Baldness is more likely for older man. So here are some interesting numbers

As we age, more of us experience baldness.

I experienced strong thickening after adding maca root and ZMA (both increase testosterone) to my DHT decreasing regimen (finasteride & dutasteride).

Here are some interesting numbers that show that free testosterone decreases with the age. It is an interesting paradox at the same time, the guys go more and more bald.

Free Testosterone (Bioavailable Testosterone):
Adult Male Reference Interval
Free Testosterone: 47.0-244.0 pg/mL
% Free Testosterone: 1.6 - 2.9%
Testosterone
Age
20 - 39 years:
400 - 1080 ng/dL
40 - 59 years:
350 - 890 ng/dL
60 years and over:
350 - 720 ng/dL

=======================================================================

Another interesting stuff is a difference between males and females in SHGB levels:

Sex Hormone Binding Globulin
Age Male Female
1-30 days 13-85 nmol/L 14-60 nmol/L
31-364 days 70-250 nmol/L 60-215 nmol/L
1-3 years: 50-180 nmol/L 60-190 nmol/L
4-6 years: 45-175 nmol/L 55-170 nmol/L
7-9 years: 28-190 nmol/L 33-170 nmol/L
10-12 years: 23-160 nmol/L 17-155 nmol/L
13-15 years: 13-140 nmol/L 11-120 nmol/L
16-17 years: 10-60 nmol/L 19-145 nmol/L
18 years and older: 11-80 nmol/L 30-135 nmol/L

females maintain high SHGB levels where for males during the puberty there is a considerate drop.

Testosterone concentrations dropped about 1.2% per year, or about 17% overall, from 1987 to 2004.

http://www.ourstolenfuture.org/newscience/reproduction/2006/2006-1210travisonetal.html

It’s rather interesting isn’t it. Propecia & Dut increase free T levels as well (probably by stopping its conversion through 5ar)

http://neurology.org/cgi/content/abstract/62/2/188

Hormones and MPB are confusing. I 100% agree that type 2 DHT is the primary culprit in MPB by a wide margin. But past that the truth gets a lot muddier.

Even though all androgens probably hurt hair and estrogens probably help hair, that’s not the whole story. That’s what would happen in a test tube but not always what goes on in your whole body.

Listening to guys online, there seems to be a lot of desire to crucify all androgens of any kind for MPB. But aside from knocking down the type#2 DHT as much as feasible (which is clearly a huge MPB improvement), I don’t think indiscriminately fighting all androgen levels and indiscriminately encouraging all estrogen levels is the most beneficial way to push your body at all.

The “young man profile” of high free-Test, low estro, and low DHT . . . this seems to be more beneficial than anything else for MPB once you strip away the theories and info about each individual hormone and just listen to people’s real world feedback.

that’s interesting but misses the point.
The real issue is how sensitive to androgen the hair follicles become as we grow old.
Instead of trying to control the overall DHT or Test levels, the best approach to hairloss is to act directly on the androgen receptors.

Once you have the AR issue under control, DHT or Test levels are a lot less relevent.

» Hormones and MPB are confusing. I 100% agree that type 2 DHT is the
» primary culprit in MPB by a wide margin. But past that the truth gets a
» lot muddier.
»
»
» Even though all androgens probably hurt hair and estrogens probably help
» hair, that’s not the whole story. That’s what would happen in a test tube
» but not always what goes on in your whole body.
»
»
»
» Listening to guys online, there seems to be a lot of desire to crucify all
» androgens of any kind for MPB. But aside from knocking down the type#2 DHT
» as much as feasible (which is clearly a huge MPB improvement), I don’t
» think indiscriminately fighting all androgen levels and indiscriminately
» encouraging all estrogen levels is the most beneficial way to push your
» body at all.
»
» The “young man profile” of high free-Test, low estro, and low DHT . . .
» this seems to be more beneficial than anything else for MPB once you
» strip away the theories and info about each individual hormone and just
» listen to people’s real world feedback
.

I would believe that testosterone hurts hair if only I had not such a thickening on maca & ZMAwhen added to fin.

That’s what I mean. More examples of lab theory about hormones conflicting with real world results.

