Isn’t Testosterone the Cause of Men Losing Their Hair?
Are you worried about losing your hair? It’s an understandable concern.
You may have heard that testosterone, including TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy) used to treat men suffering from chronic Low T symptoms, causes hair loss, since that outdated myth—based only on a couple of very shaky research studies—has been circulating for decades.
We can say this emphatically: There’s no reliable science to back up such a conclusion.
On the contrary, research continues to demonstrate through reliable studies that the amount of testosterone in your body has nothing to do with whether you’ll lose your hair.
There’s another cause.
Doesn’t Testosterone Cause Men to Lose Their Hair?
Men suffering from androgenic alopecia (the medical term for male pattern baldness) tend to exhibit high levels of DHT (dihydrotestosterone), which is a byproduct of your body breaking down testosterone for use to power a number of your body’s critical systems.
However, to simply extrapolate from that one piece of men’s complex hormonal puzzle to mean more testosterone means more DHT, and that more DHT then causes baldness is an oversimplification.
When we discuss myths of cause and effect, like testosterone causing men’s hair loss, the best thing to do is learn what the preponderance of research shows. A great example is the Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP-TREND)—a cross-sectional, population-based study conducted in Northeastern Germany and published in the the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in 2017.
The researchers investigated a participant pool of 373 men to determine if any cross-sectional associations exist between androgens (sex hormones), including testosterone, and hair loss in men by using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).
Their detailed analysis revealed no significant associations.
What that means is they did not find any higher occurrence of men losing their hair in relation to higher testosterone levels. In addition, the published study states:
“Previous studies with smaller sample sizes and selected participants yielded similar negative findings with regard to androgenic alopecia grade severity and premature balding.”
In plain English, the scientists say there is no significant research on the relationship between testosterone and male pattern baldness that contradicts their conclusions.
Read a summary of the findings here.
Therefore, this and the many other studies like it debunk the myth, instead finding that testosterone is not the direct cause of hair loss, unless…
The Real Relationship Between Losing Your Hair and Testosterone: Genetic Predisposition
The only way testosterone, or DHT in this case, can result in a man losing his hair is if he is already genetically predisposed. If it isn’t in his genes, DHT levels will have no real effect on his condition.
Androgenic alopecia is the direct result of DHT acting on hair follicles that are genetically predisposed to react strongly and negatively to the presence of DHT.
Men with this genetic makeup have follicles possessing an increased number of receptors which allow DHT to bind to them and cause the follicles to constrict, which makes them unfit or unable to produce and maintain healthy hair.
Then, and only then, will hair loss occur. The amount of DHT will affect this particular group of men, and this group of men alone.
Testosterone and Hair Loss: What It All Means
There’s good news in these findings for any of you worried that testosterone causes men to lose their hair, because men suffering from the symptoms of low testosterone and currently in possession of a full head of hair will not suddenly develop male pattern baldness due to the supplementary testosterone used in Testosterone Replacement therapy (TRT).
You can find relief for your symptoms without this incredible weight of worry on your shoulders. Take advantage of a regimented TRT plan that could improve your quality of life and help you feel like yourself again.
Learn more about the relief of Low T symptoms and other health benefits of TRT in our all-inclusive guide.
