Why is there no fix for Male Pattern Baldness?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the challenges of addressing Male Pattern Baldness (MPB), also known as androgenic alopecia, which is primarily caused by the hair follicle's sensitivity to Dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Current treatments like Finasteride (1 mg) and Minoxidil have shown limited effectiveness, with many users reporting only minor results or side effects. Despite advancements in hair transplant techniques, there remains no definitive cure for MPB, leading to ongoing frustration among those affected. The conversation also highlights societal perceptions of baldness and the psychological impact of hair loss on self-esteem.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of androgenic alopecia and its causes
  • Familiarity with Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and its role in hair loss
  • Knowledge of current hair loss treatments, specifically Finasteride and Minoxidil
  • Awareness of hair transplant procedures and their effectiveness
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the long-term effects and efficacy of Finasteride for hair loss
  • Explore advancements in hair transplant technology and techniques
  • Investigate the role of DHT in male pattern baldness and potential treatments
  • Learn about emerging therapies in stem cell research related to hair regeneration
USEFUL FOR

This discussion is beneficial for individuals experiencing male pattern baldness, dermatologists, hair restoration specialists, and anyone interested in the psychological aspects of hair loss and societal perceptions of baldness.

Jamin2112
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Crooked teeth? No problem at all. We invented braces to fix that.

Your breasts don't have the size/shape/firmness that you'd like? No problem either.

Acne? Well, Accutane has some notable side effects, but it seems to work extremely effectively. It's a last resort anyhow. There are a lot of natural remedies like changing your diet, getting some sun exposure, visiting the sauna, etc. Almost everyone who has a problem with breakouts eventually figures out how to prevent them.

You're a male in his 20's (or earlier) and you notice your hair thinning/receding? You're ****ed! Nothing feels as helpless as seeing your face become increasingly ugly as your hair slowly but surely disappears.

Is MPB just one of those natural aging processes for which there will never be a real fix?
 
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Dentistry and cosmetics both employ crude but effective techniques of surgical intervention. This can be done in the case of hair loss with transplants though the effectiveness varies. The problem is that male pattern baldness or androgenic alopecia is the result of complicated changes in the endocrine system. As with any complex system finding a simple way to manipulate it for a desired effect with no side effects is difficult.

There was a spate of stem cell related research earlier on in the century which looked to regenerate hair follicles but it was met with limited success and I've not heard anymore.

As someone in their mid-twenties whose starting to notice a receding hairline this does bother me but it looks like there are no effective treatment methods on the horizon. On the up-side though there is no intrinsic reason why lack of hair automatically equals unattractive. There are certainly styles that can be adopted to pull off a less-hair or even bald look at a young age.
 
Some of the sexiest men have shaved heads. Not buzz cuts, shaved. Also, receding hairlines are attractive and manly, Donald Trump's comb over is not.
 
Ryan_m_b said:
On the up-side though there is no intrinsic reason why lack of hair automatically equals unattractive. There are certainly styles that can be adopted to pull off a less-hair or even bald look at a young age.

I dunno. A little bit of hair loss goes a long way in making you more unattractive.

To see an example, look at Paul Ryan. He has a big nose, but his thick, square hairline frames his frame in a way such that his big honker isn't really noticeable. If had a V-shaped, thinning hairline, his forehead and nose would look larger, making him look like a creepy old guy.


http://cdn.breitbart.com/mediaserver/Breitbart/Big-Government/2013/Congress/House%20Republicans/paul-ryan-not-impressed-ap.jpg
 
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Evo said:
Some of the sexiest men have shaved heads.

Some of the fastest distance runners are White. I guess there are exceptions to every rule.
 
Jamin2112 said:
To see an example, look at Paul Ryan. He has a big nose, but his thick, square hairline frames his frame in a way such that his big honker isn't really noticeable. If had a V-shaped, thinning hairline, his forehead and nose would look larger, making him look like a creepy old guy.
As is the case in this photoshopped swap of Joe Biden's and Paul Ryan's hair?

o-HAIRCUT-570.jpg
 
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Be me. I'm in my early 40's with a full, lush growth. There are a few grey hears unobstrusively tucked behind my ears, so they don't count. :approve:
 
too much male hormone - there is a medication for it. Try Finasteride 1 mg, it works.
 
