One of the greatest myths through the ages has been that it's only the women who are obsessed with the way they look. In fact, the display of whatever passes for beauty in each culture is always to capture the attention of the men. Once married, the women need to maintain appearances. They are there to be seen on the arm of the man, paraded around like a trophy. So, for example, women in the Chinese culture have always been obsessed with the need to maintain a pale skin. Only common people must go about the streets or work in the fields. Women of high status stay at home. Even today, whitening creams are the biggest selling cosmetics across China and Asia. The arrival of the Westerners confirmed the Easteners' impression that white skin is best.

Yet, when you look back through history, you see that rich and powerful men have always dressed themselves in line with fashion. This often required clothing to be padded to emphasize certain attributes and, for long periods of time, also required all men of status to wear hats or wigs. The rule was simple. If all men wear hats or wigs, it's impossible to tell which ones have lost their hair until it's too late, i.e. when inside their homes and about to go to bed, the truth will always out. It's only in our more civilized times that we've abandoned the wig as a joke, and don't accept wearing hats indoors except as a uniform for ceremonial purposes. Mostly men are expected to go bare-headed. This forces them into the media spotlight as the paparazzi now sell pictures of anyone even vaguely famous, getting higher prices for those candid shots showing the first signs of hair loss or fat.

Yet, as men navigate through their 30's, their body chemistry is changing. Hormone levels are dropping. In line with now eating more food, this encourages the belly to swell while laziness undermines the muscle tone. Coming into the male menopause, there can be a loss of libido and diseases become more common as blood vessels harden and heart disease stalks the land. Worse, a growth can start in the prostate. The lucky find the growth benign. The unlucky find it cancerous. Curiously, it was the need to develop a treatment for these growths that led to the development of Propecia.

Many believe science is all about planing a series of experiments and tests to produce a new invention. In fact, it's equally about noticing the way the world works. It's a good story but Isaac Newton was encouraged to think about gravity because an apple fell on his head. The discovery of penicillin was when Alexander Fleming was curious to find out the properties of a mold that unexpectedly grew while he was away from the lab. Many discoveries are accidents that, once noticed are rigorously investigated. So the drug thought best to prevent further growth in the prostate was reported effective in preventing hair loss. Seeing the commercial possibilities, the research team carried out more tests. Now both versions of Propecia are on sale. It works by slightly changing the levels of male hormones. It may not actually make men younger, but it does keep up appearances.