DHT is an abbreviation of dihydrotestosterone. DHT is a converted form of testosterone, which plays a vital role in the human body. DHT is responsible for making all male, being male, eventually. It is responsible for forming the male reproductive system during pregnancy.
The human body produces DHT with the help of 5 alpha reductase enzymes. This enzyme converts a certain percentage of testosterone into dihydrotestosterone in the body.
Men typically have more testosterone in their bodies as compare to women. Generally, every day 10% of the testosterone produced in the adult body is converted into dihydrotestosterone.
Functionalities of DHT
These statistics are much lower in kids, it is believed that the increased number of dihydrotestosterone production can be the reason of puberty. It develops the genitals and grows pubic and body hair.
DHT also causes the prostate to grow and cause expression of male sexual behavior alongside with testosterone.
When we compare testosterone and dihydrotestosterone, according to studies dihydrotestosterone are way stronger than testosterone. Many effects and characteristics of testosterone are unleashed when they are converted to the dihydrotestosterone.
As in women, less amount of dihydrotestosterone is been discovered in studies as compared to men. It is generally believed that DHT is, however, responsible in the body and pubic hair growth. It may also be responsible to decide the age at which girls begin puberty.
Other than mention above, DHT has following functionalities also
- Increase body hair apart from the scalp
- Increase muscle mass
- Fat storage in the body
- Making voice deep
One of the important and most discussed bad side of dihydrotestosterone, it causes hair baldness on the scalp.
DHT and Hair Loss
Studies show that dihydrotestosterone is directly linked to pattern hair loss which we also call as androgenic alopecia.
Dihydrotestosterone cause hair follicle to shrink, as they get exposed. DHT makes hair follicle week and it also kills them. This process is known as miniaturization in medical terminologies. It leads towards complete baldness.
As dihydrotestosterone is the main cause behind hair loss in men, by blocking DHT balding process can be slow down.
Apart from the scalp, dihydrotestosterone plays a controversial role in hair growth in other areas of the body. This seems quite unfair, it stops the hair follicle to grow more hair but on the other side is totally different.
How to Control DHT
There are two ways to control or block DHT such as
Stopping The Production of Testosterone
As we know that dihydrotestosterone is the converted form of testosterone, higher number of testosterone in the body will have a higher number of dihydrotestosterones.
Dihydrotestosterone can be put in a limit if we limit the production of testosterone. This will eventually help in slowing down the baldness process.
This is very risky and it will cause many other side effects in the body.
Stopping The Conversion of testosterone
The second option is to stop the conversion process. There are some products available in the market featuring Finasteride. Finasteride works by blocking 5 alpha-reductase enzymes from converting testosterone into dihydrotestosterone.
Finasteride was designed for the treatment of prostate growth. In the medical trial, researchers observed that it also stopped the male pattern hair loss or we can say androgenic alopecia in medical terms.
Finasteride can be considered as the protecting shield of testosterone, it keeps them in the original order. Less amount of dihydrotestosterone ensures better hair growth on the scalp.
Generally, it is advised to take one pill of 1mL Finasteride to stop the hair loss.
Having Little Amount of DHT/Blocking DHT
- Hair Growth: One of the biggest advantages of blocking dihydrotestosterone is that it helps to regrow the hair on the scalp. Hair is lost when the hair follicle is exposed to DHT, which make them weaken.
When the DHT is controlled and blocked, hair follicle restarts their hair processing activates. - Weak Erection: Small number of Finasteride users reporting that they have a weak erection when they woke up. This might be due to lower levels of dihydrotestosterone.
- Lower Sex Drive: Some people also reported that they started to lose interest in having sex as they started the medication of blocking dihydrotestosterone.
- Abnormal Ejaculation: It can also cause abnormal ejection of sperm during orgasm in a male.
- Other Effects
- Dizziness
- Weakness
- Headache
- Skin Rash
- Swelling in your hands and feet
Having a High Amount of DHT
Having a big amount of dihydrotestosterone means a high amount of testosterone. It has different effects on men and women.
It is not necessary that the levels of dihydrotestosterone will be raised before the start of puberty. It is also not for sure that men having a large number of DHT will face any recognizable changes.
Women might have body, facial and pubic hair growth more than normal. It can also stop the menstrual periods and an increase in acne.
