Where are the ****ing treatments?

[ChrisM]

You guys know what's even worse? EVERY effective treatment is either:
a) An accidental discovery; the drug in question was being studied for something else. Hair regrowth was just a noticed side effect.
b) Experimental and will likely never see FDA approval or widespread use.

I cannot think of a SINGLE effective treatment that was developed and crafted solely for the purpose of saving our hair. We are on the verge of curing AIDS but we cannot manage to come up with a foolproof method for keeping these little strands attached to our scalps. Amazing.

AIDS has killed millions upon millions of people over the decades. Male pattern baldness does not have the same track record. So it is a matter of priorities in the pharmaceutical and medical communities baldness although inconvenient does not cause by itself a road leading to death.

[DepressedByHairLoss]

I really agree with all of your comments. The lack of innovation in the hair loss field is absolutely staggering. It seems like barely anyone is even trying to innovate. As I've said before, I really believe that a lot of people in the hair loss field do not want to innovate at all because they are already making ridiculous amounts of money performing these archaic hair transplants. That's why oftentimes when a new breakthrough in hair loss occurs, you hear some HT surgeons bashing it.

We're all really fed up with the limited options being presented to us to treat our hair loss. I always laugh when I hear FUT being described as some kind of "gold standard". How the hell can it be a gold standard if most people do not even opt to undergo the procedure in the first place?

I mean, I've read about windpipes and skin being cloned, yet these procedures are only being performed on a select few. There is so much innovation in so many other fields of medicine yet when talking about hair loss, all we seem to hear about is the same tired old garbage: minoxidil, finasteride, and hair transplants. Oh well, at least some people like Dr. Nigam are willing to innovate and try to give us better options to regrow our hair. I wish there were more doctors like him out there.

[25 going on 65]

Hair loss affects more people than AIDS or cancer....

Just saying, scientists. Just saying.

[burtandernie]

Yeah I have to agree with you our current treatments are just dangerous and not very good they dont keep your hair long term.
Hopefully PGD 2 or something like that will lead us to at the very least allow us to keep our hair. Growing a whole lot of new hair seems to be a whole lot more elusive then anyone really thought. We have tons of individual discoveries but they never form any cohesive single treatment. 10 years from now you will be using 20 different products for that kitchen sink approach?

[BigThinker]

AIDS has killed millions upon millions of people over the decades. Male pattern baldness does not have the same track record. So it is a matter of priorities in the pharmaceutical and medical communities baldness although inconvenient does not cause by itself a road leading to death.

What did we do to deserve MPB? Be born?

People who get AIDS have unprotected sex and/or share needles (minus the handful of poor individuals who get raped) -- they engage in risky behavior.

I hate to be crude, but I have little sympathy for people who contract AIDs because they thought needed a heroine fix or were too stupid to practice safe sex habits.

Scientists: I WILL PAY YOU MONEY TO SAVE MY HAIR. I bet most people who have AIDs can't pay for their respective cure.

[x4342]

Yeah I have to agree with you our current treatments are just dangerous and not very good they dont keep your hair long term.
Hopefully PGD 2 or something like that will lead us to at the very least allow us to keep our hair. Growing a whole lot of new hair seems to be a whole lot more elusive then anyone really thought. We have tons of individual discoveries but they never form any cohesive single treatment. 10 years from now you will be using 20 different products for that kitchen sink approach?

Well, you hit the nail on the head. Reviving or regrowing lost hair has proven to be far, far more difficult than initially thought. It's actually possible for millions of people to essentially halt or at least radically slow down the progression of their hair loss. It's the ability to maintain hair that separates the present from the past, but there has been little clear progress when it comes to regaining. Simply using fin or dut can effectively halt hair loss for many people. Yes, there are potential sides, but it's far better than having no option at all. In addition there are topical anti-androgens, and even something like prp can greatly aid in maintaining simply by continuously reversing the most recent minor miniaturization. It's an expensive strategy but again an option that previous generations did not have.

The biggest difference between someone like myself and my uncles is that I have a choice as to whether or not I want to go full blown bald. The biggest disappointment is that there is still no reliable method of regaining what you have already lost. You can maintain your hair and you can move it around (transplants) but you can't reliably get it back.

1983: "I'm balding! Is there anything I can do?"
- Sorry, you are out of luck.
2013: "I'm balding! Is there anything I can do?"
- Sure, Fin, Dut, RU, PRP etc. You should be able to at least maintain what you have.

1983: "I want my hair back!"
-Sorry, you are out of luck.
2013: "I want my hair back!"
-Sorry you are out luck.

[clandestine]

Shut the ****** up fin, dut, prp, etc.

What of those who take fin, dut and experience sides. Hint; we're left with very few options. Many of them experimental.

It frustrates me when people describe those who don't take fin as some non-committal person who is simply unwilling.

Trust me, and listen to what I'm saying: there are those of us who have tried, are willing, but have proven unable to take conventional medications. Please respect the distinction.

Oh, and prp has had pretty dismal results thus far.

Cheers.

1983: "I'm balding! Is there anything I can do?"
- Sorry, you are out of luck.
2013: "I'm balding! Is there anything I can do?"
- Sure, Fin, Dut, RU, PRP etc. You should be able to at least maintain what you have.

[gsr852]

What is truly frustrating is that there are too many opinions and not enough facts with respect to current treatments.

It is a given that not everyone will respond in the exact same way to any of the solutions out there (the same can be said for any type of medical treatment) BUT when it comes to hair loss it is truly a sad joke.

It would be great if all of the hair loss sites could consolidate, pool their resources and provide hard fact versus blind opinion.

Example: Is generic drug X from company X "real"? There must be a way to get drug X tested and provide an answer for all.

I would suggest that there are enough people suffering with MPB who would love to find one place they could go to get real answers and real unbiased testing data.

[x4342]

Shut the ****** up fin, dut, prp, etc.

What of those who take fin, dut and experience sides. Hint; we're left with very few options. Many of them experimental.

It frustrates me when people describe those who don't take fin as some non-committal person who is simply unwilling.

Trust me, and listen to what I'm saying: there are those of us who have tried, are willing, but have proven unable to take conventional medications. Please respect the distinction.

Oh, and prp has had pretty dismal results thus far.

Cheers.

I'm well aware of that and noted it. That will happen with any medication. I've had bad side effects from other non-hair related medications. Side effects are unfortunate but it sure beats the past when there was literally no option for anyone.
As for PRP, it depends on the expectations. When it's marketed as some sort of space aged "regrowth" option, yeah it's a failure. But if you are strictly using it to maintain or slow hair loss it is a useful although very expensive maintenance tool.

[clandestine]

I do tend to agree.