New/future treatments

[joel203]

+1

Since the beginning of these forums people have always been hopeful about future better treatments that are " round the corner" or in a few years time- what makes us so different

[Illusion]

Since the beginning of these forums people have always been hopeful about future better treatments that are " round the corner" or in a few years time- what makes us so different

OK, this is pure speculation combined with a (un?)healthy dose of hope. But... Isn't it so that because of the increased use of (social) media people become more and more self-conscious of "flaws" in their looks? I believe this has been studied pretty widely but I'm not bothered looking those studies up atm.

Because of this increased self-consciousness, people start to worry more about these flaws. Obv balding is a big flaw. All the good-looking people have hair (apart from a few exceptions), right? Because of all this, more and more people are willing to actually do something against their hair loss. This will increase demand of treatments. And guess what happens when demand increases? More companies willing to sell their product on the market. The competition between companies might actually speed things up even further.

Anyway, I'd swear I've read some that the sale numbers of propecia and minoxidil have been pretty disappointing over the last few years so that would contradict my theory. Oh well, it was speculation from the beginning anyway.


But in all seriousness: isn't the "cutting edge" section busier then ever? I have only been around for half a year (was lurking a few months prior to creating an account) and I have never seen so many activity in it. Could just be me though.

[fitnessisgood4u]

Something might come along one day.

[deuce]

How long once after Phase 2 can the drug be on the market if everything goes smoothly?

[Kudu]

If anyone thinks that a "cure" is going to be released in the US, widely available, and affordable within a year then yeah, we probably aren't going to see something new. There is Histogen and Replicel moving forward in a country that just sped up it's clinical trials and they could be a serious game changer, we don't know their current results.

I just don't see the point in the pessimism, we have gained some serious knowledge about this in the past year.

[sdsurfin]

I'm not usually an optimist when it comes to hair loss, but I think it's highly unlikely that no new treatments will come to market within the next five years. There are a lot of things being tested right now. I think it's becoming very clear that a full blown cure is unlikely to happen anytime soon, as with most medical conditions. real cures are rare. however, HIV is a good example of why the thinking on these forums is very distorted. Real progress and dedicated clinical trials and understanding of hair loss only began around the 90's, around the same time as HIV began to be understood and studied. Sure, there's no cure for aids yet, but the treatments are Vastly improved, and the outcome of the disease is almost completely turned around, to the point where people are living full lives. Just because you've been on these forums for ten years and seen nothing come to fruition doesn't mean that no progress has been made. The fact is that propecia is a very effective drug for most people, and the fear of the side effects has only recently come to light, so it was tough to compete with it for a long time. There is an obvious unmet need for safe hair loss treatments now, and a lot of people are working to fill that gap. A lot of things are going to be tried and fail before something good happens. The fact that no one really started to understand anything useful about hairloss until after propecia came out means that it's not surprising that nothing has come out yet. these things take time, and stem cell therapies are definitely the future. This is a reality that the younger people on here WILL see applied. If you're already old and bald, I wouldn't waste your time thinking about this very much. I'm personally very sure that the new facilities in japan will find at least one new way to use cell therapy to treat hair loss in the coming decade. If replicel isn't very good, I don't think they are gonna stop there. there are many research teams that are almost ready to capitalize on such a facility and on the new stem cell laws. However, I don't think these therapies will be cures in the sense of making a slick bald guy have a full head of hair.


I think the last decade has seen a ton of progress in the understanding of hair loss, even though specific products failed as marketable cures. I think either replicel or histogen or another therapy based on cellular activation will definintely come to pass before the decade is over. that could mean maintaining hair for most people who arent too far balded. For people who are very bald at the moment, the chances are higher than ever in the history of man that a full reversal might be possible in the next 20 yrs or so. and if you're already so bald, why not just accept it for now, and be a proud bald guy, it's not like you can hide it at this point.

so basically, if you still have hair, the news is good, cause a side effect free maintenance treatment (or several of them) are on the near-ish horizon. If your hair is really screwed, then there's not much you can do about it, but unlike any other generation, there's a least a decent chance that hair regeneration in a lab will happen before too long. The stuff that lauster and gardner are working on is very real, and will eventually lead to a cure. The same is happening in many other areas of medicine. stem cell treatments are on the brink of exploding, but medical progress happens in a way where this means years, and not days. A lot of people are waiting on spinal cord treatments, heart treatments etc etc. it's very hard to know just how long it might take to figure out, but definitely don't count on it coming out in the next 5 yrs.