Jamin2112 said:
I dunno. A little bit of hair loss goes a long way in making you more unattractive.

To see an example, look at Paul Ryan. He has a big nose, but his thick, square hairline frames his frame in a way such that his big honker isn't really noticeable. If had a V-shaped, thinning hairline, his forehead and nose would look larger, making him look like a creepy old guy.


http://cdn.breitbart.com/mediaserver/Breitbart/Big-Government/2013/Congress/House%20Republicans/paul-ryan-not-impressed-ap.jpg

No, no way. Too...just too much. Too much hair, too low hairline, too dark, too dense, does not look natural (even though it probably is).

Evo said:
Some of the sexiest men have shaved heads. Not buzz cuts, shaved. Also, receding hairlines are attractive and manly, Donald Trump's comb over is not.

This. Although buzz cuts are OK :biggrin:.

IMO: natural is best.
 
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  • #10
I don't know why the medical community is wasting time and resources on trivial problems like curing cancer or fighting infectious disease or birth defects when they should be confronting some really superficial issues like MPB.

Maybe that's what's lacking: people refer to the condition as 'male pattern baldness' when they should be referring to 'MPB'. That makes it sound like something which could strike anyone, anywhere, anytime. There could be an MPB Campaign, Walk for an MPB Cure, Raising MPB Awareness campaigns, the wearing of the Steel Gray Ribbon to show your Support to Find a Cure for MPB.
 
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  • #11
I started losing my hair, receding and thinning in my mid 20's. And while I did distress over it, and still do occasionally, I've learned how to cut and style my hair so that it isn't as noticeable. Until I tilt my head down. In which case, I'm exposed and naked and I feel incredibly self-conscious about it. I'm only in my early 30s now. I think i should find a wife soon before I lose it all. Or marry a beautiful, sexy blind woman.

Anyway, MPB has existed for millennia and there must be a reason for it, evolutionarily speaking. Maybe it's a way to calm younger males from directly competing for females. That was one hypothesis that I read. It indicates maturity and wisdom, from certain Asian cultures. But in Western cultures, being old or looking old is discriminated against.
 
  • #12
guy3288 said:
too much male hormone - there is a medication for it. Try Finasteride 1 mg, it works.
What if you don't have an enlarged prostate? Does it shrink the OK one you have?
 
  • #13
i guess you have not googled it at all.BPH is 5mg, for hair growth only 1/5 of that, no side effect as far as i am concerned, been on it >10 yrs.
 
  • #14
guy3288 said:
i guess you have not googled it at all.BPH is 5mg, for hair growth only 1/5 of that, no side effect as far as i am concerned, been on it >10 yrs.
How do you acquire it?
 
  • #15
zoobyshoe said:
How do you acquire it?

get a prescription, buy from drug store. The ori Proscar is 3.5x the price of a generic. I used generic, seems equally good. Minoxidil application is another option, but it is messy and oily to apply. i don't like it
 
  • #16
guy3288 said:
get a prescription, buy from drug store. The ori Proscar is 3.5x the price of a generic. I used generic, seems equally good. Minoxidil application is another option, but it is messy and oily to apply. i don't like it
By all accounts minoxodil just makes you grow peach fuzz, not real hair. Does the finasteride make you grow real hair?
 
  • #17
Enjoy your baldness. The only problem is getting a sunburnt head but the cure is simple. Buy a hat.
 
  • #18
Dadface said:
Enjoy your baldness. The only problem is getting a sunburnt head but the cure is simple. Buy a hat.

totally agree! And am starting to feel that sunshine where I hadn't before...actually coldness, like in winter I noticed the lack of insulation most, so buy a toque too!
 
  • #19
SteamKing said:
I don't know why the medical community is wasting time and resources on trivial problems like curing cancer or fighting infectious disease or birth defects when they should be confronting some really superficial issues like MPB.

