Baldness: Will There Ever Be A Cure?

[MrRING]

Baldness: Source of All Quackery?

It seems like the business of all quack cures comes out of a cure for baldness... although general health would be a definate second.

I wonder, will there ever be a satisfactory cure that doesn't involve hair replacement surgery? Not that I, um, need it or anything with my huge stock of growing hair cool: ) but I've got a ...friend who is suffering...

In any case, it seems like there is a rich history in trying to restore hair by hook, crook, or weird oitments & practices.

Also, has anybody here ever tried anything for their hair? What about strange things, like herbal ointments?

Here is the article that brought this question on:

Japanese Company Finds Genes Linked to Baldness

TOKYO (Reuters) - Researchers in Japan have found two genes that affect male pattern baldness, a company involved in the study said on Tuesday, possibly taking a step toward a cure for the scourge of millions of men.

Japanese household goods manufacturer Lion Corp said that its joint study with the University of Tokushima in western Japan had discovered that two types of genes relate to both hair growth and hair loss functions.

The genes are Bone Morphogenetic Protein, which helps make bones, and ephrin, which helps make blood vessels.

The researchers made their discovery by extracting hair growth cells from the scalp and conducting a genetic analysis, the company said.

Lion said the team also found that a plant-derived ingredient, called 6-benzyl aminopurine, could help revitalise the two genes and help restore hair growth.

The company, which already sells hair-nourishment products in Japan and Korea, aims to develop a new hair-loss treatment using their findings, a spokeswoman said.

But she said the company could not say how soon it would develop a new product as research is still in its early stages.

Earlier media reports about the company's findings boosted shares in Lion by as much as 15.7 percent to 604 yen at one point on Tuesday, the highest since October 1996, although they shed some gains to end at 547 yen, up 4.79 percent.

 

[Anome]

No!

Sorry to sound negative, but I do not believe there will ever be a "cure" for baldness.

The reason is that baldness isn't a disease.

Let's face it, going bald doesn't actually harm you in any way, and bald people can (and do) live long happy lives. My father has been bald since he was in his twenties, and it's never been a problem for him. (And he's never felt the need to comb over or conceal it, either.)

The actor Gary McDonald once wrote an hilarious letter to The Australian in response to some piece on baldness outlining his plans to sue his father for faulty genetics.

Now, I understand that baldness may be (in some cases, at least) indicative of other problems. (Not just chemotherapy, either.) There are signs that the increased levels of testosterone usually found in people with male pattern baldness may also indicate a predilection for heart disease or some such. These are the things we should worry about curing. It's possible curing them may lead to preventing baldness. So what?

Finally, let me say some people look better with hair than they do without. There are also those who look better without it than with. Unfortunately they don't always have the correct genetics to pull off the appropriate look to their own satisfaction. Let them worry about "cures" and alternatives. But if I see another ad for hair restoration that asserts that baldness needs to be avoided at all costs, I will rip Greg Matthew's remaining strands out personally.

 

[MrRING]

Here is a related question:

Was at one time baldness seen as a desireable trait, something that was actually chosen for in an evolutionary way because it was associated with virility, and is thus widespread? Or are men with full heads of hair the result of being chosen because it was more desireable in mates for a full head of hair?

Any theories?

 

[Anonymous]

Here is a related question:

Was at one time baldness seen as a desireable trait, something that was actually chosen for in an evolutionary way because it was associated with virility, and is thus widespread? Or are men with full heads of hair the result of being chosen because it was more desireable in mates for a full head of hair?

Any theories?

The current issue of New Scientist (In Brief. page 28, Hairless And Loving It) reports on a revival of the theory that the relative hairlessness of the hominid line developed as a way of minimizing pest infestations. If that theory's on the right track, then obviously it's possible that baldness might have become associated with virility for the simple reason that relatively hairless males would provide cover for fewer parasites and thus those individuals would suffer less with the ill-health associated with infestations.

