Guys,
Here is a post I posted on HLH a week or two ago, if anyone has any comments please throw them my way.
Small piece of background info:
Creatine donates a Phosphate group to ADP thus creating more ATP for active transport in the Cell membrane - this could increase the rate of protein synthesis at a follicular level - i.e. A stronger hair follicle etc.
Heres the article:
Lets not forget, Creatine has a seondary action, I do not know if it will apply to hair follicles but:
Creatine when stored in Tissue is very Hydrophillic i.e. Water Loving. If you have a large amount of water IN a cell (not OUTside which is akin to odema) this creates what is called an Anti-Proteolotic environment i.e. Anti Protein Breakdown / Anti Catabolic - Notice I did not say Anabolic- (it is anti breakdown rather than build up and there is a difference) - perhaps Creatine that could make it into the hair follicle may cause the hair follicle to expand somewhat causing the lower hair shaft to thicken over time - this could be purely cosmetic but who cares if it proves to increase coverage ???
If this theory holds true then the effects of DHT may be negated if Creatine proves to be "stronger" - obviously Creatine will not have an effect on DHT or the 5alpha Reductase Enzyme directly per se but if it has a strong effect if could compensate for the negative effect of DHT - couple this with maybe some "minor" DHT / 5aR blockers (I will discuss this in a minute) and substances that could further increase the Anagen phase of hair growth i.e. Cysteine + Retinol A (Hertel H, Gollnick H, Matthies C, Baumann I, Orfanos CE. Universitats-Hautklinik und Poliklinik, Freien Universitat Berlin), minoxidil or Topical SOD etc and you could have significant regrowth from dormant follicles and the thickening of Velous hairs over time.
It seems that Creatine has a cell "sparing" effect (in other body tissues) which could possibly prolong the anagen phase of hair growth or simply nourish the follicle with more Cellular energy (i.e. ATP) making it bigger and stronger providing a thicker hair shaft - There are no Creatine and Hairloss studies that I know off but it would be interesting none the less to hypothesize.
Oral Creatine can be taken in the supplemented form as Creatine Monohydrate or can be consumed in the diet via Red Meat. When I was studying I did a Study on Supplemented Creatine Monohydrate and the effect it has on Lean Body Mass and Muscle Strength - Creatine proved to be beneficial and all the actions were at a cell level - ofcourse it was not an approved study but it was a double blind one.
Above I mentioned minor DHT blockers - we all know that Propecia / dutasteride etc for some have some pretty heavy side effects (granted some people experience amazing regrowth or maintenance and have no side effects at all) however if we could somehow reduce the "effect" of DHT without going overboard with blocking it we could potentially avoid any side effects. Remember our bodies need DHT for lipido, erections and as increasingly thought for some cognitive functions. Here is my thinking:
In the fight against baldness I do not believe that one pill will cure all until gene therapy is available - what I think is that it must be a multi treatment approach (as many of the guys on these forums believe, hence them having a number of products in there arsenal). If Creatine proved to be effecient at sparing hair by increasing cellular energy in the hair follicle on par or slighlty over and above the negative "shrinking" effect of DHT (it could even have a slightly less effect if you are blocking DHT) then the amount of DHT inhibition in our bodies could be less i.e. only a quarter of a mg of Propecia instead of 1mg obviously reducing side effects etc.
If Creatine could produce the raw materials to increase cellular energy within the hair follicle and at the same time have an anticatabolic effect on the follicle (by the creation of an antiprotilotic environment ) couple this with an Anagen stimulator like minoxidil or L-Cystein + Retinol A etc and voila no more hair loss.
All interesting stuff however with out further studies or hair follicle biopsies looking for Creatine we can only self experiment.
I do not think that topically applied Creatine will have a negative effect on hair however I would have to look further into the best delivery system to ensure it reached the hair follicles - Perhaps subcutenous injections ????
Anyway if anyone else has any argument against this I would love to hear them - debating these things may lead us to other trains of thought.
Maxwell.
