Finasteride, Minoxidil, Dht-sensitive Follicles

[alibaba92]

Hi experts,

I am wondering, hope that you guys can shed some light on the following:

1) Let’s say I am taking finasteride and minoxidil together, and after having regrown hair, can I stop using minoxidil and taking finasteride only? I am aware that hair regrown by minoxidil will fall once we stop minoxidil but since I am taking finasteride, can those hair be there?

2) Will finasteride reverse miniaturized (not dead yet, just simply being under the miniaturization progress) hair follicles into a healthy (full size and strong) hair follicles?

3) Per my understanding, some follicles on our head are born to be sensitive to DHT and this is why they dies out once attacked by DHT. However, my question is, given that these DHT-sensitive follicles are fixed number (say 200 out of 1000 follicles are born DHT-sensitive), why are we getting balder and balder as we age? Is it because over the time, more and more follicles become “sick” and turn into DHT-sensitive as well even though they were not born DHT-sensitive?

Thank you very much

 

[Umber]

In no way being an expert, these would be my answers

1. Maybe. What minoxidil does is enlarging the tiny blood vessels that bring nutrition to the hair follicles. Essentially, it helps regrow/maintain hair by giving the follicles so much nutrition that the follicles can continue producing hair despite the "attacks" from DHT. This is also why minoxidil loses its effectiveness over time; eventually the DHT binding to the follicles will be more than the follicles can handle despite the extra nutrition. It's like giving an energy bar to an athlete. In the end they'll run of steam regardless of the extra energy boost.
If you remove minoxidil once the hair is regrown, it's not given that it'll fall off. The blood vessels will eventually reduce in size again and go back to providing regular levels of nutrition. If you continue using finasteride it might be enough for the regrown hairs to maintain on that alone. Nothing is given

2. Once again, maybe. Finasteride blocks the enzyme that converts testosterone to DHT, effectively reducing the amount of DHT binding to the follicles and damaging them until the stop producing hair. By lowering the amount of DHT, the follicles will experience less stress. For some people, this is enough for the follicles to be able to continue producing larger hairs. For others, the follicles will all but be able to continue producing hair strands with the same quality and thickness as when starting taking finasteride. And for some unlucky bastards the follicles are so sensitive to DHT that even the reduced amount that remains after finasteride works its course is enough to cause further damage.

3. I'm not sure even science has fully understood how this works. As far as I understand it, the follicles in the vulnerable areas (i.e. the areas that men experience hair loss) are all sensitive to DHT in a falling degree. The most sensitive follicles are the ones around your temples and hairline, followed further back, then your crown area and finally the rest up top. The follicles on the sides and back on the other hand are basically immune to DHT (which is why many studies like Replicel are trying to find a way to apply that immunity to the rest of the otherwise vulnerable follicles). Basically, you get balder and balder over time because the less sensitive follicles can withstand the damage of DHT for a longer period before giving in, whereas the most sensitive follicles, the ones in the temples, don't need much DHT before throwing in the towel.
It's also important to remember that more or less everyone loses hair to some extent, and those who don't eventually end up seeing their individual hairs grown thinner. This is because like any other part of the body, follicles grow weaker and less productive with age. A follicle that in its prime could handle the stress from DHT without any problems could very well be overpowered as it grows weaker and less able to absorb nutrients and the sort. In those situations, the lowered abitility to take up nutrients causes the follicle to be unable to withstand the attack from the DHT, much like how follicles are overpowered once minoxidil loses its effectiveness

 

[Retinoid]

Hi experts,

I am wondering, hope that you guys can shed some light on the following:

1) Let’s say I am taking finasteride and minoxidil together, and after having regrown hair, can I stop using minoxidil and taking finasteride only? I am aware that hair regrown by minoxidil will fall once we stop minoxidil but since I am taking finasteride, can those hair be there?

2) Will finasteride reverse miniaturized (not dead yet, just simply being under the miniaturization progress) hair follicles into a healthy (full size and strong) hair follicles?

3) Per my understanding, some follicles on our head are born to be sensitive to DHT and this is why they dies out once attacked by DHT. However, my question is, given that these DHT-sensitive follicles are fixed number (say 200 out of 1000 follicles are born DHT-sensitive), why are we getting balder and balder as we age? Is it because over the time, more and more follicles become “sick” and turn into DHT-sensitive as well even though they were not born DHT-sensitive?