EDIT. Never really understood guys being so down on hairloss though. My own hairline receded steadily throughout my late 20s and 30s and -beyond mildly lamenting the fact I could no longer get away with quiff and ducktails- it hasn't ever particularly bothered me. In fact, I've always associated worrying about it with weak character.

 

[MrRING]

The current issue of New Scientist (In Brief. page 28, Hairless And Loving It) reports on a revival of the theory that the relative hairlessness of the hominid line developed as a way of minimizing pest infestations. If that theory's on the right track, then obviously it's possible that baldness might have become associated with virility for the simple reason that relatively hairless males would provide cover for fewer parasites and thus those individuals would suffer less with the ill-health associated with infestations.

Hummm.. that's an interesting theory, certainly. So we as a species chose for hairlessness, and if it made people healthier, more likely to live to a breeding age, then all the better.

I wonder if we gained in body fungus what we lost in parasites, though...

And my own isn't that big of a concern, other than I've got what I consider to be the worst kind - enough hair up top to look stupid, but dark enough that if I shave it, my head has 5 o'clock shadow. I just wish it would fall out of where it wants to fall out so it could at least look consistant.

But hey, look at Yul Brenner - or the lady from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Bald is beauitiful, but it is a pain to maintain.

 

[Anonymous]

Hummm.. that's an interesting theory, certainly. So we as a species chose for hairlessness, and if it made people healthier, more likely to live to a breeding age, then all the better.

It would also explain why the female of the species has -typically- even less body hair than the male. Males kept choosing the healthiest females, who just happened also to be the most hairless females.

 

[Anome]

There are two different issues here: one is the lack of body hair in humans. This is what they consider to have been selected for through extended sexual selection for hairlessness.

The other is male pattern baldness. To my understanding (and the matter is by no means conclusively settled either way), this is related to high levels of testosterone. High testosterone also indicates high fertility, which improves chances of reproducing (one way or another).

Even assuming the above is correct, and ignoring the fact that it is a gross simplification, there are many other factors at work. By no means is baldness alone a suitable selector for a suitable mate. Particularly not in this day and age of relationships, and capitalist economy.

 

[TVgeek]

I gave up on the receeding hairline 8 years ago by just
shaving down to nothing. Contrary to popular belief,
women are very intrigued with my completely bald head,
and often run a hand over it when they walk past.

My wife has just come to accept it... and so have I!

TVgeek

 

[Anonymous]

Cut it off! Cut it off! Go for the Richard O'Brien look!

 

[Jerry_B]

'Losing your hair is better than losing your arm' is what I always say when asked about my MPB Never had any complaints from any girlfriends about it either. It tends to be something that some men fret over for no real reason.

One actor you forgot - Sean Connery. He's bald now but it doesn't seem as if his sex appeal has faded away for any women I know

 

[Anonymous]

There are some tablits you can get from your doctor but they only work for some types of male patern baldness and not even all the time.

Why bother (it'll cost you about £200 for enough tablits to see any efect.)

 

[Timble2]

Hairy but not up to it

There are some tablits you can get from your doctor but they only work for some types of male patern baldness and not even all the time.

One of these is finasteride (Propecia), it's also indicated for benign prostatic hyperplasia, unfortunately a possible side effect is impotence.

It does improve hair growth, but the results are pretty slight for some chaps.

Minidoxil (Regaine/Rogaine) isn't all that effective either.

 

[Beakmoo]

Some of the thickening shampoos are pretty good if you're just a bit sparse of hair. (Yes, you didn't expect a woman on this thread did you? Why should you have all the fun) A proportion of my hair fell out when my mum had chemotherapy, and didn't grow back as well as hers did It's just a bit thin at the front now.
Circ shampoo is good.

 

[MrRING]

There are some tablits you can get from your doctor but they only work for some types of male patern baldness and not even all the time.

Why bother (it'll cost you about £200 for enough tablits to see any efect.)

I had a friend who gave himself heart problems because of Minoxidil, (which if memory serves was originally a blood thinner), and all he got was a thin patchy fuzz.