Here is a post I posted on HLH a week or two ago, if anyone has any comments please throw them my way.
Small piece of background info:
Creatine donates a Phosphate group to ADP thus creating more ATP for active transport in the Cell membrane - this could increase the rate of protein synthesis at a follicular level - i.e. A stronger hair follicle etc.
Heres the article:
Lets not forget, Creatine has a seondary action, I do not know if it will apply to hair follicles but:
Creatine when stored in Tissue is very Hydrophillic i.e. Water Loving. If you have a large amount of water IN a cell (not OUTside which is akin to odema) this creates what is called an Anti-Proteolotic environment i.e. Anti Protein Breakdown / Anti Catabolic - Notice I did not say Anabolic- (it is anti breakdown rather than build up and there is a difference) - perhaps Creatine that could make it into the hair follicle may cause the hair follicle to expand somewhat causing the lower hair shaft to thicken over time - this could be purely cosmetic but who cares if it proves to increase coverage ???
If this theory holds true then the effects of DHT may be negated if Creatine proves to be "stronger" - obviously Creatine will not have an effect on DHT or the 5alpha Reductase Enzyme directly per se but if it has a strong effect if could compensate for the negative effect of DHT - couple this with maybe some "minor" DHT / 5aR blockers (I will discuss this in a minute) and substances that could further increase the Anagen phase of hair growth i.e. Cysteine + Retinol A (Hertel H, Gollnick H, Matthies C, Baumann I, Orfanos CE. Universitats-Hautklinik und Poliklinik, Freien Universitat Berlin), minoxidil or Topical SOD etc and you could have significant regrowth from dormant follicles and the thickening of Velous hairs over time.
It seems that Creatine has a cell "sparing" effect (in other body tissues) which could possibly prolong the anagen phase of hair growth or simply nourish the follicle with more Cellular energy (i.e. ATP) making it bigger and stronger providing a thicker hair shaft - There are no Creatine and Hairloss studies that I know off but it would be interesting none the less to hypothesize.
Oral Creatine can be taken in the supplemented form as Creatine Monohydrate or can be consumed in the diet via Red Meat. When I was studying I did a Study on Supplemented Creatine Monohydrate and the effect it has on Lean Body Mass and Muscle Strength - Creatine proved to be beneficial and all the actions were at a cell level - ofcourse it was not an approved study but it was a double blind one.
Above I mentioned minor DHT blockers - we all know that Propecia / dutasteride etc for some have some pretty heavy side effects (granted some people experience amazing regrowth or maintenance and have no side effects at all) however if we could somehow reduce the "effect" of DHT without going overboard with blocking it we could potentially avoid any side effects. Remember our bodies need DHT for lipido, erections and as increasingly thought for some cognitive functions. Here is my thinking:
In the fight against baldness I do not believe that one pill will cure all until gene therapy is available - what I think is that it must be a multi treatment approach (as many of the guys on these forums believe, hence them having a number of products in there arsenal). If Creatine proved to be effecient at sparing hair by increasing cellular energy in the hair follicle on par or slighlty over and above the negative "shrinking" effect of DHT (it could even have a slightly less effect if you are blocking DHT) then the amount of DHT inhibition in our bodies could be less i.e. only a quarter of a mg of Propecia instead of 1mg obviously reducing side effects etc.
If Creatine could produce the raw materials to increase cellular energy within the hair follicle and at the same time have an anticatabolic effect on the follicle (by the creation of an antiprotilotic environment ) couple this with an Anagen stimulator like minoxidil or L-Cystein + Retinol A etc and voila no more hair loss.
All interesting stuff however with out further studies or hair follicle biopsies looking for Creatine we can only self experiment.
I do not think that topically applied Creatine will have a negative effect on hair however I would have to look further into the best delivery system to ensure it reached the hair follicles - Perhaps subcutenous injections ????
Anyway if anyone else has any argument against this I would love to hear them - debating these things may lead us to other trains of thought.
Maxwell.
