Castration

[Quantum Cat]

A friend told me that if he ever started to go bald he would castrate himself to prevent it. (DHT would cease to be produced) :shock:

Has anyone seriously considered this as a remedy for male pattern baldness? It's not something I would ever contemplate (I'd rather be bald than be balless) but I wonder what your thoughts are. Have you heard of anybody resoting to this?

 

[Bryan]

Castration doesn't cause DHT to cease to be produced, although it's definitely sharply reduced. According to one study I have, blood levels of DHT after castration were reduced by about the same amount as what you get when you use finasteride.

 

[vauxall]

A friend told me that if he ever started to go bald he would castrate himself to prevent it. (DHT would cease to be produced) :shock:

Has anyone seriously considered this as a remedy for male pattern baldness? It's not something I would ever contemplate (I'd rather be bald than be balless) but I wonder what your thoughts are. Have you heard of anybody resoting to this?

For the sake of science and human progress, ask your friend to commit this insane crime and let's see if that works.

 

[the Last Fight]

I really wanna keep my hair and have trued alot of things, but this is one thing ill never try ... my hair aint that important

 

[treeshrew]

Medical castration wouldn't actually mean physically removing the balls would it? Just snipping some internal wiring?

 

[Cassin]

Anyone willing to do this has serious mental problems that has little to do with hair loss.

 

[kento]

That's just too crazy i've done lot of stupid things in my life but can't go with that. Yes it sucks to choice between your hair and your sexual life. Still have hope in the science and i'm optimist that soon we will have more options. Let's all pray that HM will be on the market by 2015 (it's not so far)

 

[kento]

Quantum Cat don't get that suggestion to seriously, i bet he will think twice if he got the problem

 

[treadstone]

Castration doesn't cause DHT to cease to be produced, although it's definitely sharply reduced. According to one study I have, blood levels of DHT after castration were reduced by about the same amount as what you get when you use finasteride.

How about (to be a little nebulous in terminology) scalp DHT levels?

 

[Fundi]

I doubt he was being serious.

I had a friend who said to me

-'If I ever start balding, I'll do the only sensible thing'
'Shave your head?' I asked

-'No, kill myself'.

:mrgreen:

 

[Sean68]

he sounds like a great laugh.

 

[Bryan]

Castration doesn't cause DHT to cease to be produced, although it's definitely sharply reduced. According to one study I have, blood levels of DHT after castration were reduced by about the same amount as what you get when you use finasteride.

How about (to be a little nebulous in terminology) scalp DHT levels?

No available information on that.

 

[CCS]

Castration doesn't cause DHT to cease to be produced, although it's definitely sharply reduced. According to one study I have, blood levels of DHT after castration were reduced by about the same amount as what you get when you use finasteride.

Unless testicals make something else to influence follicles, I'd say that proves that testosterone damages follicles even DHT is absent, considering that castration stops all further loss, whereas propecia only slows further loss. So topical androgen receptor blockers may be a very good thing.

Do we know if nizoral is an androgen receptor blocker or a 5 alpha reductase inhibitor? I hope my spironolactone shampoo is stable, since that would be an androgen receptor blocker.

 

[CCS]

Medical castration wouldn't actually mean physically removing the balls would it? Just snipping some internal wiring?

wait, so they don't snip the balls? What do they do, feed them lots of spironolactone? We need to be specific about what they do, or we can't really evaluate this.

 

[CCS]

Castration doesn't cause DHT to cease to be produced, although it's definitely sharply reduced. According to one study I have, blood levels of DHT after castration were reduced by about the same amount as what you get when you use finasteride.

How about (to be a little nebulous in terminology) scalp DHT levels?

No available information on that.

I suspect they would be reduced just as much as serum levels. We are not talking 5 alpha reductase (of which there are 2 kinds) inhibitors, but rather testosterone removal, so it should affect all areas about the same.

 

[Bryan]

Unless testicals make something else to influence follicles, I'd say that proves that testosterone damages follicles even DHT is absent, considering that castration stops all further loss, whereas propecia only slows further loss.

Yes, especially when you consider that castration probably doesn't reduce the production of DHT from the 5a-reductase type 2 enzyme quite as much as finasteride does; as we all know, it's the type 2 enzyme which is central to male pattern baldness.

Even if the total serum DHT reduction from castration and finasteride usage are about the same (about ~70% or so), that would still imply that castration is a little less effective against the type 2 enzyme than finasteride, and a little more effective against the type 1 enzyme, but it's the activity against type 2 which is more important for balding. That does seem to argue in favor of the theory that testosterone plays a role in male pattern baldness, as you said.

 

[CCS]

It is possible testosterone only damages follicles that have already been damaged by DHT, and that propecia or Avodart alone can maintain fully healthy follicles. Regardless, I think a topical androgen receptor blocker is very key and necessary in most men's rutines, preferably as a shampoo so we don't have to grease our scalp every day.

 

[Bryan]

It is possible testosterone only damages follicles that have already been damaged by DHT, and that propecia or Avodart alone can maintain fully healthy follicles.

The evidence from the pseudohermaphrodites would appear to support that theory!