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Does Taking Creatine Cause Hair Loss?- Sunday, August 17, 2008

Question:

Hello all.. I have been experiencing hair loss ever since I started taking creatine when I was about 17 years old. I realized that this was the only thing different in my life at the time, so I stopped taking creatine. It appears to have been too late as I am now losing my hair quite rapidly. But recently I have noticed that there are random blond hairs growing at the front of my hairline. My hair is pretty brown but I used to have blond hair so I don't know what the deal is. Anyone heard of this before?

Answer:

In researching the internet, there are some who believe creatine can cause hair loss and those that do not. In my opinion, creatine does not cause hair loss.

In order to understand my thinking, you must first understand how creatine and hair loss works.

Creatine is a natural substances produced at a rate of 2 grahams daily in the liver and kidneys. Most of the body's naturally produced creatine travels to the muscles, heart, and other body cells. The majority of is stored in skeletal muscle.

Creatine consumed travels to the muscles and turns into creatine phosphate. Creatine phosphate delivers very short term energy that enables you to intensify your strength training or other activities that require short and fast bursts of energy. It does this by replenishing ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) reserves which is the molecular fuel that provides power for muscle contractions.

Your body relies on ATP (rather than glucose) to perform any activity that involves short term bursts of energy such as weight lifting. Creatine phosphate is much more quickly converted to ATP (a fraction of a second) than glucose (20+ seconds).

In a nutshell, supplementing with creatine creates an abundant supply of energy quickly which enables you to intensify your workouts to build more muscle. More energy = more power = more sets/reps = more muscle.

In my research, I haven't read anything that indicates that increased production of Creatine Phosphate or ATP causes hair loss. I would think that you are most likely experiencing early onset of male pattern baldness and the fact that you were taking Creatine at the time it started, is pure coincidence. As male pattern baldness progresses, hair loss continues. Hair follicles are damaged and grows a thinner, finer, shorter, and lighter colored hair. Eventually, the follicle will no longer produce hair that grows through the scalp. The blond hairs growing in the hairline may evidence that your hair is miniaturizing.

Bill (Falceros) - Associate Publisher of the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q & A Blog.
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