I think this has more to do with genetics. Some people have hair follicles that burn out quickly in the presence of DHT. Others, not so much.
Yes, some people have high DHT levels with a full head of hair while others have low DHT levels and are balding. It is a genetic sensitivity to DHT that is the problem. The more sensitive ur hair is, the more hair loss you will have in the presence of DHT.
Exactly.
That is interesting as I have really high DHT right now and I am taking anastrazole. I am on a cream applied to the scrotum also though which is known to cause elevated DHT.
On the hair issue though, could it not also be caused by lowering estrogen too much and not necessarily stemming from an increase in DHT due to anastrozole use? As low estrogen can also cause hair loss. DHT should only affect those sensitive to it, but low estrogen I believe would affect anyone and everyone.
I agree genetics is in play.
I am not sure the percentages are equal though. This world is full of bald men especially when you get past 35. Iām not taking any chances Iām in that tiny percent that DHT does not effect my hair retension. Besides libido is the only plus side to DHT and I already have more of that than I want or need.
You are absolutely correct. Though I have good hair genetics where DHT is concerned, on the couple of occasions where I had let my e2 dip below 21 or so, I started seeing more than the routine amount of hair in the shower drain-catch. And I would notice that before the onset of any low-e2 related joint pain.
So for maximal hair retention, a person is going to not only want to keep DHT at bay, but have their e2 as high as they can have it without it negatively affecting anything else, like libido etcā¦and that level is going to be different for everyone. For me, when I stray into the 30ās with e2, I start to feel it affect libido. Yet I have a friend whoās e2 is in the 60ās and it doesnāt affect his libido at all.
I cannot see hair falling in the drain as i saw the inevitable 10 years ago and starting shaving it all off. But definitely in the last 6 months it has definitely increased in the visibility of going faster. Hard to say if just the DHT accelerated it or my battle with estrogen also played large role. They all have been in the same time frame so i canāt say for sure.
I am trying to wean myself off of anastrazole though so that would be nice to see if it does affect DHT levels.
Estrogen does have a beneficial influence on hair. Men that have significant hair loss see the best regrowth results when they increase estrogen. However, DHT (combined with genetic sensitivity) is going to be a much bigger factor in causing the onset of hair loss than having low estrogen. Let me explain. Look at people with a 5-alpha reductase deficiency. They donāt have type 2 5ar and always keep a full head of hair. If they inhibit estrogen, they still have a full head of hair. Also, as men age, their DHT levels decrease and estrogen increases, but on average, older men have much more hair loss than younger men. This is because as men age their scalp hair DHT sensitivity increases (for unknown reasons) unless they donāt have any genetic sensitivity. So the best way to stop hair loss is to keep DHT low and keep estrogen high, but keeping DHT low is more important than keeping estrogen high when trying to prevent the onset of hair loss.
That study is interesting and alarming. However, their dosing is massive and so I have to wonder if itās applicable.
I 99% do believe it is applicable (lol.) As well as the fact that this was not on humans. If anastrozole really did overpower finasteride to that degree, we would have heard many more anecdotal horror stories when people with male pattern baldness used both anastrozole+finasteride. Instead, I have read more positive results than negative in people claiming to use anastrozole and finasteride. Yes, unscientific, and no studies on it, so I cannot say for sure. Lastly, I canāt imagine people with male pattern baldness using dutasteride+anastrozole and losing hair. I bet if a study was done on people using dutasteride+anastrozole they would have no increase in hair loss. I think the same thing would be said with finasteride+anastrozole, but I am less certain.