How To Stop Hair Loss And Have A Legitimate Shot At Regrowing Your Natural Hair Part I

While ad campaigns target a few different concerns of men like loneliness, gaining weight, and needing money, few things terrify most men more than losing their hair.

As you get older, hair loss seems to be an ever-growing issue. According to the American Hair Loss Association, 66% of men notice their hair thinning by age 35, and that number goes up to 85% by age 50. In addition, 40% of those going through hair loss happen to be women; almost 50% of them will experience some form of hair loss by age 50.

And far too often, the search for a hair loss solution erroneously focuses on inhibiting the production of dihydrotestosterone (DHT).

DHT Inhibition And Hair Loss

DHT is primarily known as an androgen, a sex hormone directly derived from testosterone. Alongside testosterone and other androgens, it’s responsible for male sex characteristics such as the growth of reproductive organs, a deeper and lower voice, and increased muscle mass. DHT is also responsible for hair growth in every single part of your body, from the hair on your head to the hair below your belt.

DHT is produced from free testosterone in your body through an enzyme known as 5-alpha-reductase (5αR). DHT theory postulates that the binding of DHT to the androgen receptors (ARs) on your hair follicles lowers hair production and consequently decreases the size of the hair follicles themselves. Thus, it would stand to reason that inhibiting DHT would reduce or eliminate hair loss. But there are multiple holes in the DHT inhibition theory based on scientific evidence and contradictory results observed in the real world.

Major Flaws Of The DHT Inhibition Theory When It Comes To Hair Loss

A small human study conducted in 2014 found an interesting discovery about male and female patients who suffer from androgenetic alopecia: “…the most important factors would appear to be the genetically-determined sensitivity of the follicles to DHT and their different reactions to androgen concentration.” There are more than 250 genes associated with severe hair loss.

Female Hair Loss

Although modern medicine often claims DHT is the culprit for male pattern hair loss, it’s less likely lay blame to DHT when it comes to female pattern hair loss. Women can experience hair loss despite having significantly lower levels of testosterone – and DHT – on average than men. When you factor in “normal” testosterone levels relative to women, the DHT inhibition theory loses ground.

Body Hair Paradox And The Effect Of Castration

Much of current medical literature touts DHT as being responsible for hair growth on every single part of your body, including chest hair, armpit hair, pubic hair, and beard hair. Without androgens such as DHT that increase in production during puberty, growth and thickening of body hair wouldn’t happen. So it begs the question:  Why would DHT production lead to the loss of scapular hair, while leading to the growth of hair on other parts of the body?

If you’re operating on the theory that lowering DHT levels would inhibit hair loss, it stands to reason that castration, which dramatically reduces testosterone levels, would decrease DHT production as well and, therefore, inhibit hair loss. Given that your body’s testosterone production decreases with age, so, too should DHT production. The lowered DHT level should then result in slowed or arrested hair loss in castrated individuals, which has not been shown to be the case.

Gravity Theory of Hair Loss

Emin Tuncay Ustuner, a plastic surgeon in Ankara, Turkey, came up with the “gravity theory” of hair loss in 2013 to explain hair loss in men despite clear differences in their hormonal profiles.  According to Dr. Ustuner, “In youth, the scalp has sufficient fat tissue under the skin, and it is capable of keeping itself well-hydrated, buffering the pressure on hair follicles. But with aging, the skin and underlying (subcutaneous) fat become thinner, and the pressure on the hair follicles increases.

Testosterone contributes to thinning of the subcutaneous fat. As the cushion decreases, the hair follicle must strive against higher pressure, requiring more testosterone to achieve normal growth. This “local demand” leads to a buildup of DHT levels in the scalp, but not in the bloodstream. Rising DHT levels cause further erosion of the subcutaneous fat — creating a vicious circle. The hair growth cycle accelerates in response to DHT, but it’s not enough to overcome the increased pressure. Over time, the hair follicle becomes smaller and smaller, resulting in progressively increasing hair loss.”

To sum it up, his research indicates that decreasing DHT levels in the blood has no impact on interrupting the progression of hair loss.