Does lower testosterone = higher DHT?

[Ryukil]

I've seen people say that low T can cause hair loss because if there's lower testosterone production DHT production increases to "compensate." Is this true? Can someone link a scholarly source?

 

[Ryukil]

Bump.

 

[bibz]

Yep, low T will makes your body compensating by the creation of more DHT. Thats why in generally men start balding by the age of 40-50+, cuz low test=high DHT

 

[TheHandsomeLurker]

Yep, low T will makes your body compensating by the creation of more DHT. Thats why in generally men start balding by the age of 40-50+, cuz low test=high DHT

Do you have a source for that? I couldn't find anything about the relationship between testosterone levels and DHT, or between DHT and hair loss.

So far as I've seen, androgenic alopecia is the result of having hair follicles genetically programmed with DHT receptors, coupled with enough testosterone to produce DHT in sufficient quantities to bind. That's why the castrati of old didn't go bald.

 

[Ryukil]

Yeah I can't really find any scholarly sources about low testosterone causing high DHT either...if you think about it, you need testosterone to make DHT, so if there's less testosterone, there should also be less DHT...

 

[Bad]

Well but isnt DHT converted from testosterone? So if we have low testosterone levels = high DHT , and what if we have Hight testosterone levels ? The excess testosterone converted to DHT right?

Then should we keep our testosterone levels high or low from a hair loss point of view?

 

[abcdefg]

It seems like lower T would mean low DHT since DHT comes from the T you have right? low T -> higher DHT does not make much sense to me, but if there is evidence for that maybe its true.

 

[Bad]

Yeah, but keeping high testosterone levels will we get more DHT or higher estrogen levels (aromatase) and DHT remain the same?

 

[talmoode]

it doesn't matter how high or low your testosterone levels are. All that matters is if your hair follicles are susceptible to DHT.

 

[Ryukil]

We're talking about whether or not low T could accelerate male pattern baldness. After all if you have more DHT assaulting your follicles, isn't going to take less time for you to go bald. Haven't you ever seen guys on here post about low T causing their hair loss Talmoode? I've seen guys say that low T = high DHT. Actually the first poster in here besides myself said that. At first it didn't make sense to me, since it seems counterintuitive, but yeah...it still makes no sense to me, that's why I'm trying to figure it out.

 

[Bad]

Why not consider that low T is a consequence of High DHT and not the cause ?

This
?

 

[TheHandsomeLurker]

Because dihydrotestosterone is the result of 5α-reduction of testosterone, ie it's made from testosterone.

I think there's an implicit misconception here, which is that men with androgenic alopecia have higher levels of DHT than average. If someone has a source to substantiate that, I'd love to see it, but DHT doesn't cause baldness in all men, just the ones with the genes for baldness.

 

[bibz]

OMG -_-, no need any source, that's well known that a lack of test will increase DHT, it's the upregulation, but of course this increase of DHT will be far less than the increase of DHT because of too much T

 

[TinTon]

This is an interesting post (well in my particular position at least), hence the bump of a 2 year old thread haha

I'm starting finasteride soon but not on it just yet.

I had my T levels checked just yesterday so I could get a baseline reading prior to taking finasteride, I've also got a DHT test coming from that blood sample which should be with me some time next week.

Anyway my T levels are in normal range however they are in the 'low' normal range:

13.90 nmol/L >> Normal Range 7.60 - 31.40

....so it will be interesting to see what my DHT levels are, should possibly answer this question for sure, well at least in my own case.

**And before anyone jumps in saying: 'it's not about how much DHT but about the sensitivity of your AR's' - yes we all know that, but this thread is not directed at that particular area of focus.**

 

[AndrewBarnes]

No, low test will NOT increase DHT levels or cause more hair loss.