You DO NOT have Androgenic Alopecia

[Brains Expel Hair]

There is frequent debate on these forums about whether or not food contains chemicals (which is somewhat a foolish debate really). Most of the detractors seemingly overlook one key thing. The current approved medical treatments both don't cure baldness nor do they actually work for everyone. Often times these treatments will simply just slow down the progression of hair loss and for those who are unlucky enough to experience this, the internet simply responds with "well at least you've slowed it down somewhat".

I, have male pattern baldness. The pattern is not difficult to notice, I'm around a NW2-2.5 (my left side is more 2.5). I'm also thinning around the middle of the top of my head. Additionally, as with a lot of other people I have seen post on here, I always have had somewhat thin hair before any of this even started. Also as with some other people that have posted on here, I have a very low amount of body hair and poor facial hair development. I can't grow a beard.

Or I should say, I couldn't grow a beard. Recently I was diagnosed as having celiac disease. This disease is marked by the bodies intentional damaging of the vili of the small intestine as a result of gluten in the diet. The symptoms I've had that are associated with celiac disease, I have experienced since I was a preteen. I am just in the beginning of my gluten free diet but am already noticing small hairs popping up around the edge of my hair line in the area that has been smooth for quite a few months now, my hair that I had is becoming thicker and much supple to the touch and I can now hold my head over a white piece of paper and vigorously rub my head without any hair falling out. Additionally my beard is flushing out and at this rate I predict I will have the ability to grow a full beard by the winter.

I think a major reason for a lot of the arguing on both sides about what causes or what properly treats baldness is more related to a poor definition of what male pattern baldness really is. Most of the times the differences between alopecia areata and androgenic alopecia is that one is patchy, while the other follows the traditional male pattern of balding. We've all seen the pictures of sudden onset alopecia areata where a random patch of hair just goes missing. However in the case of chronic dietary or hormonal imbalances this patchiness will just not exhibit itself in quite the same manner. My hair loss did speed itself up quite a bit during a period in my life where I started baking more and eating a lot more whole grain products (which I foolishly assumed were healthy for me), but it did so in the traditional male pattern of balding. Not in random patches.

Considering my family history and my hair's response to the change in my diet I think it's quite safe to say that while I had male pattern balding, I did not have androgenic alopecia. I also think it's appropriate to assume that I am not the only one on these boards in this sort of a situation. While I personally believe that diet and nutrition can moderately treat androgenic alopecia, it certainly won't cure it (although it's not like anything does at this point). Varying your diet CAN however cure alopecia areata as it is slowly doing in me, and has done to a number of people on the celiac support boards. Without actually addressing the diet and health issue first, it is impossible to rule out alopecia areata even in cases where hair loss follows male pattern balding.

TLDR version: Laziness causes balding, read the post!

 

[Brains Expel Hair]

I think I failed at stressing the problem of semantics but don't feel like rewriting the above. There are a number of causes for the various forms of alopecia and while in reality the different conditions are blanket terms that encompass many different reasons for hair loss, for some reason for a lot of people androgenic alopecia is a term that can only mean "hair loss caused by hormones attacking 1 mutated receptor".

Truth is, there is no actual hard definition of what causes any of the forms of alopecia because there can be multiple causes. Trying to extract the logic of one of the causes to explain ALL of the causes is fruitless for both sides of the diet/medicine debate. Your alopecia can be caused by bad genes, bad hormone levels OR a bad diet. It's pointless however to assume that what works for you can magically cure all the other reasons that someone else may be losing their hair or to assume that what doesn't work for you will likewise work for no one else.

 

[47thin]

I think what you mean is, if you have celiac disease, and treat it, your hair will improve. If not, then diet alone won't help, at least not to any measurable extent. I'm so tired of this whole "hair loss as a sign of terminal illness, etc" There are plenty of balding, fit people who live to a ripe old age, and hairy young people that drop dead at 50.

 

[Brains Expel Hair]

No, I mean that there area number of immune system related ways to cause hair loss. Just because your hair develops in male pattern baldness does not mean that it is not immune system related, it also does not mean that it is. By all outward appearances I was a pillar of health. I did yoga, I ate well, I had a decent tan going and have always had low body fat with decent muscle tone, internally however I was slowly killing myself but none of it would have caused a pre-60 death.

We accept that alopecia areata can be caused by autoimmune malfunctions but for some reason everyone refuses to believe that male pattern baldness can't occur from the same reasons.

 

[captain_que]

followed.

 

[dpdr]

Brains Expel Hair = misterE

 

[Hoppi]

I agree

I would probably take it further still (according to my current view of things), but I agree! hehe

 

[n0142248]

Brains Expel Hair = misterE

I dont think anybody has actualy picked up on the point this guy is trying to make!

