The role of Inflammation in male pattern baldness/Androgenetic Alopecia.

[decro435]

I have come to believe that inflammation plays a more drastic role in Male Pattern Baldness than it gets credit for. At least in my case I get a very itchy scalp in the thinning areas, most notably the crown and the temples. Recently though it has spread to the middle and sides. This itching most likely accelerates hair loss dramatically. I'm 19 and I'm thin all over including the sides. I also have a receding hairline.

Any G.P or Doctor that I've gone to does not understand/know the relationship between male pattern baldness and inflammation. They either mis-diagnose it or claim that it's all psychological. Even Dr.Rassman claimed there was no correlation between the two. I guess this stems from the fact that most men that suffer male pattern baldness don't get noticeable inflammation, that's not to say it's not there. I believe that it occurs in most cases just at a different level. Micro-inflammation of the follicle is very common in Male Pattern Baldness but fails to be addressed by a lot of men. I know Ketoconazole is used by most people on this forum to tackle male pattern baldness, but is that enough? I've seen regrowth and maintenance with a Ketoconazole solution like Nizoral on it's own, but it's usually in the older men, who's hair is less sensitive to the androgen "DHT". Should the younger men be using more than Nizoral to tackle their problem? After applying Olive oil to my scalp for a couple of days I noticed that my inflammation dropped dramatically. I've no idea of the processes that induced this, but it's known to be an anti-inflammatory. I've heard of many men including aloe vera, Emu oil etc. to tackle their inflammation, but have failed to hear the "after" report. What I'm trying to say is that a topical formulation of natural anti-inflammatories could be more beneficial to us. Although it won't completely halt hair loss or regrow hair, it could significantly slow the process.

DHT is the main culprit behind male pattern baldness/Androgenetic Alopecia, but is it actually DHT that's killing the follicle?. DHT binds to the androgen receptors and causes a change in the hair follicle that ultimately leads to it's death. This induces inflammation of scalp and hinders growth etc. So we go about tackling male pattern baldness by inhibiting type II 5-alpha reductase, the enzyme that converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and thus it leads to a decrease in the amount of DHT and therefore less hair loss/ inflammation. Is that how it works?, by indirectly stopping inflammation?
I don't know and I know I might not be able to phrase it exactly how you guys want it, so to get my point across you should read these:

http://www.baldnessinfo.com/baldness-bi ... ldness.php
http://www.hairlosshelp.com/forums/mess ... adid=62444
http://www.hairloss-research.org/february1.html

There are many more articles present around the web that indicate inflammation's pivotal role in Androgentic Alopecia. You might not feel the itch because it occurs at a cellular level.

 

[h82bebald]

I thought the itchy feeling comes from the body attacking the follicles and rejecting them? Something along those lines. I'm not quite sure since I don't remember. I do know that ever since being on finasteride, my head isn't all itchy like to it use to be. Come to think of it, it doesn't even itch all at no more. I use to get that itchy feeling on my scalp and I would scratch it and it wouldn't go away.

 

[OverMachoGrande]

I believe Inflammation is the main cause of M.P.B. Inflammation reduces the blood supply to your scalp, and causes constant free-radical damage to cells.

 

[legion00]

inflammation isn't the main proponent of hair loss in most men; they have a perfectly healthy scalp and still continue to lose hair. thats just genetics. however, if you have bad inflammation in your scalp, this will cause you to lose hair even if you don't have traditional male pattern baldness.

i had bad inflammation for a few months (redness, itching, horrible dandruff) and drastic hair loss at the time. the hair loss stopped within 2-3 days of getting the inflammation under control.

 

[OverMachoGrande]

Inflammation under the scalp is what I believe to be the cause, not inflammation on top, thou that couldn't be good either.

 

[decro435]

inflammation isn't the main proponent of hair loss in most men; they have a perfectly healthy scalp and still continue to lose hair. thats just genetics. however, if you have bad inflammation in your scalp, this will cause you to lose hair even if you don't have traditional male pattern baldness.

i had bad inflammation for a few months (redness, itching, horrible dandruff) and drastic hair loss at the time. the hair loss stopped within 2-3 days of getting the inflammation under control.

How did you manage to control your inflammation?

Inflammation under the scalp is what I believe to be the cause, not inflammation on top, thou that couldn't be good either.

Yes, micro-inflammation on a cellular level.

 

[OverMachoGrande]

Yes. Micro-Inflammation; inflammation so small you can't even feel it. From what I have been recently studying, H.G.H. (human growth hormone) controls inflammation, anything that inhibits H.G.H. such as : High levels of estrogen, IGF-1, cortisol, and insulin, can cause inflammation/hair loss. The tricky thing about IGF-1 is: H.G.H. stimulates the production of IGF-1, keep in mind H.G.H. is known to be beneficial to health and hair. If you have high levels of IGF-1, that sends what's called Negative Feedback to your body saying "do not produce anymore H.G.H. because we already have enough IGF-1". Without H.G.H. inflammation can occur often resulting in hair loss.
Green Tea is said to lower IGF-1 levels.
Commercial/Non-Organic Milk/Beef/Cheese and Eggs is said to raise IGF-1.

 

[legion00]

nizoral 1% cured my inflammation with 2 uses. i rotate with regular dandruff shampoo and i have been in good shape since.

 

[OverMachoGrande]

Both 1% and 2% are known to be strong anti-inflammatories, I believe this to be why Nizoral was shown to regrow lost hairs and thicken existing.

 

[moxsom]

Yes. Micro-Inflammation; inflammation so small you can't even feel it. From what I have been recently studying, H.G.H. (human growth hormone) controls inflammation, anything that inhibits H.G.H. such as : High levels of estrogen, IGF-1, cortisol, and insulin, can cause inflammation/hair loss. The tricky thing about IGF-1 is: H.G.H. stimulates the production of IGF-1, keep in mind H.G.H. is known to be beneficial to health and hair. If you have high levels of IGF-1, that sends what's called Negative Feedback to your body saying "do not produce anymore H.G.H. because we already have enough IGF-1". Without H.G.H. inflammation can occur often resulting in hair loss.
Green Tea is said to lower IGF-1 levels.
Commercial/Non-Organic Milk/Beef/Cheese and Eggs is said to raise IGF-1.

where did you read that IGF-1 produces inflammation?

 

[OverMachoGrande]

High levels of IGF-1 tricks the body into thinking it has enough H.G.H. (human growth hormone), which is shown to reduce inflammation and revitalise hair growth. H.G.H. also produces IGF-1, so when you get large amounts of IGF-1 from other sources other than H.G.H., like large amounts of animal protein and especially milk, your body produces less H.G.H. Too much IGF-1 is bad, but having not enough is bad as well. I think it is best to get most IGF-1 throu H.G.H.(by exercising) instead of diet, at least 70% from H.G.H. and 30% from diet.

 

[barcafan]

I'll keep eating my animals. Thanks


ps

 

[ph1]

yeah i'll agree with this thread. I had fairly receeded then about 5 months ago massive itching started in middle at the front where hair was left, and now it's massively thinned. Have to say that Nizoral pretty much sorted the itching out though.