The Association betwen Exercise and Alopecia or Balding

[MarcelZD]

The Association between Exercise and Androgenetic Alopecia: A Survey-Based Study

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

According to the results of this study, alopecia patients exercise more than the normal population, especially low-intensity exercise. Similar tendency was observed irrespective of the family history of AGA. Also the proportion of AGA patients showed an increasing trend as the frequency of exercise of low intensity increased. During the exercise, the testosterone level could be increased transiently4. However, as the subjects in this study were required to answer their lifelong exercise habit, long-ranged changes in hormone level would be more importance over the transient ones. According to a study, no differences in serum cortisol, total testosterone and free testosterone level were observed between lifelong exercise and no exercise group5. Accordingly, we hypothesized that factors other than changes of hormone level would take an important part in the occurrence of alopecia. If it could be assumed that exercise could induce alopecia, we conjectured that oxidative stress which is generated during exercise plays an important role in the process. Oxidative stress increases the entry of dihydrotestosterone into the dermal papillary cells, and reactive oxygen species (ROS), associated with oxidative stress, increase 5α-reductase concentration and activity6,7.

This does not surprise as me as frequent exercise for me and many others is a surefire way to speed up hair shedding. But what could be the mechanism here? Increase oxidative stress as suggested in the study? Higher endotoxin absorption?

Unfortunately the authors didn't test bodybuiding/weightlifting type exercises, which for me are the absolute worst in terms of hair health.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

The Association between Exercise and Androgenetic Alopecia: A Survey-Based Study

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

This does not surprise as me as frequent exercise for me and many others is a surefire way to speed up hair shedding. But what could be the mechanism here? Increase oxidative stress as suggested in? Higher endotoxin absorption?

Unfortunately the authors didn't test bodybuiding/weightlifting type exercises, which for me are the absolute worst in terms of hair health.

Stress and cortisol is my guess.

 

[TheCalciumCad]

This does not surprise as me as frequent exercise for me and many others is a surefire way to speed up hair shedding. But what could be the mechanism here? Increase oxidative stress as suggested in? Higher endotoxin absorption?

Unfortunately the authors didn't test bodybuiding/weightlifting type exercises, which for me are the absolute worst in terms of hair health.

The exercises over time are likely compounding the blood flow issues already present from bad posture (tight neck, upper back and jaw) outside of stimulating adrenals to pump out more cortisol / adrenaline. Increasing DHT I guess is another possibility which is involved in bone remodelling of the scalp.

 

[joaquin]

I wonder what studies have been conducted that would shed some light as to why some men are inordinately concerned with losing hair.
My hair has thinned considerably over the last 35 years and I learned to stop worrying about it.

I supposed I could have stopped the little bit of exercising that I do, because I have noticed that just one day of bicep curls with 10 pounds seems to make my hair feel thinner.

But I would rather have all my muscle groups functioning when I am 80, if the Lord lets me live that long, than be stooped over and frail and have a full head of hair. Drinking a gallon of orange juice every day is not going to block the cortisol.

 

[MarcelZD]

I wonder what studies have been conducted that would shed some light as to why some men are inordinately concerned with losing hair.
My hair has thinned considerably over the last 35 years and I learned to stop worrying about it.

I supposed I could have stopped the little bit of exercising that I do, because I have noticed that just one day of bicep curls with 10 pounds seems to make my hair feel thinner.

But I would rather have all my muscle groups functioning when I am 80, if the Lord lets me live that long, than be stooped over and frail and have a full head of hair. Drinking a gallon of orange juice every day is not going to block the cortisol.

I generally agree, however as many others I used to weightlift excessively for vanity reason mostly, and if the stress this causes actually leads to a worse appearance it would defeat the entire purpose. It has become a kind of standard advice for young mem to lift heavy weights in order to improve their lifes, mostly peddled by personal trainers, supplement salesmen, self-improvement gurus and such.

It turns out that a more prudent a approach might be to engage in exercises that minimise stress. Perhaps bodyweight exercises, walking and stretching might not have the same negative effects.

 

[Progesterone]

Here is a newer study, that shows aerobic exercise helps AGA.


Conclusions: Doing aerobic exercise or each exercise time >60 min helps to delay the progress of AGA and improve the symptom of AGA.

Relationship between the exercise and severity of androgenic alopecia - PubMed

Doing aerobic exercise or each exercise time >60 min helps to delay the progress of AGA and improve the symptom of AGA.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov