Hi Doc,
Nice blog.
My question is kinda odd, but please humor me. I can tell there’s some sort of relationship of importance between cause-driven itchy scalp and hair loss.
I really think someone in the hair loss research field, such as yourself, should look further into what I’m saying. I am a statistician by background; I have a PhD in my field, and I am by no means bringing up a crazy idea here. It’s a theory. We all want a cure for baldness, and the best bet is to hear out every conceptual idea or theory. If you could learn the connection here, I believe you would not only make a lot of money, but you’d also help a lot of people.
So, here goes… I noticed about a year or two ago – when I eat something spicy, my head itches. Ok, big deal. Sometimes when I workout, my head also itched. However, the spice aspect, is more noticeable, regular and I can even predict it. When I eat something spicy, I know I’ll have an itch shortly “only in the area of my head that’s thinning or balding”. It’s really strange, and my statistics background tells me there’s got to be a connection there.
The questions I think need answering are:
-Why do humans feel itching?
-What in a spice could cause itching at distant location?
-Could it be something from the spice goes into the bloodstream right away and effects DHT?
I seriously think a dermatologist should be able to answer this. I know I’m not the only one to bring this up.
I am not a dermatologist, so I will try to answer to the best of my capacity. I do know from personal experience that one of the consequence of eating spicy foods is sweating on the scalp, which can make your scalp itch. It also makes my nose run and sometimes my eyes water depending on the heat level. This may be due to a histamine reaction from the capsaicin, the chemical which makes it spicy. But I do not see how this is related to hair loss.
Most male hair loss is due to genetic causes, which is known as androgenic alopecia (AGA) or male pattern baldness (MPB). It is really not a DHT issue in and of itself. In other words, if you do NOT have the genes for hair loss, you will not go bald no matter how much DHT you have.
As far as why humans have to feel the sensation of itching, that is like asking why humans have to feel the sensation of pain. I think that is a bit beyond the scope of BaldingBlog. Sorry.
Tags: spicy food, hairloss, hair loss, itch, scalp itch