N
Noodlewhore
Glutencel
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Pay attention. It's way too complex to explain the details here but basically the side effects from finasteride are experienced by men who are Th1 dominant. Th2 men don't experience side effects because they have a different kind of immune system response (humoral based instead of cells mediated).
Hormones are huge modulator of the immune system. You probably already know this since you may have heard about prednisone which is synthetic cortisol and used to suppress the immune system (and is especially effective to dampen the th1 mediated autoimmune diseases and ineffective in many immune mediated th2 diseases such as chronic fatigue syndrome for example because overall it shift the immune system toward a th2 dominant state inhibiting the production of interleukin 12 and from there interferon gamma ecc). Now, here comes the complex part, the changes in hormones that finasteride causes (more estradiol, less DHT, more free testosterone but is then aromatase in 17 beta estradiol) shift the immune system toward a th1 state. This is a terrible thing for people who are already th1 dominant because they are already at increased risks of autoimmune diseases/chronic inflammation and the further increase caused by finasteride (which shift hormones so a very potent immune system modulator) can put them at serious risks of developing autoimmune diseases (what many calls PFS is just autoimmune disease). For example brain fog and cognitive dysfunctions after finasteride are just a symptoms of brain chronic inflammation, the overexpressed th1 cytokines and lymphocytes (such as CD4+T) infiltrate the brain causing inflammation and loss of processing speed, and all the other brain fog symptoms. But of course all kind of chronic inflammation and autoimmune disease can develop from hashimoto, to rheumatoid arthritis ecc. Research shows that DHT is immunosupressive (ie reduce Th1), so if you lower it you raise th1 and inflammation.
Ever wondered why finasteride is given to people who are risk for prostrate cancer? that's because it shifts the immune system toward th1 and if you're th1 you are less prone to cancer risk because your immune system is more apt to attack cancer cells and reduce angiogenesis.
Now, females are usually more th1 dominant and men are usually more th2 dominant (of course it's not always like this). It's not a coincidence that females experience much higher rates of autoimmune diseases....their th1 dominance cause that. Keep in mind that there can absolutely be men who are th1 dominant, actually many are (me included).
According to this androgen hormones reduces the risk of autoimmune diseases, whereas increasing estrogen hormones increase it (guess what finasteride does).
Now why some people experience sexual side effects? First of all, increasing estrogen and reducing androgen can cause that. Nitric oxide production is also involved (finasteride modulate nitric oxide and if you don't know endothelial nitric oxide is the compound that viagra increases to get hard erections).
Of course it's much more complicated than that, had to dumb it down here...many things also regulate th1 and th2 dominance. Basically men who experience side effects are th1 dominant and in that case the dose doesn't matter. Taking half a pill won't change a thing. Keep taking it without offsetting your cytokine expression of your immune system and you will develop chronic inflammation and then autoimmune diseases (who are almost often misdiagnosed because they are hard to diagnose except in some cases).
On the other hand people who are th2 dominant can take finasteride (or dut) without problems because in their case the shift toward th1 can even be beneficial for them (gotta pay attention to sexual side effects though because the nitric oxide is also reduced if they have a NOS3 SNP). And they gotta make sure the estrogen doesn't raise too much and the androgen don't fall too much....each of us has a different threshold but usually if your symptoms are only sexual (ie erections) taking l-arginine at high enough doses will fix that. That being said many foods eaten today (such as gluten) already shift the immune system toward th1 so if you live a dysfunctional lifestyle with shitty diet, smoke, drugs ecc you can be at risk even if you are th2 dominant.
Now, how do you know if you are th1 or th2 dominant?
I'll dumb it down again.
Do you rarely suffer from common cold and virus? You probably are th1 dominant.
Do you get cold or virus almost every year? suffer from ashma or allergies? You probably are th2 dominant.
Hormones are huge modulator of the immune system. You probably already know this since you may have heard about prednisone which is synthetic cortisol and used to suppress the immune system (and is especially effective to dampen the th1 mediated autoimmune diseases and ineffective in many immune mediated th2 diseases such as chronic fatigue syndrome for example because overall it shift the immune system toward a th2 dominant state inhibiting the production of interleukin 12 and from there interferon gamma ecc). Now, here comes the complex part, the changes in hormones that finasteride causes (more estradiol, less DHT, more free testosterone but is then aromatase in 17 beta estradiol) shift the immune system toward a th1 state. This is a terrible thing for people who are already th1 dominant because they are already at increased risks of autoimmune diseases/chronic inflammation and the further increase caused by finasteride (which shift hormones so a very potent immune system modulator) can put them at serious risks of developing autoimmune diseases (what many calls PFS is just autoimmune disease). For example brain fog and cognitive dysfunctions after finasteride are just a symptoms of brain chronic inflammation, the overexpressed th1 cytokines and lymphocytes (such as CD4+T) infiltrate the brain causing inflammation and loss of processing speed, and all the other brain fog symptoms. But of course all kind of chronic inflammation and autoimmune disease can develop from hashimoto, to rheumatoid arthritis ecc. Research shows that DHT is immunosupressive (ie reduce Th1), so if you lower it you raise th1 and inflammation.
Ever wondered why finasteride is given to people who are risk for prostrate cancer? that's because it shifts the immune system toward th1 and if you're th1 you are less prone to cancer risk because your immune system is more apt to attack cancer cells and reduce angiogenesis.
Now, females are usually more th1 dominant and men are usually more th2 dominant (of course it's not always like this). It's not a coincidence that females experience much higher rates of autoimmune diseases....their th1 dominance cause that. Keep in mind that there can absolutely be men who are th1 dominant, actually many are (me included).
According to this androgen hormones reduces the risk of autoimmune diseases, whereas increasing estrogen hormones increase it (guess what finasteride does).
Now why some people experience sexual side effects? First of all, increasing estrogen and reducing androgen can cause that. Nitric oxide production is also involved (finasteride modulate nitric oxide and if you don't know endothelial nitric oxide is the compound that viagra increases to get hard erections).
Of course it's much more complicated than that, had to dumb it down here...many things also regulate th1 and th2 dominance. Basically men who experience side effects are th1 dominant and in that case the dose doesn't matter. Taking half a pill won't change a thing. Keep taking it without offsetting your cytokine expression of your immune system and you will develop chronic inflammation and then autoimmune diseases (who are almost often misdiagnosed because they are hard to diagnose except in some cases).
On the other hand people who are th2 dominant can take finasteride (or dut) without problems because in their case the shift toward th1 can even be beneficial for them (gotta pay attention to sexual side effects though because the nitric oxide is also reduced if they have a NOS3 SNP). And they gotta make sure the estrogen doesn't raise too much and the androgen don't fall too much....each of us has a different threshold but usually if your symptoms are only sexual (ie erections) taking l-arginine at high enough doses will fix that. That being said many foods eaten today (such as gluten) already shift the immune system toward th1 so if you live a dysfunctional lifestyle with shitty diet, smoke, drugs ecc you can be at risk even if you are th2 dominant.
Now, how do you know if you are th1 or th2 dominant?
I'll dumb it down again.
Do you rarely suffer from common cold and virus? You probably are th1 dominant.
Do you get cold or virus almost every year? suffer from ashma or allergies? You probably are th2 dominant.
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