It is amazing what people will do to try and replace there hair. I think what happens with surgical replacement, where they actually cut a flap of your own skin and "reseed" it around your bald areas is just asking to make yourself a grotesque.

I know there was talk about hair cloning to increase density of replacement hair, but I bet it will have a short lifetime of growth like Dolly the Most Unfortunate Sheep...

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Hairy but not up to it

One of these is finasteride (Propecia), it's also indicated for benign prostatic hyperplasia, unfortunately a possible side effect is impotence.

That's the one i was thinking off. thanks Timble.

So wich is worse: baldness or impotence?

 

[Imperial_Call]

About 8 years ago my hair was over 4 feet long [which looks pretty impressive when you're over 6 feet tall!], when all of a sudden like it started to fall out in huge lumps, over a period of time [I forget how long - a couple of months maybe] something like 80% of it fell out, I had the rest cut into a short style and over the last 6 years it has gradually grown back and is now 2 feet long. I didn't take anything for it or use any specific shampoo, I reckon it's not as thick as it used to be, and I get worried if I see more than a half dozen hairs on my brush when I've brushed it ... It was a very upsetting time for me, so I can appriciate the fact that men get worked up about going bald, but at the end of the day there are plenty of women [me included] who fancy the arse off bald men. How many men are prepared to date a bald[ing] woman?

 

[Anonymous]

There is of course an associate curious phenomenon... why is it that a man's hair seems to fall straight through his head, and back out through his nostrils, ears and back ?

 

[Anome]

... It was a very upsetting time for me, so I can appriciate the fact that men get worked up about going bald, but at the end of the day there are plenty of women [me included] who fancy the arse off bald men. How many men are prepared to date a bald[ing] woman?

Speaking for myself, I don't see why a lack of hair should prevent me from being attracted to a woman. As with men, it has to be assessed on a case by case basis.

 

[MrRING]

According to today in IMDB news:

Willis To Grow Hair?

Hollywood hardman Bruce Willis is in talks to undergo a revolutionary hair treatment to cover his famous bald head. According to Britain's The Sun newspaper, the Sixth Sense star, 49, has consulted experts about a new 'hair cloning' treatment - which has only been tested on rodents and is awaiting approval from the US government. A friend says, "Bruce wants to make sure it is safe, but is very interested in going ahead when it is available. The treatment will be expensive, but money is no object." Despite Willis' success with meeting women since his split from ex-wife Demi Moore, the actor is reportedly insecure about his shiny crown. The pal adds, "Some women find his baldness attractive, but Bruce is aware it's a sign he's getting on and he wants to look as good as he can." Willis is currently single after splitting from Baywatch babe Brooke Burns earlier this month.

 

[Anonymous]

That's a pitty because a bald head suited him.

Mind you, who doesn't it suit? Remember that lady from the first star trek movie? Hubba hubba...now for a bald lady she was pretty good looking.

Also, remember when Alien 3 came out with the monkey woman shaving her head? Demi moore did it for Gi Jane. Not totally bald, granted, but we're nearly there with the whole bare noggin thing.

I could never see the problem with going bald. soon as my hair started to receed I just got a pair of clippers and mercilessly hacked the whole lot off. What worries me far more is losing all my teeth. that's something I find far more frightening.

Recently a close associate of mine was undergoing kemo and radio therapy where her hair was guarenteed to fall out. I advised her to shave her own head. Make the choice before you don't have the choice. She did and she found it very liberating. Can't say the same would go for everyone, but for those who ever wonder...maybe you'll like it.

There's something about shaved down to a bair noggin look that still maintains femininity in an odd way. When the hair is a crew cut it can look a bit boyish, but its amazing how just that bit shorter and some semblence of style is returned.

 

[Anome]

Also, it's easier to afix a wig to a smooth scalp.

If you want to attach a wig to it. See my earlier post. (A lot of chemo patients do, as they have enough problems with the side effects of the chemo without people staring at them. Then again, others don't.)