I think it's great that scientists have basically gone from trying to figure out the chemistry of balding, to just being able to say "lets forget that and make a whole new follicle." This makes all the frustration of decoding complex genetics a moot point, and for the first time in history, is a real road to a cosmetic game changer. Keep your chins up, and don't hurt your bodies with finasteride, that shit is straight garbage.

[simba]

Stem cell cure by 2020-2025 is quite likely (they just cured a guy with paralysis, stem cell treatments are moving along VERY quickly),

Maintenance treatments before then are a toss up.

[It's2014ComeOnAlready]

I try to be an optimist, but I become pessimistic when a company like Follica comes to mind. They have touted this ability to regenerate an entire scalp full of dormant hair follicles, but need more time (years and years) in order to achieve that. Could they release a PGD2 inhibitor in a topical formation and bring it to market, so that future balding men and women won't ever have to worry about this problem, because it can be prevented? Yes, most likely. Will they? No. They will wait until they can regrow an entire head of hair because they don't want to stop people from balding in the meantime. They want more customers, and if they release a product that prevents this wounding method from even being needed in more cases, they stand to not make as much money as they possibly can.

Greed can be a bad thing. I'm fed up with finasteride, and I'm sure many others are as well. It works, but just not the way most of us would like it to. Something that is just as effective, if not more, that doesn't have any side-effects would have me driving up and down the street blaring "Ode to Joy" from my car.

[Jasari]

I try to be an optimist, but I become pessimistic when a company like Follica comes to mind. They have touted this ability to regenerate an entire scalp full of dormant hair follicles, but need more time (years and years) in order to achieve that. Could they release a PGD2 inhibitor in a topical formation and bring it to market, so that future balding men and women won't ever have to worry about this problem, because it can be prevented? Yes, most likely. Will they? No. They will wait until they can regrow an entire head of hair because they don't want to stop people from balding in the meantime. They want more customers, and if they release a product that prevents this wounding method from even being needed in more cases, they stand to not make as much money as they possibly can.

Greed can be a bad thing. I'm fed up with finasteride, and I'm sure many others are as well. It works, but just not the way most of us would like it to. Something that is just as effective, if not more, that doesn't have any side-effects would have me driving up and down the street blaring "Ode to Joy" from my car.

I doubt that's the case because if it is, the company are borderline stupid.

A product which prevents customers balding will be far more profitable in the long run as opposed to curing those who are bald now.

A percentage of men will always go bald - Releasing a product to prevent it for every generation moving forward is continued revenue & the most profitable outcome for every company.

Curing men that are bald right now really isn't that significant. If a cure came out today that stopped every current 18 year old from ever balding there really would be no need to cure those who are bald now. In 50-60 years after we all passed on 'bald' would no longer exist.

[It's2014ComeOnAlready]

I sure do hope you're right. It's that "interview" with Desmond that's got me worried, because if there is in fact a dilemma with moving forward in trials, then that would mean they are incapable of growing new hair follicles, and it would take more time. However, it is their research that is patented for inhibiting PGD2 in the scalp, and like Cots said, it would bring a product more effective that minoxidil and finasteride. I would hope that their years of research and clinical trials would bring something to market, and that being a preventative hair loss solution.

In a perfect world, they would release that product, and the profits from that product would help fund a method to regenerate an entirely bald man's scalp. They're so hush-hush on everything, that it's hard to be hopeful. I can't take using fin anymore, it's a very imperfect drug with regards to hair loss.