DHT Blockers and Balding Questions

[RobertMearns]

It is my understanding that DHT is produced as a result of testertone production. It is also my understanding that because of the build up of DHT around the root of the hair follicles on the head, it acts to block the vital nutrients and blood flow to the hair follicle, eventually causing the person to become bald? Correct me if I'm wrong here.

I'm also assuming that the more testertone you produce the more by product of DHT you also produce. It would then follow that males between the ages of say 13 and 30 years old would produce the highest amounts of DHT.

I have a 3 part question:

1.) If DHT is produced in such high quantities when males are younger then why do some males (like myself) not really lose their hair significantly until they are in their late 40's? Am I being effected by something that happend 30 years ago, now?

2.) If 13 year old teens that had the baldness gene were to take a DHT blocker on a regular basis as a teen, would they be able to prevent their baldness and not have to use other treatments later in life?

3.) What is the purpose of the body giving off DHT and does blocking it have any harmful health effects or sexual side effects? Please elaborate on whether some DHT products have side effects and whether others don't?

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[Bryan]

It is my understanding that DHT is produced as a result of testertone production. It is also my understanding that because of the build up of DHT around the root of the hair follicles on the head, it acts to block the vital nutrients and blood flow to the hair follicle, eventually causing the person to become bald? Correct me if I'm wrong here.

That's not really a very scientific way of explaining it. Let's put it this way: androgens alter the expression of various growth factors and/or growth suppressors within hair follicle cells in such a way as to inhibit their overall growth as time goes by (I'm talking about scalp hair, specifically).

I'm also assuming that the more testertone you produce the more by product of DHT you also produce. It would then follow that males between the ages of say 13 and 30 years old would produce the highest amounts of DHT.

I have a 3 part question:

1.) If DHT is produced in such high quantities when males are younger then why do some males (like myself) not really lose their hair significantly until they are in their late 40's? Am I being effected by something that happend 30 years ago, now?

Probably for at least a couple of different reasons:

1) Damage to hair follicles is usually a slow, cumulative phenomenon.

2) It's not just the SUPPLY of androgens to the hair follicles, it's also the RESPONSE of those hair follicles to the androgens. Experiments have shown that something happens to hair follicles during (or after) puberty which makes them slowly become sensitive to the effects of androgens. It may be _quite_ a slow process, in some cases.

2.) If 13 year old teens that had the baldness gene were to take a DHT blocker on a regular basis as a teen, would they be able to prevent their baldness and not have to use other treatments later in life?

Yes, but they'd have to keep taking it permanently.

3.) What is the purpose of the body giving off DHT and does blocking it have any harmful health effects or sexual side effects? Please elaborate on whether some DHT products have side effects and whether others don't?

DHT is definitely required for the normal sexual development of a male fetus. The possible requirement for DHT well after puberty is a matter of considerable controversy. Nobody really knows for sure.

A topical 5a-reductase inhibitor should be safe for most anyone, of course, but not necessarily a systemic one.

Bryan