PGD2 or DHT

Unfortunately no one can answer that because no one knows for sure. I imagine it's going to end up being some combination of many factors which is why it has been so hard to figure out. I hope PGD2 is the final piece of the puzzle, but I’m not going to hold my breath.

I think it's clear that there is not a direct relation to DHT and baldness. But merely DHT is a catalyst or a contributor to the balding process. It's definitely not the answer to any sort of cure.

You could have two genetically identical men (who are averagely prone to baldness) and only change their DHT levels and this would no doubt affect their hair loss progression.

However, you could also have a man with below average levels of DHT who goes bald a lot sooner than a men with above average levels of DHT, because this man is less prone to baldness (what ever the other culprits are, maybe PGD2?)

If it was purely that balding men produced too much DHT compared to none balding men then there would be a cure by now. But there is something else which makes men more susceptible, whether it be the genetic of the hair follicle or PGD2.

It would be interesting if it's found that it's not the follicle itself but the the excess PGD2 levels the body is producing in the scalp as a bi product of the processes. If it is then we are a lot closer to a cure than we think.

I think DHT's relation to baldness can be described by an analogy of a car leaking oil.

The car has an oil leak and reducing the amount of oil you have in a car would help the leak. The cause of the oil leak isn't too much oil though, but a blown gasket or a corroded hole that is appearing somewhere. Even though you have reduced the appearance of the oil leak by reducing the oil and therefore there is less oil to leak out of the car, you have removed some of the vital ingredient that makes the car function. Without the oil there is no leak and removing every drop of oil in the car would solve the oil leak 100%. But the car wouldn't work and plenty of damage would be caused when trying to use it...

They are presumably part of the same chain of events. One cause leads to a consequence, which is the cause of another consequence, and so on. For example, i believe DHT causes the increase in PGD2 in hair follicles. While DHT is a body-wide messenger (albeit in the case of hair follicles and the prostate it's produced locally), PGD2 is always a local messenger, meaning it is always produced to deliver a message inside the same tissue. Personally i'm thinking that the excessive presence of androgen receptors in the follicles, coupled with the excessive presence of DHT, causes irritation and the release of PGD2, which is known to constrict blood vessels, thus reducing blood flow and nutrition to hair follicles.

if you want my opinion baldness is the result of a hormonal imbalance that can start very early on in life, only visible during/after puberty when hair starts to thin out severeley.
This is the root cause of baldness.

Genetics deteremines the pattern.
Secondary to the root cause its scalp fungus/bacteria.

from the actual study:

^ that's why DHT blocking works presumably by calming down Ptgds...

you spent too much time on IH forums..... they think certain types of potatoes will cause inflammation and MPB...

so do you

It's hard to believe humans can build something so sophisticated like a space shuttle, and land on the moon as far back as 1969. But 40 years later still can't regrow hair on balding heads.

a while ago I received a prescription shampoo from a dermatologist after I complained of intense itching in my scalp. She wasn't sure what it was but gave me some kind of shampoo that I wasn't suppose to use very often (similar to whats recommended with COX2 and LOX5 inhibitors). It cleared up my itch and the associated scaling scalp. I was on renokin at the time and even thought that I was experiencing some regrowth from renokin, but what if the shampoo was a PGD2 blocker, or a COX2 and LOX5 blocker? What if the regrowth was coming from that? I'm going to call the derm and get the name of the shampoo and look into it. I know the point of the shampoo was to stop inflammation in my scalp, so its possible I could be on to something.

I'll report back tomorrow with the name of the shampoo

the shampoo probably contained Salicylic acid.

Let's wait until we see a clear correlation of PGD2 and baldness, right now blocking DHT shows some success.

Like everyone, I would love that PGD2 shows up to be the only culprit, but let's wait until we have real solutions manipulating PGD2

Hormonal imbalances seem a little far fetched when there are such ridiculously healthy people who are also bald. Wouldn't you suspect that a hormonal imbalance would have detrimental effects stretching beyond hairloss?

Far as I know, the only comorbidity that baldness might have is depression. And we all know the explanation for that.

Not sayin' you're crazy or anything. At least the hormone DHT is in the cascade of events causing hairloss, so there's obviously a hormonal component. But to say it's caused by hormonal imbalances is far fetched, is all I'm sayin'.

@Davey Jones: http://www.baldtruthtalk.com/showthread.php?t=8595

Personally, far fetched isn't the word i would use. It is the most complete and coherent theory i have seen to date. And things called prostate cancer, fatty liver and metabolic syndrome are all implied possible comorbidities, which lead further to impaired fat burning, impaired muscle development (and possible muscle wastage) despite DHT and other assorted possible consequences. In fact there are so many theorized comorbidities and they are all so influenced by genetics that it's impossible to validate or debunk this theory with them. At the very least, alopecia androgenetica and metabolic syndrome have been linked more or less reliably. (Just check wikipedia.)

You should also be made aware that the hormonal balance in the human organism is tightly self-regulated, so one hormone out of whack usually implies the whole balance being affected.

you can tell they are healthy by looking at them right??? well it does - increased risk of cardivascular disease, increased risk of heart disease and a list of other diseases linked with baldness i cant name right now


Yes it is a potent stimulator of the sebaceous gland. So is igf-1.

The hormonal imbalance is not just the levels of dht/androgens and sbhg etc in the body, remember these hormones are typically produced by certain enzymes - this implies imablances in these enzymes.

this imbalance also includes the imbalances of the 5 alpha reductase enzymes and possibley other imbalanced enzymes are involved.

i have a intresting theory that somehow the two forms of cholesterol is involved with baldness. I think they are linked with 5 alpha reductase enzyme imbalances.