Maybe that's what's lacking: people refer to the condition as 'male pattern baldness' when they should be referring to 'MPB'. That makes it sound like something which could strike anyone, anywhere, anytime. There could be an MPB Campaign, Walk for an MPB Cure, Raising MPB Awareness campaigns, the wearing of the Steel Gray Ribbon to show your Support to Find a Cure for MPB.

ahahaa I share your take on this. The first billboard leaving our international airport is an ad for hair transplants or some other technique. Show a bald dude who's all ashamed looking and the wording on the sign is talking about lacking confidence. really, its more transparent and shallow then the ads girls are bombarded with.

Where is the billboard for my shame for being short and weak, my god now that I think of it...I'm short, balding and weak...oh cruel world! Take my money until I am beautiful like you want me to be :-p teeheehee so glad I am not self conscious...I'd have a fair bit to feel bad about with my appearance lol
 
  • #20
No one has mentioned the only permanent solution - castration.
 
  • #21
IIRC castration only works if done before balding, it doesn't restore hair.
 
  • #22
Frankly I don't care too much. Just comb it in a way that it isn't too noticeable may be. I'm planning to shave my head in a few years anyways.

Ryan_m_b said:
IIRC castration only works if done before balding, it doesn't restore hair.

I'd take that as a joke XD
 
  • #23
Actually it wasn't
http://jcem.endojournals.org/content/20/10/1309.short

You can find many other papers using the search term "castration and baldness". Like you though I think I'll just learn to live with it when the time comes.
 
  • #24
still no one is convinced with finasteride? Dont wait till it is too late, that is about the only medically proven therapy.
 
  • #25
guy3288 said:
still no one is convinced with finasteride? Dont wait till it is too late, that is about the only medically proven therapy.

I haven't seen any solid evidence that "fin" is effective.

I know that a lot of people who take it claim it has slowed their hair loss. 2 thoughts on that:

(1) Why would you want to slow down the inevitable? That just makes you stay for a longer time in the stage where you're trying to hide your loss and where you're stressed out by the uncertainty of not knowing how bad your hair loss will eventually be. I would rather take a pill that speeds up my hair loss to its final resting state.

(2) The people who claim to have experienced a decrease in hair loss after taking fin could be experiencing the placebo effect or a coincidence. Lots of people lose some hair and then don't lose any more; that's their "mature hairline" taking form. My guess would be that a lot of guys who take fin in their 20's were not headed towards the full cue ball to begin with, but they assumed the worst and now they think that fin saved them.

Not to mention the fact that the chemical compound causing hair loss (DHT) has been shown to be important for cognitive functioning. It's probably not good to be taking a DHT-blocking drug.

Personally, I'm not going to take any drugs. I'm just going to hope for the best and put my faith in science. I have only minor recession so far. Maybe I won't have any more. At the very least, I'm sure that a couple years from now hair transplant surgery will have been perfect and much cheaper, just like what happened with laser eye surgery. That's the worst-case scenario, though. If stem cell research takes off, we could have a much better solution.
 
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  • #26
Caffeine. Seriously.

It seems DHT causes male pattern Baldness and caffeine reverses the effects (to some degree), I assume if it was significant it would be major news.

Male pattern baldness, also known as androgenic alopecia or androgenetic alopecia, is caused by the hair follicle's sensitivity to DHT. The follicles miniaturize (shrink), resulting in a shorter lifespan and the abnormal production of hair.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/68082.php

Thanks to Monique for her thread in "Product Claims".

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=704520

Who knew?
 
  • #28
Here's the study. (peer reviewed)

Abstract

Results  Significant growth suppression was found in hair follicles treated with 5 µg/ml testosterone. This was counteracted by caffeine in concentrations of 0.001% and 0.005%. Moreover, caffeine alone led to a significant stimulation of hair follicle growth. These results were confirmed immunohistochemically by Ki-67 staining.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-4632.2007.03119.x/abstract

And the article that references the study (not peer reviewed)

http://www.livestrong.com/article/550821-caffeine-dht/
 
  • #30
I don't know about where you live but in the UK shampoo containing caffeine is easy to find.
 

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