As for the Androgen receptors, I absolutely agree. Knocking down the androgen receptor activity would probably work better/longer than any amount of hormone suppression.

» As we age, more of us experience baldness.
»
» I experienced strong thickening after adding maca root and ZMA (both
» increase testosterone) to my DHT decreasing regimen (finasteride &
» dutasteride).

Maca does not raise testosterone levels in men.

J Endocrinol. 2003 Jan;176(1):163-8.

Effect of Lepidium meyenii (Maca), a root with aphrodisiac and fertility-enhancing properties, on serum reproductive hormone levels in adult healthy men.

Lepidium meyenii (Maca) is a Peruvian hypocotyl that grows exclusively between 4000 and 4500 m in the central Andes. Maca is traditionally employed in the Andean region for its supposed aphrodisiac and/or fertility-enhancing properties. This study was a 12-week double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, parallel trial in which active treatment with different doses of Maca Gelatinizada was compared with a placebo. The study aimed to test the hypothesis that Maca has no effect on serum reproductive hormone levels in apparently healthy men when administered in doses used for aphrodisiac and/or fertility-enhancing properties. Men aged between 21 and 56 Years received 1500 mg or 3000 mg Maca. Serum levels of luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, prolactin, 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone, testosterone and 17-beta estradiol were measured before and at 2, 4, 8 and 12 weeks of treatment with placebo or Maca (1.5 g or 3.0 g per day). Data showed that compared with placebo Maca had no effect on any of the hormones studied nor did the hormones show any changes over time. Multiple regression analysis showed that serum testosterone levels were not affected by treatment with Maca at any of the times studied (P, not significant). In conclusion, treatment with Maca does not affect serum reproductive hormone levels.

PMID: 12525260 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Asian J Androl. 2001 Dec;3(4):301-3.

Lepidium meyenii (Maca) improved semen parameters in adult men.

AIM: The present study was designed to determine the effect of a 4-month oral treatment with tablets of Lepidium meyenii (Maca) on seminal analysis in nine adult normal men aged 24-44 years old. METHODS: Nine men received tablets of Maca (1500 or 3000 mg/day) for 4 months. Seminal analysis was performed according to guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO). Serum luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), prolactin (PRL), testosterone (T) and estradiol (E2) were measured before and after treatment. RESULTS: Treatment with Maca resulted in increased seminal volume, sperm count per ejaculum, motile sperm count, and sperm motility. Serum hormone levels were not modified with Maca treatment. Increase of sperm count was not related to dose of Maca. CONCLUSION: Maca improved sperm production and sperm motility by mechanisms not related to LH, FSH, PRL, T and E2.

PMID: 11753476 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

» » As we age, more of us experience baldness.
» »
» » I experienced strong thickening after adding maca root and ZMA (both
» » increase testosterone) to my DHT decreasing regimen (finasteride &
» » dutasteride).
»
» Maca does not raise testosterone levels in men.

I’m going to try Maca…I need something to do until I make the next Follica attempt.

