Is the Cause too much DHT or Overly Sensitive Receptors?

MikeH · Aug 31, 2003

I am confused about a basic premise regarding the cause of common male pattern baldness.
I realize that there may be more than one cause and the science is incomplete at this point but what is the concensus regarding the following:

1) Is the cause because as we age our bodies produce an excess/abnormal amount of DHT that damages certain (crown/temple) sensitive hair follicles?

OR

2) As we age, do certain hair follicles become abnormally sensitive to being damged by a normal level of DHT in our body?
*

If 1 is the cause then it would seem that Propecia would not be an unnatural product to use since it is putting our DHT more in balance although I relaize its mechanism could still be causing the side effects.

I appreciate if anyone can clear this up for me.

Thanks
MikH

Lizzad · Aug 31, 2003

If you receptors aren't sensitive (eg. if your a woman, or atleast most women) then you can eat dht sandwiches and not lose hair.

As to why receptors become more sensitive at certain times (eg. you hit the age of 30, or whatever, and suddenly start losing hair quick) i don't know. Clearly this is genetically determined, however, environmantal factors may speed up, or slow down rates of hairloss (eg. stress can speed it up).

Ams99 · Aug 31, 2003

you know, I really have no clue. All I can say is I've made the observation that most really hairy guys are also losing hair on the crown, yet male pattern baldness and hairy bodies don't necessarily go hand and hand (i.e. most guys suffer from male pattern baldness have normal amounts of body hair) in one case it might be too much testosterone in the system while the other it's genetics.

ohno · Sep 1, 2003

More and evidence shows to the direction that DHT is
not the only player in the Androgenetic Alopecia game

However it looks that it plays an important role.
From my study of the classic DHT theory
i have concluded that testosterone and DHT levels rise
sharply in puberty and stay there with very slight decline
as we age.

So our susceptible hair start getting damaged from Puberty!

For most people this damaging process takes many years
to show result (bald spot, receiding hairline, thinning) but
for some lucky individuals (that's me

few years are enough

Women are aslo suscpetible to Androgenetic alopecia,
they have the same number and quality of Androgen
receptors than men, they just lack the necessary
consentration of DHT to kick start the process. They must
have some other protective mechanisms also.

As to why some people preserve their hairline but lose all the
hair on top, or some people never seem to lose hair on the crown
or some have female diffuse thining pattern it seems to have
to do with the hair producing cells genetic programming.
Some cells are programmed to react intensivelly to DHT
and some are slow or even much slower at reacting.

The secrets are still hiden in the cells, and for now our theories
are just not satisfactorily supported by reallity.

Don't you hate waiting?