A Review of male pattern baldness Research.

abcdefg

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Thanks for your comments and the points you raise.

You will note that in my article I clearly state that it is possible to design transplantation experiments that would answer these issues properly. Was it just the one miniaturising follicle transplanted to the forearm? At what stage of miniaturisation was this follicle or follicles?

I would expect that any existing growth restricting chemistry induced by spatial controls in a follicle, to be maintained at transplantation until the follicle entered a new cycle. Then you would only get a new miniaturised follicle because of the miniaturised fibrotic scaffold created by the transplantation. This study does not contradict the tissue scaffold idea in transplantation, that is now a recognised factor in tissue engineering in-vivo.

Mouse studies that use a treatment to effect mouse hair growth (like the recent PGD2 study) are irrelevant to male pattern baldness. The big difference in the study I quote in my article is they used Human hair follicles in the mice. Any study that sees a significant regrowth of Human male pattern baldness follicles in an in-vivo model, is very relevant to Human male pattern baldness and has to be explained. The claimed differences in male pattern baldness follicles just cannot explain this, and are effectively refuted by this study. Why should these follicles not enlarge in the Human forearm, but significantly enlarge in the mouse tissue? The difference clearly has to be in the surrounding tissue, not in the follicle itself.

I agree preventing hair loss and re-growing lost hair are two different things. I think this is because once tissue edema gets established it is a lot harder to fix. There is also increased fibrosis longer term that adds to the problem.

I don't remember ever dismissing inverting the head for the reasons you state, and it is something I do myself combined with massage. We can "help" increase lymphatic drainage by these methods, but you have to deal with the actual cause of lymphatic restriction to make any real difference.

So what is the practical physical treatment someone losing hair today should be on to prevent or stop male pattern baldness from happening? propecia still? Most of the time with pages and pages of theory no real practical treatment really comes of it or exists to really physically apply that theory for real results. If not what is the point? Understanding is good but it doesnt solve physical problems
 

S Foote.

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So what is the practical physical treatment someone losing hair today should be on to prevent or stop male pattern baldness from happening? propecia still? Most of the time with pages and pages of theory no real practical treatment really comes of it or exists to really physically apply that theory for real results. If not what is the point? Understanding is good but it doesnt solve physical problems

Well it seems my original reply has been removed for some reason?

People should be clear about something here. We are all aware of the regular posts complaining about the lack of progress in male pattern baldness treatments. People ask how hard can this be? Well its going to be impossible until hair loss science does something about the very large Elephant in the room here.

This is not my claim, it is a fact of recognised mainstream physiology.
 

Mac12345

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If your theory is correct then surely Propecia + head massage/dermaroll would be the cure for male pattern baldness? Would you go with that?
 

Folliwake

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All posts on this forum from 27 September - 05 October have been lost; the site probably had a crash!

I saved some of the last posts before the crash, which are below:


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abcdefg wrote on 26 Sep 2016:

So what is the practical physical treatment someone losing hair today should be on to prevent or stop male pattern baldness from happening? propecia still? Most of the time with pages and pages of theory no real practical treatment really comes of it or exists to really physically apply that theory for real results. If not what is the point? Understanding is good but it doesnt solve physical problems

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S Foote. wrote. on 28 Sep 2016:

Good point, I will offer my opinion on the way to go with treatments below, first I want to sum up the current treatment situation.

There is a simple bottom line here

Normal spatial growth controls determine the ultimate size of any tissue growth in-vivo. The on going failure of hair loss research to take account of this fact, explains why we still have no effective treatments. There is also no treatment research in the pipeline, that takes account of spatial growth controls in-vivo. In my opinion these will just waste a lot of time and money.

The irony with the cell based research, is that the initial cell implantation can cause a slight relaxation of spatial controls through the healing process, giving a false impression. But we all know that in the 25 years or so of this research so far, after the initial hype the claims consistently fail to produce.

Targeting the follicle itself is the wrong target. One thing the immuno-mouse study discussed above does prove, is that given the right external conditions Human male pattern baldness follicles can re-enlarge. The real target is the external conditions.

On the positive side the right treatments to reduce external pressure on the follicles, should be cheaper, safer, and a lot more effective anyway. I see this as a three point treatment.

We have to significantly reduce the amount of DHT being produced in the large follicles of the scalp and beard area. Finasteride does this, but topicals could be designed for this.

The male pattern baldness area itself needs to be treated for fibroses and tightness. Massage lasers, inversion all help here.