» » As we age, more of us experience baldness.
» »
» » I experienced strong thickening after adding maca root and ZMA (both
» » increase testosterone) to my DHT decreasing regimen (finasteride &
» » dutasteride).
»
» Maca does not raise testosterone levels in men.
»
» J Endocrinol. 2003 Jan;176(1):163-8.
»
» Effect of Lepidium meyenii (Maca), a root with aphrodisiac and
» fertility-enhancing properties, on serum reproductive hormone levels in
» adult healthy men.
»
» Lepidium meyenii (Maca) is a Peruvian hypocotyl that grows exclusively
» between 4000 and 4500 m in the central Andes. Maca is traditionally
» employed in the Andean region for its supposed aphrodisiac and/or
» fertility-enhancing properties. This study was a 12-week double-blind,
» placebo-controlled, randomized, parallel trial in which active treatment
» with different doses of Maca Gelatinizada was compared with a placebo.
» The study aimed to test the hypothesis that Maca has no effect on serum
» reproductive hormone levels in apparently healthy men when administered in
» doses used for aphrodisiac and/or fertility-enhancing properties.
Men
» aged between 21 and 56 Years received 1500 mg or 3000 mg Maca. Serum levels
» of luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, prolactin, 17-alpha
» hydroxyprogesterone, testosterone and 17-beta estradiol were measured
» before and at 2, 4, 8 and 12 weeks of treatment with placebo or Maca (1.5 g
» or 3.0 g per day). Data showed that compared with placebo Maca had no
» effect on any of the hormones studied nor did the hormones show any changes
» over time. Multiple regression analysis showed that serum testosterone
» levels were not affected by treatment with Maca at any of the times studied
» (P, not significant).
In conclusion, treatment with Maca does not
» affect serum reproductive hormone levels.
»
» PMID: 12525260 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
»
»
» Asian J Androl. 2001 Dec;3(4):301-3.
»
» Lepidium meyenii (Maca) improved semen parameters in adult men.
»
» AIM: The present study was designed to determine the effect of a 4-month
» oral treatment with tablets of Lepidium meyenii (Maca) on seminal analysis
» in nine adult normal men aged 24-44 years old. METHODS: Nine men received
» tablets of Maca (1500 or 3000 mg/day) for 4 months. Seminal analysis was
» performed according to guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO).
» Serum luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH),
» prolactin (PRL), testosterone (T) and estradiol (E2) were measured before
» and after treatment. RESULTS: Treatment with Maca resulted in increased
» seminal volume, sperm count per ejaculum, motile sperm count, and sperm
» motility. Serum hormone levels were not modified with Maca
» treatment.
Increase of sperm count was not related to dose of Maca.
» CONCLUSION: Maca improved sperm production and sperm motility by
» mechanisms not related to LH, FSH, PRL, T and E2.

»
» PMID: 11753476 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

I already noticed this and posted it on hlh. one less reason to fear trying it. Its a bit weird though because its commonly marketed as testosterone replacement. But sometimes they refer to it that it is normalizing hormone levels.

» » » As we age, more of us experience baldness.
» » »
» » » I experienced strong thickening after adding maca root and ZMA (both
» » » increase testosterone) to my DHT decreasing regimen (finasteride &
» » » dutasteride).
» »
» » Maca does not raise testosterone levels in men.
»
» I’m going to try Maca…I need something to do until I make the next
» Follica attempt.

My personal experience is very extensive thickening, but it does not grow temples back.

Anyway, I have the cable for my camera now, so I’ll take some pics of my progesterone experiment soon.

» My personal experience is very extensive thickening, but it does not grow
» temples back.
»
» Anyway, I have the cable for my camera now, so I’ll take some pics of my
» progesterone experiment soon.

What about your crown area? Do you have any hairloss there and have you noticed any thickening in that area?

TAGOHL,

I was all set to try another round, with cyclo. I opened by package of cyclo…and found they didn’t send me but 20 of the 50mg pills. I ordered more than that (or thought I did anyway).

You listed, once, 3 sites where you found getfinib. I put those in a folder, but since have bought a new computer (a worm pretty much destroyed my old hardrive), and I dont have them anymore.

Can you send me the other two sites besides rx2world (they are out of cyclo, except the eyedrops) again at my name, Michael Barry, at H…L…T?

This pushes my little experiment way back (it took over a month for me to even get the order of cyclo last time)…which is frustrating. But 1000 mgs is only enough for 100 mgs for 10 days. Everything Ive read about cyclo and my bodyweight (about 217 at the moment) indicates I need to take a good 200mgs a day anyway. I simply wouldn’t have enough. This is pretty darn frustrating. Im sure as hell glad I opened the package before I abraded though…

“The authors of a study2 that used grapefruit juice to mask the taste of ethanol inadvertently discovered an interaction between grapefruit and the calcium channel blocker felodipine (Plendil.2”). They observed that patients who consumed grapefruit juice had felodipine plasma concentrations two to three times higher than normal levels

" The manufacturers of cyclosporine (Sandimmune, Neoral) and simvastatin (Zocor) have gone so far as to place warnings on their drugs’ package inserts.25,31,32"

