-
There's no definitive stage when a hair follicle "dies", it simply becomes smaller and less active until it no longer produces a cosmetically valuable hair. Once its got to the point where there's no longer a visible hair, you would need a tremendous amount of regeneration of stem cell function to get back a decent looking hair.
As is seen with Minoxidil, you can get "dead" follicles to grow hair again, but the follicle stem cells are so small they will only produce a tiny vellus hair that's practically invisible.
The theory behind Replicel has no more inherent power to bring a follicle 'back to life' than what histogen is doing. They're both trying to restore enough function in follicle stem cells so that they can start producing hair again. Neither solve the core problem which is that balding hair follicles have elevated levels/expression of androgen receptors, which are what produce the cell signals that cause miniaturization.
Treatments that either try to manipulate the cell signals (Histogen), or restore cell numbers (Replicel) are always going to be treatments that require regular use and won't work indefinitely because they don't change the genes that cause elevated levels of androgen receptors. It's impossible to completely remove androgens from the blood supply, so even the best androgen blockers won't work indefinitely and won't reverse baldness.
The most promising treatments for reversing full baldness are 1. Creating new follicles using stem cells from occipital hairs that lack the gene for elevated androgen receptors. 2. A combination of gene therapy that removes the gene that creates elevated levels of androgen receptor in follicles, and cell therapy that regenerates stem cells.
It's likely 1 will be available long before 2 .
These are both 10-20 years off at least unless there's some unexpected breakthroughs in the next couple of years.
Similar Threads
-
By Suxtobe21 in forum Introduce Yourself & Share Your Story
Replies: 3
Last Post: 10-08-2015, 08:51 AM
-
By Dr. Lindsey in forum Hair Transplant Results By IAHRS Recommended Surgeons
Replies: 11
Last Post: 04-18-2013, 08:15 AM
-
By orangedude in forum Men's Hair Loss: Start Your Own Topic
Replies: 8
Last Post: 02-18-2013, 02:29 AM
-
By Carlos Wesley, MD in forum Hair Transplant Results By IAHRS Recommended Surgeons
Replies: 0
Last Post: 12-03-2012, 05:17 AM
-
By Gandolf in forum Hair Transplant: Start Your Own Topic
Replies: 2
Last Post: 03-27-2012, 04:45 PM
Tags for this Thread
Posting Permissions
- You may not post new threads
- You may not post replies
- You may not post attachments
- You may not edit your posts
Forum Rules
|
» IAHRS
» The Bald Truth
» americanhairloss.org
|
Bookmarks