Men with little to no body hair more androgen sensitive?

[shy]

Since DHT is a big causer of body hair growth could it be assumed that men with little to no body hair have lower DHT levels, but can still experience male pattern baldness due to higher 5-alpha reductase sensitivity?

Is there any evidence to suggest that propecia would be less effective on these types of men with little body hair?

The reason I ask this is because I myself have been experiencing recession at age 25, yet I can grow very little facial hair and absolutely no chest or back hair. My brother who is about 28 is a similar body type, but with heavy diffuse thinning and little body hair. I've started generic finasteride 2 months ago and have had absolutely no reduction in libido or any other side effects so it's hard to gauge if my male pattern baldness could be the result of high levels of testosterone (or higher DHT sensitivity) and not because of high DHT. I haven't seen much talk on this topic specifically or any success stories about guys with this combo of male pattern baldness (unless I've missed any?)

 

[ohmanohno]

I have no chest hair and little facial hair. Been on finasteride for just over 2 years. I have a brother about 3 years younger. We are both in our late twenties and he is much more bald/balding that I am. Also, he has more facial and chest hair than I despite being younger. Just food for thought.

 

[shy]

Do you feel that the finasteride has maintained or grown any hair?

 

[Valiant]

"Since DHT is a big causer of body hair growth could it be assumed that men with little to no body hair have lower DHT levels, but can still experience male pattern baldness due to higher 5-alpha reductase sensitivity?"

You mean higher sensitivity to DHT. 5-alpha reductase is the enzyme that converts testosterone into DHT. It does not, at least from what I have read, cause male pattern baldness. So, if these men who don't have body hair have low DHT to begin with, but are really sensitive to it, then you would think that it would impact both baldness and body hair the same. In other words, you would have body hair growth and male pattern baldness.


"Is there any evidence to suggest that propecia would be less effective on these types of men with little body hair?"

Never seen it if it exists.

"it's hard to gauge if my male pattern baldness could be the result of high levels of testosterone (or higher DHT sensitivity) and not because of high DHT."

I don't think high testosterone (read, not DHT) results in male pattern baldness. Otherwise, no bodybuilder would ever have hair. Why don't you get some bloodwork done and see where your levels are?

 

[Helel]

I have a ridiculous amount of body hair. I'm not extremely hairy but I have hairy legs, arms, chest, and stomach. Being hairy has nothing to do with losing hair. If that was the case, I wouldn't be here.

 

[The Far Side]

It's funny I was thinking about this recently and I started looking for threads about it on here but didn't want to necro any old threads and here a new one pops up!

Personally I'm depressingly hairy everywhere except my back (if you took my chest hair and plonked it on my head it would be a thick, dark NW1 ezpz), and the people I know of in my family who are hairy have all suffered from male pattern baldness to some extent. Just from my own observations I would strongly agree that "hairy" people are more prone to male pattern baldness, but that's just from the people I've met etc. Even the fair haired people on this forum for example have been deceptively hariy in my observations:



(That's an example from joeb's success story, one of the most viewed topics on the forum)

Wayne Rooney is another example that springs to mind. There are some questions though, such as:

• Are some people just prone to developing more body hair from the same amount of DHT? (like people having hair on their head more or less susceptable to DHT damage)
• Can someone have body hair that is very receptive to DHT (making it grow), but have follicles on their head that are less receptive to DHT (damage)?
• In what % of people with "lots" of body hair is it an indication that they have high DHT levels?

I've heard quotes from people over the years claiming that having back hair is a sign of high DHT and that a person "will go bald". I've also seen quotes apparantly from doctors claiming that having lots of body hair is an indicator that a person would respond well to finasteride. I don't really know what to think. As someone giving serious consideration to trying finasteride at the moment I certainly hope that idea has some merit to it, I've never met someone more hairy...

