[0:00]What is up, homies? So, one of the questions I get asked about the most of my videos is whether or not suppressing DHT, dihydrotestosterone can adversely affect the development of beard growth.
[0:13]And if so, does that mean Finasteride, which obviously suppresses DHT is harmful to beard development?
[0:16]Well, for obvious reasons, I'm not going to pretend I know anything about growing a good beard. What you're looking at is my facial hair after six days of not shaving, and it's possible from your perspective, I still look like I am clean shaven.
[0:28]That's right, I only have to shave about once a week or so, and if I stop shaving for about six months, maybe I'll start to have a beard on par with your average 15-year-old boy.
[0:37]This has nothing to do with my finasteride use, I've never been able to grow good facial hair.
[0:41]In high school when my friends bragged about how their beards were growing in, I would just lie and say that I do have facial hair, but I just prefer to just shave it, bro.
[0:50]And even my senior year of college, my face was as smooth as a baby's ass, and it wasn't until I was about 24 years old or so that I noticed some little spuds in my face that at best can be interpreted as sorry excuses for facial hair.
[1:02]And as it turns out, this is just a genetic trait and not necessarily linked to androgens.
[1:08]Some people even if they have high androgen levels will just not be able to grow good beards, and I obviously count amongst that population, and so I, over the years, have just accepted it as part of my identity.
[1:18]Now, I know not every man is going to be okay with poverty facial hair like me, facial hair can be used to accentuate an already handsome face or it can be even used to help hide some less flattering facial features, such as acne scars or just poor facial structure and a weak jawline for instance.
[1:36]And there are also men who want to grow a beard for cultural or spiritual reasons, so there are clearly many reasons as to why growing a beard is important for a lot of men.
[1:44]So, because of that, many men are reluctant to start finasteride out of fear that its role in suppressing DHT will wreck havoc on their facial hair.
[1:53]So to better understand this, let's look at some of the science we have regarding androgens and the role they play in beard development and growth.
[2:00]So, the first thing to make note of is that your facial hair and scalp hair, even though they look similar and have a similar texture, are quite a bit different.
[2:08]Your facial hair has a lot more in common with your body hair and even your pubic hair in regards to how it responds to androgens in fact.
[2:15]It's common knowledge that androgens, namely DHT, are what destroy scalp hair, and that is why finasteride works since it lowers DHT levels on the scalp.
[2:22]However, facial hair and body hair have more androgen receptors, as well as more 5A reductase activity compared to scalp hair.
[2:31]Yet despite this, it seems androgens are actually beneficial to facial hair.
[2:35]This is what is known in the medical community as the androgen paradox.
[2:39]Now, next time someone tries to bring up intelligent design, ask them what kind of moron would think it was a good idea to design men so that hormones grow hair all over the body, the face, the armpits, the ass, but for some reason makes us go bald in the scalp.
[2:52]I mean, this should make it clear that human evolution is not perfect, and oftentimes there is no good explanation for certain aspects of human physiology and the role hormones play on human hair is certainly a prime example of this.
[3:05]So, there are two basic science studies, which I'll link below that examine DHT and facial hair versus scalp hair.
[3:13]In the first study, the investigators compared 5A reductase activity in cultured dermal papilla cells from beard follicles and scalp follicles.
[3:21]They found that testosterone was taken up by both kinds of hair follicles, but beard follicles were found to have significantly higher levels of DHT, whereas scalp hair follicles didn't.
[3:32]This implies that the testosterone in facial hair is more actively metabolized to DHT than in scalp hair, implying that there is more 5A reductase activity in beard than in scalp follicles.
[3:44]The other study looked at cultures of dermal papilla cells in the beard and in the scalp, and they found that beard papilla cells had many more androgen receptors than scalp cells.
[3:54]This implies that facial hair papilla cells are more sensitive to androgens than scalp hair.
[3:59]However, it seems that the effect of androgens on facial hair is beneficial, whereas in those genetically predisposed to hair loss, the effect of androgens on the scalp is deleterious.
[4:08]So to further explore this androgen paradox, let us look at a study which involved 12 healthy men, as well as eight men who had celiac disease.
[4:16]Now, for those who don't know what celiac disease is, it means you can't eat gluten.
