
A "cure" for baldness could be around the corner - clouddrover
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/07/hair-for-all/594826/
======
dx87
Pretty suprised at a lot of the comments here. The top comment is saying bald
people should just get over how they feel and accept it, and a lot of people
are saying that the scientists developing the cure are wasting resources that
could be spent on something else. I doubt comments telling a trans person to
"just move on and accept that you don't feel comfortable with your body" would
go over well here, so maybe people should think before telling someone with
premature balding that their anxiety and self-image issues aren't real
problems.

~~~
eeeeeeeeeeeee
Same here. The one other person that mentioned trans women was downvoted into
oblivion. And in general, all the comments are very male centric.

Women have hair loss too. Cancer or alopecia. Although many can embrace their
baldness, to dismiss it as just “get some clippers, hair is socially
constructed” is so bizarre to read.

This is a good video about a woman who has hair loss and how even wearing a
wig is difficult: [https://youtu.be/ujvQMpPDq40](https://youtu.be/ujvQMpPDq40)

~~~
bin0
Another issue is that some have trichotillomania, which causes them to
nervously pull out their own hair. Lots of causes. But that aside, there are
many more men with hair loss then women [0] [1]. Opinions aside, there are
objectively significantly more men than women who have the problem. Women also
can cover it more due to longer hair. Not reasonable to call comments "male
centric" when the majority of people with hair loss are male.

[0] [https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/hair-
loss...](https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/hair-loss/hair-
loss-medref)

[1] [https://www.creditdonkey.com/hair-loss-
statistics.html](https://www.creditdonkey.com/hair-loss-statistics.html)

~~~
YinglingLight
>Women also can cover it more due to longer hair.

Spoken like someone whose never had thinning hair. Long hair makes it look
worse, not better.

For many women, a hair is her identity. A man is still valued more by his
means of providing and status in competence hiearchies than his appearance.
This is not the same with female mammals.

------
hendzen
I started going bald at a relatively young age. I fretted about it for a
while, tried different hair cuts etc, and was pretty unhappy about it. After
looking in to a few different treatments, procedures and dismissing them all
due to side effects and/or cost I bought a pair of clippers and started
shaving my own head regularly. The first day I did it was totally liberating,
now I wouldn’t go back to having hair even if I had the option. The entire
idea that losing your hair is bad is socially constructed by the mass media
and advertising industry to sell you these expensive crap treatments. Balding
is an entirely healthy and natural human process. Embrace your baldness, stop
trying to “fix” it and focus on solving the real problems in the world.

~~~
DSMan195276
As someone who went bald before I was 20 (Like you it sounds like), I'd say
you're heavily generalizing. Sure, shaving your head worked for _you_ and
solved your problem, but that doesn't mean it is a solution that solves the
problem for everybody, and claiming that it's not a "real" problem because you
found a solution that works for you is a bit ridiculous.

It's easy to say I should just completely shave my head and ignore what others
think of me, but for me that's not a solution that has worked - it would be
great if it did and I could just will myself to stop being self-conscious, but
that hasn't worked that well for me. And if a "cure" for baldness would fix my
problem then that's useful to me and a solution to a _real_ problem I have -
and it is something that would certainly improve my current quality of life.

~~~
nominated1
Like you I began going bald before the age of 20. I was teased a bit in
highschool but nothing that I let get to me enough to leave scars. I don’t
know how old you are but until my late 20’s I’d wear a hat and preferred
social scenes where it was appropriate. By the time I hit my mid 30’s I was
more comfortable. Now in my 40’s it’s a non-issue. Meanwhile, friends of mine
who began thinning in their 30’s are still fretting about it. I wonder if
they’ll be comfortable by their the time they hit 50.

Reasons I chose to go with a shaved head:

My dad wore a toupee and nobody was allowed over after dad took it off (he’d
take it off immediately after work, apparently they’re not very comfortable).
My uncle tried every new cream/lotion that came on the market and was obsessed
(he died of brain cancer at age 62 btw). My grandfather, was just bald. Of the
three my grandfather was the most confident and comfortable in his on skin.

I’m not telling you to just get over it, it’s demoralizing when you’re young.
I just hope that with time you’ll become more comfortable with yourself. My
wife and previous girlfriends never had a problem with it as many women don’t.
At this point she tells me what length I should keep it and I just go with
that.

~~~
puranjay
I would imagine it all depends on where you are in your romantic life. If
you're 35 and happily married, I doubt you would fret way too much about
balding.

