What natural treatments? Side effects?

[alanrudy]

That is not what I am saying 2020. I am only saying it is my opinion if natural treatments were studied they would show effect. Tracy is the one saying even with no studies proving natural treatments don't work or do work, that they don't work.

[2020]

what natural treatments you have in mind? What were you going to study? Vitamin C? Vitamin B? They don't even know what causes MPB so where would they even start...

[alanrudy]

Well, what do you think of the ones recommended by the "The Natural" that I started the post with? I wish I had the time to really research what may be effective. I've read a lot about cayenne pepper, especially topically, and how it increases blood flow and stimulates circulation and people have used to increase growth. What do you think?

[2020]

MPB is not caused by poor circulation... it's either excess androgens, scalp AR sensitivity or something else

anything that changes those two should have a positive effect

[alanrudy]

Okay. I do have a friend a while ago who said he would use cayenne pepper successfully to grow facial hair on the sideburns for the beard he was growing. Of course, your explanation makes more sense on why it wouldn't grow on the top but things like cayenne, coffee, olive oil still keep me a little intrigued.

[Davey Jones]

Actually no, I don't have an opinion on these matters.

I'd have to disagree. To say that no alternative treatment works is stretching well past what one could say factually. It would be more appropriate to say that "there is currently no compelling evidence that I'm aware of that leads me to believe alternative treatments are effective." That's a little wordy for a response, so I get why you said it your way, but I'm just sayin'. To be fair, your assertion was a little over the bounds of what could be called a "fact."

[alanrudy]

2020, does that mean you don't believe Minoxidil can work either? Maybe these natural treatments can produce the same results as Minox.

[2020]

2020, does that mean you don't believe Minoxidil can work either? Maybe these natural treatments can produce the same results as Minox.

minoxidil increases the number of blood vessels thus extending the anagen phase.

Blood Vessels Hold Key To Thicker Hair Growth
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0215074636.htm

The VEGF-enhanced mice grew hair faster and thicker in the first two weeks of life than did the control mice.
The VEGF-enhanced mice also regrew hair faster. Shaved 8 week-old VEGF-mice not only grew hair back sooner, they exhibited a 30 percent increase in hair follicle diameter 12 days after depilation. "By overall volume, the hair was about 70 percent thicker than in wild-type mice," says Detmar. Blood vessels located in the skin surrounding the pumped-up hair follicles were 40% larger in diameter than those found in normal mice, suggesting that the VEGF-mediated angiogenesis was causing the hair to grow faster and thicker.

Minoxidil upregulates the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) in human hair dermal papilla cells.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9580790

[alanrudy]

Thanks for the reply with the studies. The first article mentions that increasing blood flow to the scalp helps stave off baldness, isn't capsaicin (in cayenne pepper) thought to increase blood flow by making blood vessels larger? So would larger blood vessels have the same effect as more blood vessels?

[2020]

there was a discussion about this on HLH:
minoxidil upregulates VEGF in dermal papilla cells while histogen's stuff(has VEGF) MOST LIKELY upregulates it in endothelial cells.
That's why minoxidil growth doesn't last long while Histogen has continued with their growth ONE YEAR after.

You simply don't have the tools to do the same. You'd be pretty much wasting time. Try something else