hair everywhere except head

I've always had a lot of body hair but then suddenly at age 20 I start balding? And now I'm growing even more body hair? Does this have to do with Insulin, SHGB or what? I don't know what to do at this point.

Exp Dermatol. 2013 Mar;22(3):168-71. doi: 10.1111/exd.12024. Epub 2012 Sep 28.
Androgen actions on the human hair follicle: perspectives.
Inui S1, Itami S.

Androgens stimulate beard growth but suppress hair growth in androgenetic alopecia (AGA). This condition is known as 'androgen paradox'. Human pilosebaceous units possess enough enzymes to form the active androgens testosterone and dihydrotestosterone. In hair follicles, 5α-reductase type 1 and 2, androgen receptors (AR) and AR coactivators can regulate androgen sensitivity of dermal papillae (DP). To regulate hair growth, androgens stimulate production of IGF-1 as positive mediators from beard DP cells and of TGF-β1, TGF-β2, dickkopf1 and IL-6 as negative mediators from balding DP cells. In addition, androgens enhance inducible nitric oxide synthase from occipital DP cells and stem cell factor for positive regulation of hair growth in beard and negative regulation of balding DP cells. Moreover, AGA involves crosstalk between androgen and Wnt/β-catenin signalling. Finally, recent data on susceptibility genes have provided us with the impetus to investigate the molecular pathogenesis of AGA.

Full study:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/exd.12024/pdf

So can I change diet and use supplements to fix this? I wouldn't even care about all the body hair if I had a full head of hair. Can gaining a lot of fat/weight have anything to do with this? It did start around the same time my diet became horrible and weight gain followed. I also have sensitive skin that gets red easily, especially on scalp but I had this before the hair loss started as well.

I think that answer depends on how far along you are. That presentation is characteristic of low SHBG and higher levels of 5-ar. If you've lost a good part of the hair on your head, I'm going to be honest with you and say that the odds are against you regrowing a full head of hair with supplementation and dietary change. To me, you deserve that answer and I wouldn't recommend spending your entire paycheck on 37 supplements a month.

That said, I also don't think there's anyone out there, myself included, who can talk with certainty about that either. If any of us was certain about it, we wouldn't continue spending time at the forum.

If it were me, I would probably be most concerned about the comorbidities of this condition (I have the same thing going on as you). It is highly associated with insulin resistance, which in and of itself is associated with different nutrition deficiencies and increased oxidative stress. Almost any condition associated with aging: diabetes, dementia, heart disease, alzheimer's, cancer, arthritis, etc. are worsened by insulin resistance and the associated vascular inflammation.

So regardless of whether your hair returns from it, using the strategies here to reduce inflammation and insulin are something we should be very interested in, regarding our longevity and how many healthy years we can achieve. If these things benefit you hair-wise, more power to ya. The paradigm here at the forum is hollistic types of therapies, and I think its almost essential for you to use certain aspects of these strategies to head off the problems our hormonal states will likely cause us in the future if we don't do something about it. Again, its a shitty hand to be dealt, no doubt, but its not deterministic. There are things we can do. But I wouldn't expect hair miracles. I'd focus on lowering inflammation and increasing your good years, and if there are any hair benefits to be had they'll trickle down from this overall strategy.

One thing I would mention, only because its gotten my interest lately, is methylation and certain nutritional deficiencies. I also have the type of hair situation you're dealing with, along with the sensitive skin. Do you get flushed easily and get tingly sensations in your skins sometimes? On the face or scalp? Histamine plays a role in this and histamine is elevated in people who are undermethylating. Undermethylating is associated with increased oxidative stress and inability to detox (especially metals), all things that can easily have straight lines drawn between them and hair loss. I would check out information on the methyl cycle/methyl blocks, and the associated mineral deficiencies (magnesium, zinc, manganese, selenium) & vitamins (B12, B6, B9). When it comes to health, diet/exercise/sleep are the true doctors, but when it comes to supplementation, things that support these pathways (methylation) are the biggest bang-for-your-buck strategies because they support your body's existing pathways for lowering inflammation/ridding itself of toxins.