But if you're 25 and right in the middle of your dating life, balding is a
handicap

~~~
mr_overalls
Survey results show that this is exactly the case.

Here's a survey across three age groups of women. Around a third of women
across age groups feel neutral about bald men. The youngest women (18-24) are
generally unattracted by bald men (47%), while among the oldest women (35-44),
44% find baldness at least slightly attractive. The middle age-group had
intermediate preferences.

So yes, if you are younger, baldness could presumably hurt your dating life,
while older men are probably significantly less affected.

[https://www.primandprep.com/do-women-like-bald-
men/](https://www.primandprep.com/do-women-like-bald-men/)

------
georgewfraser
Propecia is basically a cure for baldness as long as you start taking it
before you lose too much hair. It’s very widely used—walk into any gay bar in
San Francisco and you will notice there is hardly anyone under 40 who is bald.

There is a strange phenomenon online where in every discussion of propecia,
someone will show up and claim they had terrible sexual side effects. But in
the original clinical trials, the rate of such side effects was nearly the
same as placebo. And I personally know about 10 men who take it and none have
experienced side effects. I think people make these claims to get attention in
forums, or it’s simply a placebo effect.

~~~
Lio
Why the cut off at the age of 40? Either it's a "cure" or it's not. I think
that you'll find that actually it only slows down hair loss and only for a
percentage of people.

Maybe the reason you're not seeing bald men in these bars is the swimmer
effect. i.e. bald men aren't successful there so bald men don't show up.

The reason you don't see many bald men on TV shows or that you can count the
number of world famous bald "leading man" actors on the fingers of one hand
isn't because there's already a magic cure for baldness that actors use but
other don't.

It's simply because casting agents don't cast bald men.

~~~
jquery
It’s absolutely the swimming effect.

To any fully-haired people who don’t believe it, shave your head as if you’re
going bald, then go to a club alone and see how much fun you have. Prediction:
probably not much

------
WalterBright
When my hair started thinning, I looked at balding men - some of them looked
good, some didn't. It took me a while to figure out why. The ones that didn't
look good were the ones where the guy tried to hide it with comb-overs, extra
long remaining hair, odd haircuts, etc. The ones who looked good simply
embraced it.

A close crop, and you're looking good.

------
dumbfoundded
Hasn't this already happened?

Elon:
[https://nyppagesix.files.wordpress.com/2018/07/elon.jpg?qual...](https://nyppagesix.files.wordpress.com/2018/07/elon.jpg?quality=90&strip=all)

Lebron:
[https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1_YfIB-9iM8/maxresdefault.jpg](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1_YfIB-9iM8/maxresdefault.jpg)

~~~
winter_blue
Wow, how did Elon Musk pull that off?

~~~
bitwize
The Foundation to Extend the Lifespan of Larry Ellison has produced some
research that has had nice side effects for other billionaires.

~~~
melling
Let’s hope Larry spends his fortune on this research for himself and other
billionaires.

That’s more valuable than buying a bigger yacht.

Of course, once the knowledge is gained and a problem is solved, someone
somewhere will reproduce the same thing for a fraction of the cost. The real
cost is the research.

~~~
smt88
I'm not sure why you assume that all observable results of technology can lead
to reverse engineering that technology.

Billionaires could easily solve baldness, aging, or any number of problems for
themselves without releasing anything.

In fact, Alphabet is _already openly doing this_ with its ultra-secretive
Calico company that is sucking in lots of researchers and locking their
discoveries (if any) in a private vault.

~~~
belltaco
Because they stand to make money, lots of it, by selling cures for aging.

~~~
Ericson2314
Keeping it at least somewhat inaccessible could up profits though. Hard to say
what the curve is like a priori.

~~~
solveit
Nah, if you actually cure aging, you could sell it at any cost to anyone. How
will they afford it? They'll give you a loan and five hundred years to repay
it.

------
toomuchtodo
What’s the problem with cosmetic medicine helping fund innovation in
regenerative medicine?

Yes, the root cause might be vanity, but research is research. Someone has to
pay for it. I selfishly hope to see a lot of regenerative research occur
because of Boomers who haven't made peace with their mortality yet, so that I
can live a bit longer as well (shoutout to Aubrey de Grey @ SENS). Please! Be
vain and fearful of death if your checkbook is open.

~~~
jamesrcole
> the root cause might be vanity

there's also trying to avoid being treated worse because of baldness. I think
it's easy to be dismissive of this, and of course there are worse things, but
nonetheless I think it's a real issue.

~~~
Lio
That's definitely a thing, when you go bald you will definitely be treated
differently.

