Male pattern baldness

I've looked @ this extensively, as I suffered from it in my early 20s, and then it stopped in my mid to late 20s -- thankfully! Still have a full head of hair

Yes, testosterone is converted in a series of steps to DHT. DHT binds to hair follicles rendering them sensitive to falling out.

It is hereditary, but long term stressful conditions could activate a certain stage in the hair cycle, leading to temporary hairless too

I am definitely not talking about short term hair loss. I have been losing from late 20s to early 40s. I was wondering about scalp blood flow in particular as I assumed it was all about hair cell malfunction.

It wasn't short term for me either. It extended from my late teen years all the way to 25. After I started using rogaine foam, I noticed the hair stopped falling out. The ordinary non-foam rogaine didn't work, it made it worse, but the foam stuff worked wonders. Minoxidal works by dilating the blood vessels to allow more blood flow, so it is definitely something to do with blood flow that DHT hinders.

I never liked the smell of Rogaine. I am experimenting with a mixture of rosemary oil and coconut oil which I have heard can help. I tried the pill that interfers with the conversion into DHT which gave me pretty dark depressed thoughts that scared me. I am hoping gene therapy can change hair cell types into ones that can handle the hormones as they are. Likewise the scalp needs update.

I don't mind the smell personally, reminds me of rubbing alcohol, and it goes away very quickly.


Funny, I experimented with that too (it's called finasteride; propecia), and it worked wonders for four years before my body stopped responding to it completely. That is when I discovered Rogaine foam.


Currently I have no faith in that technology to help with hair loss. It's the entire scalp tissue that is susceptible to DHT, with the exception of hair below the crown in the back, so I doubt there will be something that will alter the physiology of an entire mass of tissue.

Do you know if DHT level on its own indicates male pattern baldness? Like if it were at a higher value within healthy range the odds of currently being bald can be well predicted?

It's not the concentration of DHT (or testosterone), but the sensitivity factors towards it that contributes to alopecia.

That is a relief in a way. It means that perhaps my hormone levels are normal and my feeling unwell from getting Finasteride was justified. I just don't know why I didn't lose hair earlier in life if it's sensitivity. Do our scalp cells change to this sensitive state over time?

Finasteride works by blocking the 5α-Reductase enzyme, which is expressed in many different organs and tissues, including the scalp and prostate. By blocking the enzyme, testosterone cannot be converted to DHT, leading to a lower concentration of circulating DHT, enough to lead to the desired effects of the drug.


Could be that your cells are programmed to produce more 5α-Reductase later on in life.