He's saying that for some people there is an underlying reason for hair loss which is mis-interperated as androgenic alopecia, in his case it was caelic's disease, for others it maybe some other alergic reaction. The point here is that people are to quick just to blanket label their balding androgenic alopecia because it follows they same pattern when actualy it may be some other underlying problem. And therefore its is male pattern baldness, not androgentic alopecia but people cant make the distinction between the two

Or maybe it was me who missed the point

 

[Brains Expel Hair]

Brains Expel Hair = misterE

I'm fairly certain mrE was of the equally wrong school that diet can cure everyone's hair loss. The above post is a plea for everyone to realize that there is no 1 singular cause of hair loss and as such there is no one singular cure or treatment. Everyone's case is individual and each person should explore the different options available to them to find out what their specific treatment should entail.

Had I personally just gone with the big 3, you know the "cure" for hair loss, then I might have seen a decent reduction of my hair loss but then I also would have put off exploring the reason for my hair loss and would have continued to increase my risk of cancer/death/schizophrenia/diabetes and all the other crap that is involved with the actual cause of my male pattern hair loss.

Which do you see as being more irresponsible, advice that may cause someone to lose more hair, or advice that may cause someone else to develop cancer?

 

[Boondock]

What led you to get tested, by the way? You must have had other symptoms from celiac, surely?

 

[Brains Expel Hair]

What led you to get tested, by the way? You must have had other symptoms from celiac, surely?

I most certainly had a large number of other symptoms from it, unfortunately as with most other celiacs doctors had continuously made misdiagnoses. There are a large number of medical complications that are disorders/diseases in their own part that can be caused solely by various dietary issues and an unfortunately large number of doctors are all too willing to stop at the first disorder they have a familiar name and drug for and won't continue seeing if there is an underlying cause.

I will admit my vanity was the thing that started me on the journey of finding it out finally. My hair line recession was getting noticeable and was changing up the different ways I could cut my hair. It was because of this that I realized I needed to pay more attention to the signals my body was trying to tell me. I started reading up about health complications associated with hair loss and also started keeping note of what sort of external factors (specific food items, physical/sexual activities) were accompanying the more noticeable instances of "feeling like sh*t".

With the journal I was able to finally see a clear picture of what was going on and what sorts of factors were being associated with my symptoms. Once I realized what was going on I was able to describe in great detail how I came about my conclusion to my gastroenterologist who did the tests right away and got me on the diet.

Thing is, the damage can manifest itself in different ways amongst various people. Most often times the most damaging effects of gluten sensitivity are found in the brain and as such is easily misdiagnosed for a number of decades. There are many people who don't find out that they have had this condition till they are in their 60s+. Other easy to misdiagnose symptoms which are often times just ignored are things like asthma, lethargy, chronic inflammation, irritable bowel syndrome and thyroid problems.

Current tests for the condition are also only about 80% accurate and as such a lot people can't really get a proper diagnosis until they try the diet for a few weeks.

 

[Hoppi]

I'm fairly certain mrE was of the equally wrong school that diet can cure everyone's hair loss. The above post is a plea for everyone to realize that there is no 1 singular cause of hair loss and as such there is no one singular cure or treatment. Everyone's case is individual and each person should explore the different options available to them to find out what their specific treatment should entail.

Amen

Although I don't believe misterE was saying that diet ALONE would cure male pattern baldness. I think he was saying that it increases SHBG and balances your hormones better.

It also decreases inflammation, sebum, and probably many other negative things.

But you need to know what your own negative (and possibly positive) triggers are.

For me it's probably stress. But junky food might play a role too as that would have made life all the more difficult for my hormonal balance.

Ugh why did I do this to myself? lol

 

[DoctorHouse]

Brains, please list all your signs and symptoms of your condition so others can see if we have similar signs and symptoms. I have always had digestive problems and have always been suspicious I have celiac disease. However, I have never had chronic diarrhea or chronic constipation. I have horrible gas and bloating that can last many many weeks and sometimes triggered by anything I eat. I had an ultrasound of my stomach and its surroundings. I had my gall bladder checked and it works perfect and is free of stones. However, I do have patches of hair loss on my thigh of my right leg that doctors say is just friction from my pants. I don't buy that theory. My hairline has patchy loss that is more diffuse than little round bald spots you typically see with areata. My hair loss is diffuse thinning with very little temple recession and I don't respond well to any hair loss treatments.

 

[guybrush]

I totally agree with Brains Expel Hair. Many physical conditions may be related even though dermatologists do not pay much attention to it when they see a male pattern baldness pattern. In addition, the inmune system, which is suggested to play a role in alopecia, has been found to be clearly affected by emotions and psychopatology (see the link between cancer and depression, etc) and it might well be that these psychological factors do more than a little in at least some sufferers.