Thank you very much

1) If the hairs were grown by Minoxidil AND you are unable to grow hair in that region without Minoxidil, then the hair will fall out once stopping Minoxidil despite use of Finasteride.

2) It depends on the overall state of the follicle and the overall regenerative ability of the follicle. Follicles do not die, they just eventually produce microscopic hairs and the skin changes to be like skin instead of a scalp through complex processes dealing with fibrosis and cell programming. If your scalp looks like your forehead, Finasteride will not do anything for that area. If you have hairs but they are just producing finer and finer hairs so it looks bald, then it could reverse this.

3). Our hair does not get born sensitive to DHT. The 5AR enzyme was always in the scalp even when your hair was thick. Some changes occur in the scalp (what these are, we do not know but probably differ from each person) that cascades in over activity of the 5AR enzyme causing an inflammatory domino effect. Once again, the reason why it is progressive is also not known, there are theories, such as scalp tension but no definites.

 

[alibaba92]

1) If the hairs were grown by Minoxidil AND you are unable to grow hair in that region without Minoxidil, then the hair will fall out once stopping Minoxidil despite use of Finasteride.

2) It depends on the overall state of the follicle and the overall regenerative ability of the follicle. Follicles do not die, they just eventually produce microscopic hairs and the skin changes to be like skin instead of a scalp through complex processes dealing with fibrosis and cell programming. If your scalp looks like your forehead, Finasteride will not do anything for that area. If you have hairs but they are just producing finer and finer hairs so it looks bald, then it could reverse this.

3). Our hair does not get born sensitive to DHT. The 5AR enzyme was always in the scalp even when your hair was thick. Some changes occur in the scalp (what these are, we do not know but probably differ from each person) that cascades in over activity of the 5AR enzyme causing an inflammatory domino effect. Once again, the reason why it is progressive is also not known, there are theories, such as scalp tension but no definites.

Thanks for the answer, beside, does the harsh cold weather (Canada for example) accelerate the balding progress or make follicles more and more sensitive to DHT ? I am quite concerned about this since I am traveling to Canada for my study and my brother, who ended up shaving his head due to baldness, blamed that it was due to the harsh cold weather. Well, this might not be true, but it just freaks me out.

 

[abcdefg]

Yeah with the real question being why the hell do hair follicles become sensitive to androgens in the first place? Why does the sensitivity increase or change?
Why the sensitivity is a question we know almost nothing about 50 years later.

 

[alibaba92]

1) If the hairs were grown by Minoxidil AND you are unable to grow hair in that region without Minoxidil, then the hair will fall out once stopping Minoxidil despite use of Finasteride.

2) It depends on the overall state of the follicle and the overall regenerative ability of the follicle. Follicles do not die, they just eventually produce microscopic hairs and the skin changes to be like skin instead of a scalp through complex processes dealing with fibrosis and cell programming. If your scalp looks like your forehead, Finasteride will not do anything for that area. If you have hairs but they are just producing finer and finer hairs so it looks bald, then it could reverse this.

3). Our hair does not get born sensitive to DHT. The 5AR enzyme was always in the scalp even when your hair was thick. Some changes occur in the scalp (what these are, we do not know but probably differ from each person) that cascades in over activity of the 5AR enzyme causing an inflammatory domino effect. Once again, the reason why it is progressive is also not known, there are theories, such as scalp tension but no definites.

2) May I know in what form does DHT exist ? Is it like sebum / liquid ? Is it possible to wash away those scalp DHT by using shampoo and therefore, halt baldness ? Besides, how long do those DHT last on the scalp / follicle ? I believe they should be washed off / excreted somehow so that when taking finasteride, less DHT would be produced and travelled to scalp and attacked the follicles. Is it correct ?

Hope to see your advice, sorry for asking stupid questions, but I am scary now

 

[Roberto_72]

Is it possible to wash away those scalp DHT by using shampoo and therefore, halt baldness ?

This is not a stupid question although it looks a bit naïf. Do you think bald people wouldn not have been bald if they had washed Their hair better?
No, you cannot wash away DHT. Sebum is a byproduct of it and of other problems, not the DHT itself.