Perhaps the most important thing that will really boost the other treatments, is a one off surgical procedure. We need to reduce the high pressure blood supply that is feeding the scalp fluid pressure. Something like the procedure that has been discussed on the forums before.

www(dot)ncbi(dot)nlm(dot)nih(dot)gov/pubmed/157397

I think reducing the blood feed is the key to maximising the effect of the other treatments.

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S Foote. wrote. on 28 Sep 2016:
Thanks for posting these studies Armando, I am aware of them.

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Dench57 wrote on 28 Sep 2016:

Yeah exactly! How has knowledge, research and discovery ever benefited the human race? Time to shut science down!

In response to abcdefg comment “Understanding is good but it doesnt solve physical problems”

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S Foote. Wrote on Sep 28, 2016:

One mans story about the scalp arterial ligation from 2008.


"Twenty four years ago, I flew to Houston, Texas and I had ligatures of my temporal and occipital superficial scalp arteries to slow down, even almost stop my premature male pattern baldness, that had began by the time I was fourteen years old. Now, at the age of almost 49, I still have about 80-85 percent of my hair, and the evolution of male pattern baldness has virtually stopped. I was twenty-four when I had this procedure, and I am now more than double that age. Before I learned of this procedure, I was devastated because a dermatologist said that I was going to lose all, or most of my hair, back to my crown. Well, my hair from two inches past the hairline is as thick as it was at twenty-four, and those dry, crispy balding hairs returned to being darker, stronger, and actually shiny terminal hairs. No, I did not magically regrow my widows peak, but I have beat the odds. What having these scalp arteries ligated do is that it lowers the blood irrigation to the scalp by tweny percent, but it also dramatically lowers the amount of testosterone being transported in the blood to the male patten regions of the scalp. The temoral arteries irrigate the temples and frontal hairline, and the occipital arteries supply the crown. This procedure is still being done, but I don’t know by who. The procedure is a legitimate surgery for seborrheic dermatitis control, but the side effect from it is decreased, and even halted pattern baldness. This surgery even has a CPT code, so it is a legitimate surgical procedure, however it is not FDA approved for the control of male pattern baldness. I am living proof that decreased blood irrigation to the scalp does not cause hair losss, to the contrary, it helps you keep more of your hair. The surgery is very simple and is done under local anesthetic, and takes about one hour. The surgeon who performed my scalp ligatures is probably long-retired, if still alive, so I have nobody to refer people to. But, I still do have a pretty good head of hair, and the crown is as thick as it was as when I was an adolescent boy. Only my widow’s peak is a bit weak, but it hardly advanced after having the procedure done, now a quarter-century later. I hope I have helped, maybe this proceure is still being done, but I don’t think it has yet been FDA approved…for obvious reasons, such as putting toupess makers and cosmetic surgeons out of business. Thanks for letting me tell you of this, Pete"

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BTW wrote on 28 Sep 2016:

I saw his website, I don't see any before and after photos of him, his testimonials don't have before and after, none said they regrow, they do urge you to buy his video tho

I personally don't believe he reversed, he can't prove he stopped since you know, we don't have a tom without his scalp exercises vs a tom with scalp exercises

(In response to FuianoMonster comment “Do you guys know about Tom Hagerty? The guy stopped his hair loss and regrew hair by learning how to control his occipital muscles and doing scalp exercises ….”)

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FuianoMonster wrote on 29 Sep 2016:

Well, still, it's pretty rare to have THAT hair at 70.

That's why i believe him. You don't even need to buy the video all the info is right there on the site/forum.

Also his exercises clearly do something. The guy has zero forehead lines at 70, holy sh*t.

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BTW wrotw on 29 Sep 2016:

look up bill clinton and then realize your enthusiasm is for nothing regarding tom

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Folliwake wrote on 2 Oct 2016:

@S Foote.

If fibrosis caused by the operation of transplanting hair allowed hair to regrow then why do many people experience zero or little regrowth after a hair transplant? If fibrosis caused by a hair transplant allowed transplanted hairs to flourish then how can some transplanted hairs go through the miniaturisation process as is the case with many people who have had a hair transplant? The belief that hairs at the back of the head are resistant to undergoing miniaturisation is absolutely wrong! Upon first reading your theory about why transplanted hairs can grow in the place where miniaturised hairs once occupied I thought to myself "this makes a lot of sense". But, upon further thinking about it I don't think it does make much sense at all, quite frankly there are too many "holes" in this theory.

