links between creatine and balding

Hello

Are there links between creatine and balding?

BB54,

There’s a single paper from 2009 where young rugby players took creatine or placebo for 2 weeks. The creatine group saw that DHT levels increased 40%, though they were 20% lower to start than the placebo group. This is likely an artifact of the small study size.

DHT is a metabolite of testosterone, formed when the enzyme 5-alpha-reductase converts free testosterone to DHT. In general, DHT levels are higher in men with androgenetic alopecia than those without, though a genetic predisposition seems to be necessary as well. To date, no other study has measured DHT levels in creatine users vs. placebo. Additionally, no long term studies have been done on creatine and hair loss.

Overall, creatine supplementation probably doesn’t increase the risk of androgenetic alopecia in men without any sort of genetic predisposition to the condition.

I was hopeful that my podcast addressing this topic specifically would be more widely listened to, but I suppose we are not tickling the algorithm’s fancy. Here’s the link to it.

-Jordan