 

[escargot]

My hair grows thick and fast (on my head ) and were I into hairdos it could get expensive. Couple of years ago I impulsively shaved it off, well, got the BF to give me a Wahl convict cut, just to see how it'd grow out.

I got stares, many pitying, and overheard peeps telling each other that I was probably on chemo. Didn't mind really.

Blokes shouldn't worry about hair loss. Here's what women think about it, in my experience-

- they see through all efforts by men to disguise baldness and find such efforts variously pitiful, risible and pointless.

- most believe baldness to be associated with virility!

Men whose hair doesn't start to thin naturally after at least the early thirties usually have hypogonadism.
That's enough to put baldness into perspective!

 

[Anonymous]

- they see through all efforts by men to disguise baldness and find such efforts variously pitiful, risible and pointless.
- most believe baldness to be associated with virility!
Men whose hair doesn't start to thin naturally after at least the early thirties usually have hypogonadism.
That's enough to put baldness into perspective!

Mrs Innsmouth prefers me to shave my head....if I leave it (that and the beard) to grow too long (usually when I'm working and I'm on a roll...a roll can last up to two or three months), then I sort of leave my hair and beard to over grow (it's the last thing I think about since I work at home on my own, locked away in a small room, being furiously creative for long stints...no one sees me for ages...no one except my very understanding and dearly beloved wife and my demons). I end up with a great big long beard (I have a proper beard, not one of those shabby types that are patchy...I have a PROPER beard...with white flecks on my chin that people always ask if I dye, when I don't...see I'm not going grey, my hair is turning brilliant white, like someone's poured a tub of dulux emulsion all over my head) and what looks like old man hair, long at the sides in other words...most people mistake me for someone twenty years my senior. The minute I shave ALL of it off everyones amazed at how much younger I look. And the teeny weeny spark of vanity that's in me loves it. So I over grow then savagely cut back because I enjoy the change, even if it is the same change time and again.

Plus its a ritual thing, and if you work alone cooped up in a box room with only your demons to keep you company during working hours (and often at 2am when they wake me up and drag me back to my desk again), rituals are important. Close friends and associates have grown used to the transformation....when they see me over grown like that they naturally assume I've been working...one friend of mine has this down to a fine art and can tell down to the day how long I've been working which is scary.

It's not a hygene issue....I wash my beard and my hair in shampoo and conditioners and I shower twice daily....it has to be spotlessly immaculate in itself because beards tend to itch. the best remedy in my book is keep it clean...and for gods sake wipe your mouth when you've finished eating....I often meet people with beards who have no concept of hygene....but I'm sure there's a beard thread for this somewhere.

It's funny though, over grown hair has a psychological effect. It's like a messy room...the room I work in gets progressively messy during a job, paper all over the place, books in piles on the floor, etc....much like my hair more and more unkempt...but when it comes to the end I shave my head and tidy up....I can't start a new job unless these to matters are attended to. It's like mental clutter. I have to snow plough the whole lot out the way.

It's like the lawn, I like to leave it till its really long, then get the mower out and chop through it...hard work but terribly satisfying.

 

[escargot]

We have a beard thread somewhere hereabouts on which the ex figures in all his pitiable unpulchritude.

He was going bald when I met him but grew a massive, Moses-outdoing beard which he kept for years, purely because he was too lazy to shave. Looked like a ******* hobo.

 

[Anonymous]

He was going bald when I met him but grew a massive, Moses-outdoing beard which he kept for years, purely because he was too lazy to shave. Looked like a ******* hobo.

Yeah, there's two sorts of looks, "F***ing Hobo" and "Land that time forgot".

whenever I do the ritual preen I always think of Aslan.

 

[Anonymous]

My dad was bald for years and someone once asked him how he went bald. His answer was "standing on my head so people like you could kiss my arse...."

