Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is an androgen. An androgen is a sex hormone that contributes to the development of what are thought of as “male” sex characteristics, such as body hair. The body converts approximately 10% of Testosterone into DHT. Hence it is an essential part of the body to develop multiple masculine characteristics such as deeper voice, larger muscle mass and growth of sexual organs. However it requires a very fine balance, excessive DHT might lead to prostate cancer or coronary heart disease where as low DHT might cause sexual dysfunction, gynecomastia or high pitched voice.
Although DHT encourages growth in body hair, its accumulation in the scalp causes hair to thin and fall. DHT has a unique capability to attach to the scalp and prevent blood supply or nutrients from reaching the hair follicle. At the moment, 2 drugs are approved by the TGA for hair loss treatment; Finasteride and Minoxidil. However, research was conducted with oral tablets and did show promising results. The issue is it reduced DHT in the entire body effecting the normal balance and resulting in the mentioned side effects.
As an alternative, topical lotions are possibly the best option however it also presents multiple challenges. Your scalp has thick skin and does not readily allow any particles to penetrate through. Hence, only few companies have been able to design an optimized drug carrier which enables it to bypass the skin and only act on the top layer where the hair follicles are present. Eventually, DHT reduces ONLY in the scalp and allows the nutrients to flow back into the hair follicle and eventually bringing back your long lost hair.
Free feel to contact FT Clinics if you have any questions about your hair loss. You can find out more information about DHT in this interactive video here
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Waleed Khaire
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