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To answer your question, if I saw a fair person with little body hair who is balding then I would think they don't have particularly high DHT levels and their hair follicles must be more androgen sensitive

 

[2ndchance]

I'm 39 and still have little body hair too... but am still balding. I can't grow a full beard or sideburns and only have about 6 hairs on my chest, I don't have back hair, my arm and leg hair is very fine too. I always thought I wouldn't loss my hair as I associated it with hairy men with loads of testosterone...
I don't understand why I don't produce more body hair (from dht) if I have enough dht to cause me hair loss!!
Maybe I have low testosterone, Im currently trying to decide whether to take finasteride but wondering if this will be problem if I have low testosterone already, also it causes even less body hair apparently...

 

[Ventures]

It all depends how sensitive your hair follicles and body hair follicles are to DHT and other androgens. And I heard other genes except AR gene located on X chromosome determine how your body hair react to certain levels of androgen hormones.

I suppose someone who has low sensitive body hair do not develop hairy chest, legs, back etc, but that same person may develop male pattern baldness because he has sensitive scalp hair. On the other hand, we know there are many bald persons around who have no body hair. They probably have very sensitive scalp hair, and sensitivity of their body hair is much less or they have particularly low levels of DHT which is not enough to turn their vellus body follicles to terminal stage. So, as far as I can understand it all depends on sensitivity of your scalp and body hair.

You can see dozens of examples among celebrities, football players, actors. Vladimir Klicko has no body hair (I don't know if he shaves his body) but I doubt he has low levels of circulating T and DHT. So presence of chest or back hair is maybe not good sign, but only if you have susceptible scalp hair. But very very few of them have problems with hair on abdomen, back or chest. In most individuals chest and back are less sensitive.


So answers to your questions:

- Are some people just prone to developing more body hair from the same amount of DHT? (like people having hair on their head more or less susceptible to DHT damage)
Probably yes. We all know there are people who have a lot of body hair and have NW0 hairline. So, I suppose that is clue that sensitivity of body and scalp hair can vary.


- Can someone have body hair that is very receptive to DHT (making it grow), but have follicles on their head that are less receptive to DHT (damage)?
Yes, he can.

Another interesting observation is some males develop hair on chest, but they don't have, even not little, hair on legs, arms or legs. So, distribution of body hair is determined by genetic factor. You first develop body hair on parts of body which are more sensitive or receptice to T and DHT. In most people those areas are legs, arms, pubic and etc. During puberty, males usually get hair on legs before other parts. Legs, arms, pubic, armpit are areas which are more receptive to DHT in the majority of people. And if you look to females, they also develop hair in that areas. As we know a lot of ladies have to shave their legs, some even have hairy arms.

 

[shy]

@Ventures thanks for your insight.

My biggest fear since starting finasteride is that it is going to be ineffective on me since my DHT levels are already low because I am smooth chested with a pretty patchy "beard". Thus, finasteride won't address the cause of my male pattern baldness at all considering my follicles are highly receptive to even very little levels of DHT.

But If I'm understanding your speculating here then just the mere presence of DHT in the male body is the cause of hair growth regardless of the level of it. It's just genetically expressed in different ways (more or less body hair). Following that line of thought and correct me if I'm wrong, but essentially that could mean that a guy with little body hair could actually have high DHT levels in his body that aren't expressed through chest or beard hair growth. I haven't found any literature to say that ALL men with high amounts of body hair also have high DHT levels and the inverse being that men with no body hair have less DHT (unless someone can cite that, which would be great).

I just hope that low body hair ≠ low DHT.

Personally, I've been on finasteride for about 3 months now with no side effects at all. Still the exact same extremely high libido and no loss of morning wood. My only indication that it is working is that I haven't been shedding anymore, but if anyone has any input as to how well finasteride may work on those with low body hair or has seen it work well on anyone with the same body makeup that would be helpful on quelling my concerns.

 

[Valiant]

Did you test DHT prior to finasteride? I am not sure how you conclude that you had low levels. I think that body hair alone would not be enough because of differences between individuals.