 

[escargot]

When Clare Boylan's hair started to fall out during chemotherapy, she decided to shave it off. Here she talks about coping with vanity, vulnerability - and bad wigs

 

[JurekB]

I've got Alopaecia so apart from the odd one or two hairs here and there, I am completely hairless, and I love it.

It started when I was about 8 and then it was a total nightmare as it was just one small spot so naturally I got a lot of grief about it. It actually was quite fortunate as my parents took me to see a skin specialist who showed no interest in my hair, but instead removed a mole which was threatening to go nasty.

My hair grew back in my late teens but then started falling out again in my late 20's. This was a lot worse as it was lots of little bald patches which slowly got bigger. Basically I looked like a right nutter who'd got into a fight with some hair clippers and lost.

I visited a specialist just to see if any miracle cures had popped up in recent years, there wasn't, but the specialist seemed quite keen to inject steroids into my scalp. I declined his generous offer.

For about 3 years I didn't need to shave at all, which was great although now I have to shave maybe once a month but it does only take about 10 seconds.

What was posted earlier about woman prefering bald men because they have less parasites, definatly rings true. My girlfriend says that she prefers me hairless as it gives her a 'feeling of cleanliness'. So does this mean that I've taken the next evolutionary step by shedding all my hair? Thats what I tell people anyway.

Has it ever bothered me? If my destiny is to go through life with a medical condition, well, considering what medical conditions I could have, I think I've got off pretty lightly so I actually consider myself quite lucky.

 

[ramonmercado]

Could Super Furry Animals Provide Clues For Baldness?

Could Super Furry Animals Provide Clues For Baldness?
Main Category: Men's health News
Article Date: 30 Aug 2006 - 2:00am (PDT)

Scientists looking at mice may have discovered why certain people are hairier than others in what could provide clues as to the reason some men go bald prematurely.

The University of Manchester team has laid bare the molecular processes that determine which embryonic skin cells will form into hair follicles and determine the body's hair pattern.

The findings will be of interest to scientists looking at male-pattern baldness but have more direct implications for people who suffer from ectodermal dysplasia - a range of conditions where skin cells fail to develop into other tissue, including hair follicles.

"During human development, skin cells have the ability to turn into other types of cells to form hair follicles, sweat glands, teeth and nails," said Dr Denis Headon, who led the research. "Which cells are transformed into hair follicles is determined by three proteins that are produced by our genes.

"Our research has identified how one of these proteins working outside of the cell interacts at a molecular level to determine an individual's hair pattern as the embryonic skin spatially organises itself."

The team found that cells given the genetic command to become hair follicles will send out signals to neighbouring cells to prevent them from doing likewise, so producing a specific hair pattern.

They also demonstrated that by hyperactivating the 'hair protein' in embryonic mice, young with considerably more fur than normal were produced.

"We were able to change the number of hair follicles in the embryonic mice while they were developing in the womb," said Dr Headon, who is based in the University's Faculty of Life Sciences.

"The findings could have implications for sufferers of ectodermal dysplasia that are missing this particular protein and who are unable to develop hair follicles during embryonic development.

"The research - while not directly linked to male-pattern baldness - should be of interest to pharmaceutical companies working in this field as understanding the molecular processes at work during follicle development could provide clues as to why follicles shrink and hair growth diminishes in certain men as they get older."

###

Ectodermal dysplasia (ED) is a group of closely related, heritable conditions in which there are abnormalities of two or more ectodermal structures, such as the hair, teeth, nails, sweat glands as well as other parts of the body.

The 1990 edition of the Birth Defects Encyclopaedia estimates that up to seven in every 10,000 babies are born with one of the 150 or so ED syndromes.

ED can affect both sexes but is more prevalent in boys. It also affects people of different races and ethnic groups. Probably the most well-known person to suffer from ED is actor Michael Berryman.

Contact: Aeron Haworth
University of Manchester
http://www.manchester.ac.uk/


http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medical ... wsid=50685

 

[Mythopoeika]

How many men are prepared to date a bald[ing] woman?

Well, I'd date Gail Porter, but I'm not sure she'd want to date me.