At Home Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) Test for Hair Loss?

This question comes from a member of our hair loss social community and discussion forums:

I saw an online ad for an “at home” dihydrotestosterone (DHT) test. The kit comes with a device that measures the level of DHT – the hormone responsible for male pattern baldness (androgenic alopecia) – in the blood and determines the severity of your hair loss. Do these at home DHT tests work?

Like you said, DHT is the hormone responsible for male pattern hair loss or androgenic alopecia. It stands to reason that measuring the level of DHT in the blood would predict the nature of your hair loss.

However, I don’t think the home DHT tests are very well received. The information may be useful if you are trying to trend how your DHT level is dropping while using an anti-androgen medication like Propecia (finasteride). Otherwise, the level of DHT in your blood doesn’t really matter much; it’s more about whether or not your follicles are susceptible to it. If you have follicles primed to miniaturize when exposed to DHT (ie androgenic alopecia), they will likely shed whether the level is high or low. If your follicles don’t possess certain hormone receptors, they are resistant to the androgenic alopecia process and won’t shed – even if your DHT levels are high.
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Blake Bloxham – formerly “Future_HT_Doc”

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