
McDonald’s Fries Chemical May Cure Baldness, Study Says - gamechangr
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/mcdonald%E2%80%99s-fries-chemical-may-cure-baldness-study-says/ar-BBIJqnv
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Turing_Machine
Wow, what a horrible article.

First off, the chemical is used as a substrate for growing "hair follicle
germs", not as a direct treatment. If the hair follicle germs had been grown
in glass Petri dishes, would the headline be "Chemical Used in Baby Food Jars
May Cure Baldness"? No, of course not.

(BTW, I suspect "hair follicle germs" is a bad translation from Japanese --
"stem cells" is probably nearer the mark).

Secondly, this stuff is used for all sorts of purposes (see the Wikipedia
article that someone else linked), so drawing a connection to McDonalds
is...questionable. Ethanol is used as a disinfectant, and is also found in
Jack Daniels, but you don't see articles like "Chemical Found in Jack Daniels
may Prevent Infection, Study Says".

It's atrociously bad science journalism, even by the lousy standards that
exist in that field.

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gus_massa
From
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polydimethylsiloxane#Foods](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polydimethylsiloxane#Foods)

> _PDMS is added to many cooking oils (as an antifoaming agent) to prevent oil
> splatter during the cooking process. As a result of this, PDMS can be found
> in trace quantities in many fast food items such as McDonald 's Chicken
> McNuggets and french fries,[25] and Wendy's french fries._

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gamechangr
Pretend it's a fact....

Would you rather eat Mcdonalds fries or be bald?

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alkonaut
In a small but thorough study of mine (N=1) results are so far negative. If
anything the subject gets balder over time despite exposure to McDonald’s
fries.

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ardit33
You don't eat it, but apply it. Cheap to try. Any takers?

[https://www.amazon.com/MicroLubrol-Silicone-
Polydimethylsilo...](https://www.amazon.com/MicroLubrol-Silicone-
Polydimethylsiloxane-centistokes-viscosity/dp/B00ZM36ER8)

"Skin PDMS is used variously in the cosmetic and consumer product industry as
well. For example, PDMS can be used in the treatment of head lice on the
scalp[19] and dimethicone is used widely in skin-moisturizing lotions where it
is listed as an active ingredient whose purpose is "skin protection." Some
cosmetic formulations use dimethicone and related siloxane polymers in
concentrations of use up to 15%. The Cosmetic Ingredient Review's (CIR) Expert
Panel, has concluded that dimethicone and related polymers are "safe as used
in cosmetic formulations."[20]"

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DrScump
If I were to try to buy PDMS by itself, would I then be asked, "do you want
fries with that?"

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justaman
You know what else might cure baldness? A healthy diet and exercise.
¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

~~~
lev99
Almost completely no.

Stress can accelerate baldness, and a healthy diet and exercise can reduce
stress, but I've read no scientific literature shows diet and exercise
prevents male pattern baldness.

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lev99
I would rather go bald then eat McDonald's fries often.

~~~
electricslpnsld
You wouldn't have to eat them you would just regularly rub them on your head

~~~
padobson
So even if it doesn't work, you'll still be popular with the ladies.