I also believe that the diffuse pattern is more likely to underly psychological/psychosomatic disorders. In fact, I found a study linking diffuse fallout and depression but it didn't clarify the direction of this relationship. Anyway, given a remarkably different pattern of hair loss it's hard not to hypothesize about a possible different underlying mechanism.

It's the natural trend in pathology. The more we get to know about a particular disease, the more likely it becomes that we find it is not a single condition but different ones that share similar features.

Note: Excuse me if my writting is not perfect, I try to do my best but I'm not english.

 

[KANGA]

TLDR version: Laziness causes balding, read the post!

HAHAHAHAHA

*Goes back and reads post* :innocent:

 

[josh89]

I was diagnosed with celiacs disease when I was two. I followed a gluten free diet - but sometimes I would eat gluten products at school. I always ended up with a rash on my back and often with diarrhea. So I ended up sticking to my gluten free diet until a few years ago when I moved out of my parents place. I've been eating anything I wanted and I haven't had any side effects.

Well that is what I thought up until I read yesterday the link between hair loss and celiacs disease. I just turned 21 and in the last year I've noticed I'm beginning to get a receding hair line. And now I'm thinking celiacs disease may be the reason for my pathetic beard development. All my male relatives have full beards - some with thinning hair on their heads though.

Since last week I started taking the following daily:
Zinc 50mg
Magnesium 250mg
Vitamin B6 50mg
Biotin 2mg

Centrum multivitamin - Vitamin A 300mcg, Beta-Carotene 900mcg, Vitamin E 11mg, Vitamin C 90mg, Folic Accid 400mcg, Vitamin B1 2.25mg, Vitamin B2 3.2mg, Niacin 15mg, Vitamin B6 3mg, Biotin 45mcg, Pantothenic Acid 10mg / Calcium 175mg, Phosphorus 125mg, Iodine 150mcg, Iron 10mg, Magnesium 50mg, Copper 2mg

I've noticed my hair is growing a bit faster, I haven't noticed any new hair growth as of yet. But I am sleeping way better and have more energy throughout the day which is great. I had an idea of which vitamins would help but wasn't sure of the doses - I was coming home from work and decided to pick some vitamins up last week. If anyone has any suggestions on the doses I should be taking or any other vitamins - that would be great.

If this doesn't help I'll be try out sticking with a gluten free diet.

Thanks.

 

[Preston]

When you talk about inflammation , is it in a specific part of the body ?

Btw I've got diffuse hair loss too , and a crappy psychological situation .

 

[Brains Expel Hair]

I strongly urge you to go back on your gluten-free diet. Celiacs is not a condition that goes away ever. You have it for life. The fact that you have not noticed any side effects yet from your ingestion of gluten does not mean that it is not silently causing havoc internally and your dermatitis herpetiformis is bound to return eventually.

By continuing to consume gluten you're putting yourself at a huge increase in risk for cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and a number of additional autoimmune conditions. The best thing you can do to combat your malnutrition is to go back to being gluten-free NOW.

When you talk about inflammation , is it in a specific part of the body ?

Btw I've got diffuse hair loss too , and a crappy psychological situation .

The inflammatory response is different for each person but super common sites that are easily recognized are the skin, the lungs and sinuses.

I think I unfortunately let this post get buried without answering all of the questions people had posted. Feel free to re-ask any questions I may have missed and I'll try to answer them to the best of my ability.

 

[Receding Gentleman]

Would you say that oatmeal is a big no-no while following the gluten-free diet? My diet consists of mainly oatmeal, eggs, tuna, various nuts and seeds(mainly almonds and pumpkin seeds) and also fresh veggies. I also supplement my diet with a good multivitamin, fish oil, zinc and some extra vitamin D.

I know it's not a varied diet but I've been eating like this for a couple of weeks now and I feel quite good, but I'm not sure if I should cut out any of the above foods and/or add some others. I'm on quite a budget and it's just so easy and cheap eating like this, but if it's bad in the long run I'll obviously have to alter my diet.

Thanks in advance.

 

[curiouscharles]

It's funny - I experienced the biggest amount of noticeable regrowth around the 6-7 month mark on Propecia. Around that time I was on a strict calorie cutting diet to try and reduce the amount of muscle in my body (and god damn is this difficult). I wasn't necessarily trying to, but hadn't been eating any wheat gluten for a good 2 months. Ever since moving to London for school my diet has been difficult to maintain, and my hair has definitely lost lots of the volume I gained.

Reading this thread has made me decide to go wheat free again - if for no other reason that to improve my general health. It's no secret that wheat gluten is not very good for anybody (in certain ways).