For a concrete example of this just look at TV shows and movies and compare
the number of bald lead actors to the number of bald people you know in real
life. You could argue over the percentage of men that are bald but you'd still
be arguing over a significant percentage.

Where as you can probably name ALL of the famous bald actors without trying.

I'd bet that dating sites would also be able to extract some interesting data
too.

It's much hard to extrapolate that other areas of life such as job interviews
(obviously bald people have jobs where appearance is less important that
skills or experience) but personally I'd guess there is still an effect that
can be measured.

------
_tb
I permanently ruined my health using finsteride, I hope this works and move
people from that pharma poison.

~~~
pavel_lishin
Can you tell us more about your experience? Right now, this is just a drop in
the anecdote bucket, with almost no context.

~~~
finasta
Not OP, but I took finasteride from ages 26 to 29. One day, around the time I
quit, I realized that I couldn't remember my last sexual thought or impulse.
That part of me had slowly but completely shut down during the time I was on
the drug.

In my case, things never really went back to normal. It's been about seven
years since I quit. A few years ago, the labeling was updated to say that
sexual side effects "could persist even after stopping the medication."

I can't say for certain finasteride was to blame. Many people take it for many
years with apparently minimal side effects.

~~~
dijit
Just a counter anecdote. I have this same issue and I have never taken any
medication.

I’m 29 now and my sex drive is so low that it’s causing problems in my
relationship.

~~~
0-_-0
Have you tried lifting weights? Deadlifts, specifically.

~~~
kaiwen1
Is there something special about deadlifting that achieves this effect over,
say, squats? I'm a skinny distance runner but deadlifting is my favorite
strength exercise and it does seems to increase libido. I just attributed it
to feeling pumped. Wouldn't any heavy weight workout produce the same effect?

~~~
0-_-0
In theory squats should be the same (I think engaging the leg muscles has the
most effect on testosterone), but for me deadlifts worked better as well.
Doing climbing using a lot of power is even better.

------
jquery
And millions of men (and some unfortunate women) rejoiced at the news.

I've had a widow's peak[1] as long as I can remember, and as I get older, it
gets slightly worse every year. It's such a part of my identity I can't even
imagine having a full head of hair. This is "just how I look".

I never gave it much thought, except for the teasing in middle and high school
(kids are mean). Except... except on Halloween a few years ago, when I put on
a goofy wig, and I just kept getting compliments from people about how good I
looked.

Be grateful for the hair you have! It's a huge advantage in the looks
department. And before someone says "just shave it off bald is beautiful," I
agree, except that some of us have oddly shaped heads due to the intensity of
natural birth and even balding hair is better than no hair for those of us in
that situation. :)

[1][https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widow%27s_peak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widow%27s_peak)

~~~
nkozyra
The term "widow's peak" is often misused to describe a receding hairline from
the temple. It actually refers to the point at the center of the hairline and
is often present in men with little to no recession.

~~~
jquery
It may be misused but almost everyone understands what is meant. Language
evolves to fit the needs of people.

In my case I assure you I am not “misusing” it. The widow’s peak gets a little
more severe every year, probably due to overall hair thinning that comes from
aging. Or MPB interacting with it.

~~~
nkozyra
I'm confused, since a widow's peak is not related to hair recession and you're
talking specifically like hair recession. What you're describing just sounds
like MPB from the temples, which is one of two common ways men go bald.

~~~
jquery
How else to describe having a widow's peak that gets progressively deeper over
a period of decades?

~~~
nkozyra
"Male Pattern Baldness"

~~~
jquery
I was born with my widow's peak. If you look at Leonardo Dicaprio, as he's
aged, his "widow peak" has gotten more severe as mine has. You're the first
person I've encountered who took issue with me describing my hair as a
"widow's peak that slowly got more severe". I think it conjures the proper
mental image. It is a form of MPB, yes, but that's a broad category.

~~~
nkozyra
My point is the widow's peak is wholly unrelated to baldness and often exists
on a full hairline. The recession you're describing is MPB, but again, is
independent of the widow's peak phenomenon.

Semantically they're different things that often get conflated.

------
tuxidomasx
I'd like to make a case for modern hair pieces / hair prosthesis (colloquially
known in the black community as man-weaves), which have seen huge improvements
in function and aesthetics over the past couple of decades. Combined with a
skilled stylist, the results are jaw-dropping.

I'll leave these 2 videos here to demonstrate what I'm talking about:

before/afters:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIRuZFLDHP0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIRuZFLDHP0)

stylists perspective and more information:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54Ik8eah5Vw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54Ik8eah5Vw)

------
specialist
Cyclosporin makes hair grow. Every where.

I had to shave my ears while taking it. I've seen bald dudes get a head of
thick, dark, curly hair. I've seen women that had to shave their mustaches and
beards.

Whoever figures out how that works will make a mint.

