Nicotine prevents metabolism of DHT into a less potent androgen = more hair loss?

[Captain Hook]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3200111

Yet another study I'm curious about the relevance to Androgenetic Alopecia. This study mentions that nicotine and its metabolite cotinine inhibit the HSD enzyme which prevents the metabolism of DHT into a less potent androgen. While I don't smoke regularly at all (literally 1-5 packs over the course of a year, spread out throughout the year too, it's usually a once every few months type thing) I do use 2mg nicotine gum usually twice a day during exam periods (for 2-3 weeks, 4 times a year).

Is this something to be concerned about or is it mostly irrelevant? If it's any consolation noticed my hair loss accelerate slightly after the June exam period this year.

 

[I.D WALKER]

Capt. Hook, it's a fine question. I believe unless you are undergoing surgery eg: hair transplant, your concerns can probably be put to rest. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1323208

On the same breath (cough-cough) it never hurts to quit. ) GoodLuck.

 

[Captain Hook]

Capt. Hook, it's a fine question. I believe unless you are undergoing surgery eg: hair transplant, your concerns can probably be put to rest. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1323208

On the same breath (cough-cough) it never hurts to quit. ) GoodLuck.

Thanks Walker! I only smoked regularly from age 15-17 and then quit just before going to uni. I talked to my doctor about my current level of smoking (1-5 packs per year) and he saw no concern with it, he said it may be better not to smoke at all, but at the same time he said there wouldn't be much of a quantifiable risk from my current intake. It's strange because I never notice an increase in hair loss after a day of smoking nor when using other smokeless tobacco products like snus. For some reason it's just the nicotine gum...or maybe it's all in my head and it was just a normal progression of my Androgenetic Alopecia, I wasn't on any treatments back in June. I'll report back when my October exam period is upon me and see if I notice any increase in loss then!

 

[Infinity95]

Oh that means that I need to quit smoking (lol sorry just need 4 posts to start a thread)

 

[I.D WALKER]

Infinity, In whatever we do, there seems to always be strings attached. Welcome to HairLossTalk.com. -)

 

[Captain Hook]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and hypothesise that both nicotine and creatine, while they may raise DHT through various mechanisms, it might be wise to conclude that saw palmetto can lower DHT yet it doesn't seem to have much proven beneficial effect on Androgenetic Alopecia. Perhaps the same may be true regarding nicotine and creatine having no deleterious effect on Androgenetic Alopecia.

Even still if they were proven to have a deleterious effect on those with Androgenetic Alopecia, it wouldn't be to the same drastic extent as anabolic androgenic steroids, those of which have deleterious effects that still can be prevented or attenuated with antiandrogenic Androgenetic Alopecia treatments.

I personally feel that if one is on a decent treatment regimen that includes antiandrogens, the negative effects of nicotine and creatine, if any at all, can be prevented or greatly ameliorated.

 

[axl617]

Interesting, I wonder if this applies to nicotine alone, ala e-cigarettes which I use constantly...

 

[Captain Hook]

Interesting, I wonder if this applies to nicotine alone, ala e-cigarettes which I use constantly...

Read the original post a bit more carefully, it does apply to nicotine alone. Too often people think nicotine equals tobacco smoking. It's not tobacco that affects DHT metabolism, it's nicotine itself (and its metabolite, cotinine), that prevents DHT from being metabolised into a less potent androgen via HSD enzyme inhibition.

 

[dark&bald]

Very interesting and thank you for sharing the article.... I have been using smokeless tobacco for a very long time and I noticed when I would increase my intake, it seemed like I would shed more hair. I thought it couldn't possibly be correlated. Maybe I was wrong.... Although quitting would be unlikely at this time, it might not be a bad idea to cut back.

 

[Captain Hook]

Very interesting and thank you for sharing the article.... I have been using smokeless tobacco for a very long time and I noticed when I would increase my intake, it seemed like I would shed more hair. I thought it couldn't possibly be correlated. Maybe I was wrong.... Although quitting would be unlikely at this time, it might not be a bad idea to cut back.

No worries.

Quick update to both you and the rest of this thread. It seems I may have overlooked something and we don't need to quit our nicotine products just yet (how lovely right )

I've just done some more research only to learn that this is a reversible reaction and this enzyme (3-alpha-HSD) catalyses the reaction of 3-alpha-androstanediol (the less potent metabolite of DHT) back to DHT as well, so nicotine may not be doing much in terms of overall DHT levels just by inhibiting this enzyme.

Another myth laid to rest I suppose.

 

[bestglycol]

Propylene Glycol & Vegetable Glycerin E-juice at Best Glycol

The differences between Propylene glycol and vegetable E-liquid. Help everyone to understand better & learn and background knowledge. Many cases manufacturers of e-juice mix PG and VG to get benefits of both ingredients. You can buy this base ingredientsThe differences between Propylene glycol and vegetable E-liquid. Help everyone to understand better & learn and background knowledge. Many cases manufacturers of e-juice mix PG and VG to get benefits of both ingredients. You can buy this base ingredients:salut:

 

[Captain Hook]

Thanks for sharing! Nicotine has many other side effects too, it can harm most of the parts of our body like lungs, heart, bones.

Do you have any evidence backing that statement? Don't confuse nicotine gum and smokeless products like snus with smoking cigarettes, the latter is far more dangerous. Nicotine may have a low LD50 but when used in low doses and in moderation it's about as safe as caffeine.

 

[baldingmunchkin]

Interesting study. Nicotine is a vasoconstricter as well, which means less nutrients get to your hair.

 

[abdo123]

the halflife of Nicotine is so low, that Smokers can pretty much donate blood with no sign of nicotine in their blood few hours after smoking their last cigarette .

linking it to a really really slow and long term process such as the metabolism of testosterone is kinda illogical

 

[Captain Hook]

the halflife of Nicotine is so low, that Smokers can pretty much donate blood with no sign of nicotine in their blood few hours after smoking their last cigarette .

linking it to a really really slow and long term process such as the metabolism of testosterone is kinda illogical

Did you even read the study, the earlier posts or the original post? Nicotine's metabolite cotinine has a half-life of 20 hours. That being said the enzyme reaction that takes place is reversible, meaning that 3-alpha-HSD is also responsible for converting the less potent androgen (3-alpha-androstanediol) back into DHT.

Therefore nicotine and its metabolites probably have no effect on the progression of Androgenetic Alopecia.

 

[Thespain]

Hair loss should be the least of your worries if you smoke a lot.

 

[Crystalclear12]

This is a really old thread, but how did no one notice that article was written in 1988. No hope for humanity...

 

[Joseph Lloyd]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and hypothesise that both nicotine and creatine, while they may raise DHT through various mechanisms....

Creatine raises DHT? Where have you seen a study showing that?

 

[ALightInTheDark]

Creatine raises DHT? Where have you seen a study showing that?

Everyone knows it do your own research it's basic knowlegde

 

[Joseph Lloyd]

You know, I did just that and surprised to see there is research on this but I think this article sums up what I’d say well:

http://seannal.com/articles/supplementation/creatine-hair-loss.php