Hyaluronic Acid, DHT, and Hair Loss
I want to know everything that you know about the connection between Hyaluronic Acid and hair loss. Why are there no products on the market combining this powerful connective tissue component with Minoxodil? Why can’t they just make a line of products that target hair loss from all ends, like tartar control, whitening toothpaste that fights gingevitis? By combining hyaluronic acid with collagen and minoxidil and DHT blockers wouldn’t hair be at its safest and sturdiest? Also, how come some people will have plenty of DHT and still not go bald? What is the specific chemical quality that constitutes vulnerability of a specific hair folicle to DHT? Instead of inhibiting DHT and affecting muscle mass, secondary sexual characteristics and sex drive, can’t the individual hair folicles be made immune to DHT’s causing hair growth to be inhibited. After all, isn’t DHT what made hair grow out of that folicle in the first place? I know I’m a bit of a hurricane, but I’m in love with a balding man and find myself as invested in his plights as he is, and I can see he is suffering from this.
I found an article on the FDA website which addresses hyaluronic acid. See Science Meets Beauty: Using Medicine to Improve Appearances and do a “find in page” (usually CTRL+F) to search for hyaluronic acid.
DHT is only bad when you are talking about hair loss in genetically prone individuals. Maybe one of our ancestors understood the benefit of balding, but we have not figured it out. There are many solutions for hair loss in men. Propecia is a great drug if the hair loss is caught early enough. Also, hair transplantation works well for many people (see Before and After photos).
“Also, how come some people will have plenty of DHT and still not go bald?”
The Androgen receptor is encoded for by a gene on your X Chromosome, so men only get it from their mother. Thus the (not totally correct) statement that ‘baldness is inherited from your mother’s side.’ I don’t know what kind of change in the AR leads to baldness, though, which is what you seem to be asking.
‘Plenty of DHT’ is also relative. Some people have more sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) which means that they’re not exposed to a steady stream of Testosterone and thus DHT even if they can make it. I’ve often wondered if it matters to hair loss if DHT is made in the scalp or prostate.
Note that balding follicles tend to have senescent cells, meaning that they are aged at the cellular level.
Resveratrol is an interesting supplement for hair loss as well. The Chinese herb Ho Shou Wu is a traditional baldness preventative in Chinese herbal medicine, and has resveratrol-like compounds. It’s scientific name is polygonum multiflorum and it’s in the same family as polygonum cuspidatum, which is where a lot of refined resveratrol suppliments come from. (I’ve had bad luck with the quality of actual Chinese herbs, but the principle stands.)