I am not slick bald like Dr. Phil but I am balding and you can tell unfortunately. I do get the tingling sometimes. To make things worse I have some type of eczema or something on the sides of my head that flare up sometimes. What do you think about that article on hairloss research about fish oil and borage oil? It says that they can increase scalp growth while decreasing body hair? Do you follow a diet to control insulin levels?

I would definitely examine the histamine - and mast cell - link here. There has been a thread on B vitamins circulating recently I think is interesting. In addition to the methylation problem, deficiency in the B vitamins has been associated with seborrheic dermatitis. I would give that a look, as well as at the condition Pyroluria. I'm not saying either of these are necessarily what you're dealing with, but I think they offer a good perspective on nutrient sufficiency in these conditions.

Controlling histamine - and other mast cell products - requires lowering inflammation. You need proper oxygen utilization at the mtiochondrial level, elimination of infection, elimination of heavy metals, proper blood sugar, etc.

I think borage oil can be useful. It has a high content of GLA, which lowers DHT levels. The reports seem to show its also generally great for lowering inflammation in the skin. In addition to the borage oil, CS has Ecklonia Cava as part of his regimen. It contains factors that do the same thing.

I don't currently eat an insulin-friendly diet. I have been in an absolute funk with fluctuating hormone levels and its taken my mental state for a damn roller coaster ride. I'm planning on making some major changes very soon, but no, as of this very moment, my diet is far from ideal. I try to mitigate the damage with some antioxidant supplementation, but needless to say there is room for improvement. But even beyond the insulin issue, food sensitivity/intolerance is a huge factor. Given the dermatitis you are experiencing, a problem with wheat/diary could be very possible. You might get a lot of benefit from going on a wheat and dairy free diet.

I actually do have symptoms similar to biotin deficiency or gluten intolerance, I think. The hair loss, dry skin, dermatitis. I will look into the other info about histamine, etc. as well. Thanks

Gel, im glad you brought this up as im certain excess body hair is related strongly to mpb from observation only.
Although recently returning from asia pacific i did see many with hardly any facial hair etc and still balding.

It is all rather confusing.

One thing ive noticed though, i see a man aged 65+ with full head of white hair (by full i mean with matured temples), and when i check for body hair, 8/10 its very minimal.

All very observational i need to stress though.

Then, i have seen older men with loads of body hair, and a head of hair to match.

Very confusing.

I suppose when i read cs say body hair is a good thing, it threw me off as i cant understand it in relation to head hair. But then what do we mean by ' body hair' .

How about 'excess body hair' ? Would anyone say this is a good thing? Ive looked for articles on this whole thing to support the statement.

I think its one of those common things we tie to hair loss because it falls in line with our ideas about low SHBG and its a sort of bias-driven thing that we use as a physical marker because it contrasts nicely with head hair loss.

Androgen paradox aside, low SHBG and elevated 5-ar would lead to increased body hair.

But the rub is that too many things are contributing to MPB to say that just because someone's body hair is in excess, they'll also have MPB. There are  a lot of things that have to come together for this to happen. A person could have low SHBG and 5-ar, excess body hair, and still not lose head hair. The other pieces have to be there. That's why you'll always see mixtures of phenotypes.

To clarify I'd say this is the best way to say it:

Just having excess body hair, it does not follow you'll have MPB.
If you have MPB, it is more likely you'll have excess body hair.

Live forever wrote:Gel, im glad you brought this up as im certain excess body hair is related strongly to mpb from observation only.
Although recently returning from asia pacific i did see many with hardly any facial hair etc and still balding.

It is all rather confusing.

One thing ive noticed though, i see a man aged 65+ with full head of white hair (by full i mean with matured temples), and when i check for body hair, 8/10 its very minimal.

All very observational i need to stress though.

Then, i have seen older men with loads of body hair, and a head of hair to match.

Very confusing.

I would bet the that old man with loads of body hair and full head of hair is a smoker.

Thinning hair, started to grow hair on my back last year i'm 28 lol

Hairbeback wrote:Thinning hair, started to grow hair on my back last year i'm 28 lol

This is why I don't think the androgen theory fits for me. I had back and full chest hair in high school lol. If this theory is the cause of my hair loss I should've went bald back then, instead of randomly years later.