challenges the traditional belief that 10%-15% of scalp hair follicles are in the telogen phase and 1%-2% in the catagen phase. It found that 7.5% of follicles are in catagen and 3.5% in telogen, suggesting a need to reevaluate the current understanding of hair follicle phase distribution. The research highlights the limitations of traditional methods in distinguishing between these phases and emphasizes the accuracy of ex vivo stereomicroscopic and histologic evaluations. The findings suggest that the common belief of shedding up to 100 hairs per day may be incorrect and call for further research using more rigorous methods.