 

[shy]

Well, no. I'm just hypothesizing really whether or not it's possible to have high DHT and low body hair. Since I didn't test prior to finasteride I probably won't ever know, unfortunately.

 

[CursedMen]

You guys sure DHT is the only androgen that causes hair growth.

 

[abcdefg]

Well I do think being very hairy increases the chance of going bald and lets not forget the speed of going bald. Some men go bald much faster then others and my money is on the guy with very little hair going bald much slower. It has always been why hair is sensitive to androgens and how sensitive is your hair to those androgens. So men with little androgens can still go bald, but In my opinion its probably much slower then very hair men with higher androgen levels. I think testosterone before it becomes DHT is also important in causing slow hair loss over the years. The AAs we have right now are not strong enough to really see what a powerful AA can do in terms of prevention.
I think hair growth might work different then hair loss too. I think testosterone is really important in hair growth like body hair or facial hair and DHT is also but removing them after you have hair does not reverse the process much like its the same with male pattern baldness

 

[Ventures]

As I said it all depends on your genetics. You can have sensitive body hair and/or sensitive scalp hair or neither. Look at Cristiano Ronaldo, he looks like preadolescent child, not single hair on his body, but I doubt he has low levels of DHT.

On the other hand look at Pierce Brosnan (James Bond) he has hairy chest and arms, and has amazing hair on head. So, having a lot of body hair doesn't necessary mean you will be bald, only if you have sensitive scalp. And in that case body hair, especially if you have lot of it, is a sign of elevated androgen levels, DHT etc.

It is consensus among scientist DHT is indirect cause of balding, but main culprit is sensitivity of your hair to DHT.

 

[abcdefg]

Yeah which is why we need some AAs that work at the sensitivity of the hair and not your absolute DHT levels like propecia which is dangerous.

 

[adilahmed900]

I am 18 years old. My dad isn't hairy at all on the body but has lost his hair. Horseshoe. My mothers brothers aren't hairy either and they have lost their hairs too.

on the other hand I am extremely hairy on my legs and arms. Even chest hair is there now. I Dont know if i am gonna lose hair or not. I think my hairline is receding but at the same time it feels like it isnt and thats just the natural shape. am i just paranoid

 

[brucefan5220]

i am 53 have little body hair

Since DHT is a big causer of body hair growth could it be assumed that men with little to no body hair have lower DHT levels, but can still experience male pattern baldness due to higher 5-alpha reductase sensitivity?

Is there any evidence to suggest that propecia would be less effective on these types of men with little body hair?

The reason I ask this is because I myself have been experiencing recession at age 25, yet I can grow very little facial hair and absolutely no chest or back hair. My brother who is about 28 is a similar body type, but with heavy diffuse thinning and little body hair. I've started generic finasteride 2 months ago and have had absolutely no reduction in libido or any other side effects so it's hard to gauge if my male pattern baldness could be the result of high levels of testosterone (or higher DHT sensitivity) and not because of high DHT. I haven't seen much talk on this topic specifically or any success stories about guys with this combo of male pattern baldness (unless I've missed any?)

i have hardly any body hair been using walmart version of rogaine since may 1 i have been wondering about this but the rogaine will for what i understand will take 3-4 months to see result but i could have sworn i never seen this hairs on my legs before

 

[throwaway592845]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3969676/

Maybe finasteride really does work better for those with a lot of body hair. That would explain my good response to the drug.

 

[RatherGoBlindThanSeeItGo]

DHT affects body hair, but just like on your head you have a fixed amount of hair follicles from the day you're born. DHT doesn't create hair follicles, it just stimulates growth in the follicles you have. My brother and I have similar body hair but my balding is not as bad as his was at my age.

 

[Thespain]

I think it has more to do with androgen receptor density. Just my opinion.

Although, my mothers brother who is nw7 has hardly any body hair. But I think it's just a coincidence as I have his pattern of hair loss and I'm hairer then an ape and started receding/thinning during puberty.