~~~
hiram112
Actually they learned that general male hairloss is an autoimmune response
where your own immune system attacks your hair follicles. Cyclosporine was the
reason they discovered this after people who'd receive an organ transplant
started to regrow hair.

Obviously taking Cyclosporine for MPB would be a bad idea.

~~~
C1sc0cat
Lol I had notice that my hair is growing back after mine (kidney) nearly 20
years of organ failure disalysis an the drugs had taken its toll.

I now have a lot of shorter very fine hair in the morning before I brush it I
look like a dandelion.

------
logfromblammo
Okay, yes, some people like to have hair. This is fine.

This article is also telling me that there may be a method for permanent hair
removal that functions by disrupting the physical shape of the follicle. Or by
interrupting the intercellular signaling within follicles.

I'm looking for a "cure" for having hair. The only permanent cure available so
far is to stick a needle electrode into the follicle directly and electrolyze
it with sufficient current to kill all the cells inside it. This can have
unintended side effects, such as scarring, and has to be done follicle by
follicle.

------
elchief
I'll believe it when I can buy it at Costco

------
nullwasamistake
For some of us the cure has been around for a long time. I've got a buddy
that's been taking finasteride for many years, hasn't lost any hair since.
Apparently it's like 80% effective at stopping hairloss in it's tracks.

Some chance of side effects, but I've got the classic receding hairline and
planning to try it soon.

------
umvi
Pff, I've already read about 20 different cures for baldness in the back-of-
the-seat airplane magazines

------
JulianMorrison
Side note for anyone thinking this is a vanity issue: baldness - or even
receding hairlines - causes serious dysphoria and emotional distress in trans
women.

------
SystemOut
For those of us that are bald and have to put on sunscreen pretty much all the
time....this could potentially help prevent some cancer.

------
Amatc1970
Am I shadow banned? (I'll replace this with content if I'm not)

Looks like I am. Oh well.

~~~
dang
No. Some comments get killed by software filters that are based on past
activity by trolls. Moderators review those and restore the obviously legit
ones. Users also rescue a lot of them by vouching for them.

All: if you see a [dead] comment that shouldn't be [dead], you can click on
its timestamp to go to its page, then click 'vouch' at the top. (There's a
small karma threshold before those links appear.) You can also email us at
hn@ycombinator.com.

------
mzkply
Nice Jean-Luc Picard reference at the very end.

------
techload
What are your experience with Minoxidil?

------
alanbernstein

      Looks like you are offline
      You'll need to check back here once you have restored your connection. Thanks for your patience.
    

I wonder why a page like this exists on their site.

~~~
jquery
Service workers maybe?

~~~
vidarh
Yes. Specifically, a service worker returning 'something' is required if you
want Chrome on Android to offer your users to add the site to their home
screen.

------
anigbrowl
This will be a great comfort through the anthropocene.

------
freyr
We read about it ten years ago. We read about it today. We'll be reading about
it ten years from now. It's always right around the corner.

We should have a Manhattan Project for baldness. Bring the best and brightest
minds in the world together to conquer this debilitating condition once and
for all.

~~~
ZitchDog
Or they could tackle climate change or cancer.

~~~
DoreenMichele
"No market for it."

We probably could resolve big problems, like global warming, but there's no
straight forward way to get rich from it. Meanwhile, there are lots of
straight forward ways to get rich from continuing to ruin the environment.

Guess which one wins.

------
throwaway3627
The House of Commons could use this tech, a barber and a tailor.

------
a_imho
What is the problem with wigs?

------
hotz
I never thought it was an "illness..." Of all the issues to solve in the world
I'm not sure where this one ranks as a priority. Are they gonna tackle
shrinking as you age next?

~~~
DanBC
Men who start balding in their 20s are at increased risk of mental ill health,
including self harm and sometimes suicide.

Changes in attitudes to balding are reasonably recent. It wasn't too long ago
that it was fine to mock bald men.

People spend huge amounts of money on transplants and toupés and wigs and
other treatments. Some current treatments can have pretty harsh side effects.
This market isn't built on people being stupid, it's built on deep seated
fears around appearance and status.

~~~
codingdave
This sounds less like we need to cure balding and more that we need to help
people have a positive self-image.

------
jamisteven
We have literally heard this about every ailment under the sun for the past 20
years. Aids, Cancer, Diabetes. What they really mean is "there may be a way
for you to go broke curing _insert disease_