“Immunosuppressants
Cyclosporine (Sandimmune, Neoral), tacrolimus (Prograf)
Increased drug exposure without effects on peak concentration may cause increased adverse events or toxicity evidenced by renal toxicity, hepatic toxicity, and increased immunosuppression.25-29”

http://www.aafp.org/afp/20060815/605.html

Thats the website I got this from…apparently “Medications metabolized by intestinal CYP 3A4 that have a low oral bioavailability or a narrow therapeutic index are more likely to have clinically significant interactions with grapefruit products.9 Because medications metabolized extensively by intestinal CYP 3A4 generally have low oral bioavailability, and because grapefruit inhibits this metabolic pathway, higher plasma concentrations of these medications will result.”

I’ll ‘ballpark’ figure it, and reason that if felodopline (who names this stuff?) concentrations were 2-3 times as strong with grapefruit juice…then cyclo’s should be also. I guess 100 mgs becomes 2-300 mgs. The doc that was prescribing cyclo for 2 weeks was giving it at 200 mgs per day for five days and 100 mgs per day for five days.

The lowest dosage Ive seen for psoriasis is 250 mgs per day for someone of my bodyweight (2.5 mgs per kg).

I have a “feeling” that immunosuppression is important during re-epilithialization…which is going to happen around 5 to 8 days in all likleyhood, and probably sooner if I can keep my head “cool” as experiments have shown with cold therapy. If you think about it…it makes perfect sense. Experiments have shown that if there is inflammation with neo-natal mice, they dont develop hair follicles. In response to abrasion, the body is going to inflame the living hell out of an area with superoxides, cytokines, COX, and histamines and various other weapons at its disposal. Just as inhibitng wnt for the first few days during re-epilithialization causes hair to have pigment, the first few days post wounding are probably “the” time for the immune system to be suppressed. Once re-epilithialization is finished and the keratinocytes covering the wound get directed to start making a hair follicle, only chemical intervention would probably be able to thwart that process, like blocking wnt during that time “thwarts” any hair from developing.

Maybe its a go after all…I can indeed get my grubby little hands on grapefruit juice, and if I can make 1000 mgs into just 2000 mgs via its usage…that would give me “enough” for 10 good days of decent immunosuppression.

Maybe I’ll try it tonight after all…with what Ive got now.

» TAGOHL,
»
» I was all set to try another round, with cyclo. I opened by package of
» cyclo…and found they didn’t send me but 20 of the 50mg pills. I
» ordered more than that (or thought I did anyway).
»
»

Benji- if you compromise your immune system with cyclo, what precautions if any do you take?

» » My personal experience is very extensive thickening, but it does not
» grow
» » temples back.
» »
» » Anyway, I have the cable for my camera now, so I’ll take some pics of
» my
» » progesterone experiment soon.
»
» What about your crown area? Do you have any hairloss there and have you
» noticed any thickening in that area?

I’ve had small baldspot & overall thinning on top in nw6 area, never too bad though, If my hair was wet, I looked bald a lot, but when dry, it was kinda ok, just a small a bit thin area at the back was noticeable. I started various treatments and experimenting and this has improved to rockstar hair, most thickening was when I added maca to finasteride. Later I switched to dut as well.

So anyway, I’m using progesterone only in the temporal area, my hair everywhere else is teenage density so no point to use anything there. progesterone seems to be working in the temples though.

» Maybe its a go after all…I can indeed get my
» grubby little hands on grapefruit juice, and if I can make 1000 mgs into
» just 2000 mgs via its usage…that would give me “enough” for 10
» good days of decent immunosuppression.

Good idea with the grapefruit juice. Grapefruit juice can also enhance dutasteride absorption, BTW, so if anyone is looking to ‘up’ their dutasteride dosage, this is a cheap way to do it.

Here’s a link to one of the places that sells cyclo…it’s one of the sites that also sells gefitinib (I have no idea if this is a competitive price for cyclo):

None of the other sites I use sells cyclo, except rx2world.

» My personal experience is very extensive thickening

Yeah, I saw some of your posts. That’s why I am trying it.

debris:

Where do you buy your Maca?

Thanks