I was wondering Testosterone levels are supposed to be highest when men are in their 20’s, yet for most men the effects of DHT are not seen until later. Do men have more DHT as they get older (past the 20’s), even though produce less testosterone? Do men develop more DHT receptor sites when older or produce more 5AR enzyme when older to convert testosterone to DHT? They don’t have these DHT receptor sites in the scalp when younger, just older? Like a cancer that just appears after so many cell divisions and the genes reach a certain point? LOL, well just wondering why men have more DHT (hormone) when older if produce more testosterone when younger, I’m sure a lot of other people would be interested in that information, Thank you very much for any info or sites that may have info!
You ask a very good and interesting question. You sound like you are just about to take a biochemistry exam. Unless I am mistaken, DHT levels will correspond with testosterone levels. Generally, less testosterone (an aging problem) should produce less DHT. The reason why you see balding men who are older (when testosterone levels are relatively lower than their younger years) is that it is likely a late expression of the genes that affect hair loss. On a counter note, most balding men will report that their hair loss began in their late teenage years (when their testosterone levels were the highest).
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Hmmm. I think you are wrong. The enzyme responsible for the conversion of testosterone to DHT, 5-alpha reductase, becomes more active with age. So that even though the levels of testosterone may decrease with age, the levels of DHT increase.
Just because older man ’show’ more ‘ baldness’ does not mean most of the damage that is done to the hair actually happends as they are older. The opposite is true. The process of baldness is shrinking hair’s. To notice baldness visibly, the damage to the hair is already in an extended phase. If you notice thinning, you are problably already slowly thinning over years, yet did not see it because losing 20% of your hair is not really easily visible. The thing with baldness is that everyone would become bald, if they lived long enough. even females. You just have a certain amount of hairs that will grow out of your head at every spot. On people that are not affected or little affected by the damage DHT (like women and some men)the hair will live for a longer period of time. Let’s say 6 years (I would have to look up time). If you will produce lets say 20 hairs on 1 spot during your lifetime, it will mean you will have hair on that spot for 6 x 20 = 120 years. The thing is most people don’t get old enough to exprience this happening. When you are balding, the lifespan of each hair is reduced since the DHT attacks the root of the hair. After the hair has fallen out, a new hair pops up. As you can notice from this kind progression, it will simply mean you will run out of hairs in a shorter period of time. testosteron and DHT does increase after puberty, so most damage to the hair roots is done in the earlier years, while it slows down after pubery. This is why men that bald at a younger age, bald far more progressive than men that bald at a later age. If you are visibly balding at the age of 18 , it means that you’ve lost over 50% of hair on that spot in only a few years. Since your testosteron and DHT levels SLOWLY lower during the years, in most cases it will mean the speed will decrease only a bit, resulting in a bald head before your 30th birthday. If you first begin to notice signs of baldness when you are 35, it means it took about 20 years (assuming pubery began at about 15) for the DHT to damage the root of the hair so much you are runinng out of hair on that spot. In those cases the chance you will get completely bald are alot lower.
Another sign that DHT decreases with age is impotence. Propecia lowers the amount of DHT by 70%, often resulting in (temp.) impotence and low libido (they claim only 1% – but actualyl higher in my expriences with guys taking it). So both chemically lowering your DHT levels (Propecia) as well as naturally lowering DHT (aging) have the same side effects.
I meant to say that testosteron and DHT DEcreases after puberty, not increases