[4:20]And I'm not talking about impressionable bone broth and butter coffee slurping Karens who just imagined they can't eat gluten after reading the first two pages of wheat belly when they were shopping for coconut oil and homeopathic remedies at Whole Foods one day.
[4:34]I'm talking about people who will get severe inflammatory bowel issues if they even consume a small amount of it.
[4:40]What is especially interesting about people with celiac disease, and this is something I had no idea of, is that it turns out they tend to have lower DHT and higher testosterone compared to healthy individuals.
[4:50]Now, I'll link a study below on this phenomenon, but getting back to the present study, they looked at both linear hair growth and beard density in the groups of people with normal and abnormal testosterone and DHT levels.
[5:01]Linear hair growth is basically how much the hair grows over time.
[5:05]Very interestingly, they found that linear hair growth was reduced in the celiac patients compared to the controls, whereas beard density was increased in the celiac patients compared to controls.
[5:14]Now, remember, the celiac patients had lower DHT levels and higher testosterone levels, implying that DHT is important for linear hair growth, but testosterone is more important for beard density.
[5:25]Now, this is a small study, but it is the best data we have so far on different effects of DHT and testosterone on beard growth, so I would count it as valuable.
[5:34]So what about Finasteride specifically?
[5:37]Well, there is no study on Finasteride's role on facial hair development that I can find, but searching a doctor's forum that included dermatologist point of view, it seems that none of them had any experience with their patients experiencing anything negative regarding Finasteride use and beard growth.
[5:54]If there is any problem, then it must be very rare, or else there probably would be more data about it online.
[6:00]So, what can we make out of all this? Well, we know that Finasteride decreases DHT, but we also know that 5A reductase activity is higher on the hair follicle of the beard compared to the scalp hair.
[6:09]And that there are more androgen receptors on the facial hair receptors compared to the scalp.
[6:14]So it's possible the reason facial hair doesn't seem to be adversely affected is because the extra 5A reductase activity and higher quantity of androgen receptors makes up for the decrease in DHT.
[6:26]Also, it could be theoretically helped by the increase in testosterone from using Finasteride, which causes about a 15% increase in testosterone.
[6:36]It might be that the increase in testosterone increases beard density, as the study indicated, but the only change would be that linear hair growth would be reduced, so you wouldn't have to shave as often, and it also may take longer to grow a beard as a result of the reduction in DHT.
[6:49]So, anyone looking for an excuse to not use finasteride, well now you have one fewer excuse.
[6:56]Finasteride will not hurt your beard gains, and anyone who has poor facial hair while on Finasteride likely would have still had poor facial hair even if they didn't use Finasteride, kind of like me.
[7:04]So, adolescents who are interested in Finasteride should, of course, talk to their doctor just like anyone else, in order to make sure they are finished with physical maturation before starting Finasteride.
[7:16]But they shouldn't worry about Finasteride affecting their facial hair development.
[7:20]I mean, perhaps it will mean their beard will grow a little bit more slowly, but testosterone, as we've already established, is the hormone that is responsible for facial hair development and density, not so much so DHT.
[7:31]And even still, facial hair is so sensitive to DHT, due to the high quantity of androgen receptors, as well as the presence of 5A reductase, that it may not even matter either way even if you are on Finasteride.
[7:40]So, I've also seen some Reddit posts where people say their facial hair slows, but it hasn't decreased in density at all, which is anecdotal, of course, but nevertheless corresponds to the research done on the subject.
[7:51]So, in conclusion, people do not have to choose between their scalp hair and their facial hair.
[7:58]I mean, I think a lot of people associate beard hair with DHT, just because a lot of bald guys grow beards, but they're just doing that because they are compensating, not because they're better at growing beards necessarily.
[8:10]And if you ask me, the bald and bearded look is just really cliche and boring looking.
[8:15]I mean, it's such a dime a dozen look. I mean, they basically look like they're just trying to grow their hair upside down, so I can't stand that look.
[8:22]So, no, finasteride won't screw up your beard gains, so stop worrying about it.
[8:26]And with that, I am out, and I'll be back with more content soon, but keep in mind, I'm still doing some hardcore gaming tonight.
[8:32]I'm fighting off some Mongolian invaders in Ghost of Tsushima, so don't expect me to be too active tonight, but I will be back soon, and see you next time.
