When I was younger, I was pretty dismissive of the idea of going bald; I figured I'd just do what Patrick Stewart did
(link) and take my inevitable baldness gracefully, incorporating it into my appearance. But in the last few years- after having lived with a slowly thinning bit up top since high school, joking about it as necessary to vent- I stopped dismissing it and started to really think about it. Now that I've had time to get to know myself, I realized that I really liked having hair. Around the start of this year, I convinced myself to look into ways to circumvent biology, and try to keep it.
Cool thing about being a species with all the Tools and Science we have, is that I -could- do something about it, if I wanted... much like I could get glasses for my myopic eyes, or dye my hair, or whatever else. I spent a while studying the biology behind hair loss, the mechanisms of the current treatments being used, and the upcoming research that's being done. The most common non-surgical therapies on the market right now basically treat hair loss by encouraging bloodflow to the scalp, whether that's through drugs (Minoxidil aka Rogaine) or massage or lasers or so on. Minoxidil is inexpensive and can be bought without a prescription, but it's kind of a bother to apply every day (especially if you don't shave your head), and can be a danger if you have pets (it stresses their hearts, and can cause fatality in large doses if you don't clean up spills or mind where you put your head before it dries).
Then, there's drugs like Finasteride (Propecia) and Spironolactone that were more of interest to me than they may be to you; Finasteride blocks DHT synthesis, while Spironolactone inhibits Testosterone production (and thus its derivatives) altogether. DHT is a secondary androgen made from Testosterone, which (to my knowledge as Not A Licensed Medical Practicioner) is a sort of extra-strength Testosterone used to signal initial development of male characteristics, strongly signal hair follicles to start going dormant, and other things that regular Testosterone can do as well. Completely blocking Testosterone is something that would completely stop balding, but would also inhibit fertility and libido, as well as affect mood and feelings of confidence. Blocking DHT seems to decrease those things to a small degree, but that may be due to allowing more of your body's Testosterone to be turned into Estrogen (Note: everyone does this all the time regardless of sex), and elevated Estrogen levels in turn compete with Testosterone for hormone-receptor sites (making your bones stronger and your boners less so, etc. and sorry for the pun). There are pill and topical versions of both: topical treatments go on the skin and have a decreased effect in the local area, but also minimal effect on the rest of the body (a good thing if you want to maintain libido/fertility/etc.)
There are also some surgical options, right now, but most being performed are expensive, and are done using old skin grafting technology; permanently taking hair follicles away from one part of your body, and putting it somewhere else. There's one new surgical treatment that claims to be able to "clone" hair roots
(link), but it's still pretty early, and I don't have enough know-how to vouch for it.
Most interestingly to me, we may have found the hormone pathway that toggles hair follicles to grow or shrink, as well as controls hair color, greying, etc
(Link). Hormones are kind of the obvious candidate for future research, since they're the source of the effect. Other treatments are pretty non-ideal, temporary, or bandaid-tier solutions, and come with costs/risks.
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Topic: Things that made you sad today thread. (Read 9772594 times)