FMT and male pattern baldness [hair loss, alopecia]

[CrypticDiscourse]

I recently came across this post about someone who halted his pattern hair loss by receiving an FMT for unrelated reasons. He claims that his donor doesn't suffer from hair loss, and believes that the FMT was responsible for improvements to his own hair. He claims that no other medical intervention prior had produced the improvements that FMT did.

On the other hand, here is a Reddit post from a woman who claims that an FMT from a male donor precipitated her hair loss, among other issues mediated by male sex hormones (I see that Max responded to this).

After digging a bit more, I found this writeup about how FMTs may be beneficial to combat MPB (with reference the first testimony I linked above), but I'll admit that I don't quite understand the described mechanism of action. Specifically, with regard to how the following finding doesn't actually induce more hair loss

Fascinatingly, research in healthy men has demonstrated that free dihydrotestosterone (DHT) – the hormone implicated in AGA – exists at levels in the colon at levels 70-fold higher than free DHT found in the blood [24].

All this to say: I'm contemplating proceeding with an FMT for my longstanding gut and immune issues. The clinic I spoke to said they don't specifically screen for MPB, but assured me that they were aware of this forum and their donor selection criteria is very stringent.

I realize that this is a little vain, especially relative to other more serious issues that are usually targets of FMT therapy, but part of my current problem is hair loss due to dermatitis and histamine intolerance. How concerned should I be about hair loss?

 

[Michael Harrop]

The clinic I spoke to said they don't specifically screen for MPB, but assured me that they were aware of this forum and their donor selection criteria is very stringent.

That assurance is meaningless. Review this https://humanmicrobiome.info/where-to-get-fmt/ thoroughly, including the list of questions to ask them.

There's a wiki section on hair loss https://humanmicrobiome.info/intro/#alopecia-hair-loss which I'll add to now.

hair loss due to dermatitis and histamine intolerance

I don't think that makes sense. Rather, all of those issues stem from gut dysbiosis. https://humanmicrobiome.info/skin/

 

[CrypticDiscourse]

That assurance is meaningless. Review this https://humanmicrobiome.info/where-to-get-fmt/ thoroughly, including the list of questions to ask them.

Yep, I called them and we walked through the list together.

I don't think that makes sense. Rather, all of those issues stem from gut dysbiosis. https://humanmicrobiome.info/skin/

Definitely, I didn't mean to imply otherwise but wanted to indicate the immediate offenders. I'm convinced most, if not all, of my issues can be traced back to my antibiotic use.

I'll go through the hair loss section in the wiki. Does the second testimony I linked raise any red flags for you? Beyond the fact that the donor screening likely wasn't up to standard?

Thanks.

 

[Michael Harrop]

Does the second testimony I linked raise any red flags for you? Beyond the fact that the donor screening likely wasn't up to standard?

It is merely one of dozens of people haphazardly going about FMT without adequate learning, and thus using a low-quality donor that they mistakenly thought was a good donor. There is no good evidence for sex-matching, and universal donors are the norm.

Yep, I called them and we walked through the list together.

So you found a clinic that is willing to share the full screening questionnaire with the donor's answers, the donor's test results, pictures of the donor's stool, evidence (pictures/videos) of the donor's physical fitness, the donor's cure rates/results with other patients, and documentation of how they track and report these results with all their donors & patients?

That would be astonishing. I'm extremely curious to know what clinic is offering that information. In my experience, no clinic is willing because most of it would reflect poorly on them, and most do not track and report results.

 

[CrypticDiscourse]

So you found a clinic that is willing to share the full screening questionnaire with the donor's answers, the donor's test results, pictures of the donor's stool, evidence (pictures/videos) of the donor's physical fitness, the donor's cure rates/results with other patients, and documentation of how they track and report these results with all their donors & patients?

Sorry, I misunderstood your original question. I thought you were asking whether I'd walked through this questionnaire with my provider to confirm that their screening criteria indeed included the things mentioned in it. I was able to do that, but I suppose I have to take their word for it; they were unwilling to share the actual documents the donor provided for confidentiality purposes.

Here is what I was able to gather from pressing them though (I'm summarizing):

The donor is 25 years old and has been a donor since he was 7. He was born vaginally, was breastfed, has never taken antibiotics, has no food or seasonal allergies, has perfect type 3 stool, has no chronic illnesses himself nor any blood-related family with such. He has no skin, digestive, joint, or muscular problems. He hasn't been hospitalized, hasn't been addicted to any pharmaceutical or illicit drugs. He has no mental health issues nor any family history of such. He is not a "sickly" person.


The only thing they admitted that they don't test for is male pattern baldness, which, sorry to harp on it, is what inspired this post.

I believe this person is their only current donor at the moment. The provider mentioned how difficult it is for them to find another one, should he one day decide to no longer contribute to their stool bank.

Oh -- they also mentioned how most other places make a slurry of the stool while they ... leave it more concentrated per capsule? I forget the exact terminology that was used.