Also, if insufficient lymph drainage was a key factor in hereditary hair loss then why do measures to increase lymph drainage, such as detumesense therapy, have a severe lack of efficacy? Even using a derma roller by itself should aid in lymph drainage, but there is also a lack of efficacy with using a derma roller alone to regrow hair. I am not saying that a derma roller used on one’s scalp cannot aid in combating hair loss by producing a synergy when combined with another hair regrowth treatment, but I have not come across a single account of someone who just used a derma roller on their scalp and achieved some hair regrowth.

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S Foote. Wrote on 3 Oct 2016:

Well I could argue that the transplantation failures you point out are due to the current genetic difference assumption being wrong!. The fact is there are a number of ways to screw up hair transplantation, particularly with the very small grafts used now.

Trying to increase lymphatic drainage from the male pattern baldness by massage etc, is not going to be really effective until you remove the DHT induced restriction lower down. This is like trying to bail water out of a boat with a hole in it, you have to fix the hole to make the difference.

The common factor of all the treatments we know have some effect on male pattern baldness, is that they all reduce tissue fluid pressures by one action or another as I describe in my article.

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Hairbackpls wrote on 4 Oct 2016:

Does anyone know a doctor that is still doing this treatment? or has any advice where to look for it?

I'd be very interested to have this procedure done for myself.

to have this procedure done for myself.

(In response to S. Foote. Comment “One mans story about the scalp arterial ligation from 2008…”)

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S Foote. wrote, 5 Oct 2016:

I think there are people doing this to treat seborrheic dermatitis, if you do a search.

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Hairbackpls wrote, 5 Oct 2016:

Yeah, i have crazy seborrhea too.

I could only find some cosmetic surgeries of forehead veins that just ligates part of the forehead veins. I wonder if they would ligate the whole superficial temporal arteries and posterior auricular arteries. They would probably think I'm crazy if I told them that I read about clinical trial from 80's and want the whole arteries removed.

But yeah I could try to send them some email.

This whole thing makes damn good sense in my opinion and if I get this surgery done I'll report back to you bros. For science!

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I.D WALKER wrote on 5 Oct 2016:

Severe Seb.derm,/Androgenetic Alopecia sufferer checking in.

If/when you do I'd be up to meeting you just so I could kiss your scale-free head.

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Mac12345 wrote on 5 Oct 2016:

Your view is that reducing blood feed to the scalp is the key behind helping drug treatments (Anti androgens) stop Androgenetic Alopecia, but surely massaging and self inverting are both techniques that would increase blood flow to the scalp?

(In response to S. Foote. Comment “Good point, I will offer my opinion on the way to go with treatments below, first I want to sum up the current treatment situation.There is a simple bottom line here. Normal spatial growth controls determine the ultimate size of any tissue growth in-vivo…..”

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pegasus2 wrote on 5 Oct 2016:

Improving blood flow won't do jack for hair loss. If blood flow was an issue then hair transplants wouldn't work. Why would hair from the back of the head need less blood than hair on the crown?
 

Hairbackpls

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This study that S.Foote mentioned is the best news I've heard since I started balding! It just makes complete f*****g sense.
Im just wondering why it didin't become a thing...? Was it kept in secret or something? It's basicly just a 5000$ procedure that leaves a little incicion scars that are hidden under the hair.
It's superior vs hair transplants in my opinion... and it really seems to work (unless you've been slick bald for over 10 years).
Only thing that is holding me back now is to find a doctor that still does this procedure in Europe.

I'm pretty sure that if I would get that surgery done I would be completely cured NW0 for life.
Greatly reduced blood and androgen feed to the follicle + spirolactone and dutasteride that im using, would make a perfect synergistic effect. :)
 
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S Foote.

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About the points raised.

I think that the influence of the galea is it acts as a barrier to fluid drainage from the male pattern baldness area. If there is increased fluid pressure in a tissue, this naturally wants to disperse to lower pressure areas. The galea makes this difficult.

Inversion therapy and massage etc don't increase blood supply to the scalp long term, they exercise the scalp circulation which helps. I think the effect of inversion happens when you stand up afterwards. The blood that has pooled in the scalp flows downwards increasing scalp circulation, and removing some of the stagnant fluid in the scalp.

I think it is important not to invert for too long to get the right effect. I find the best effect comes from just a couple of minuets inverted, then a scalp massage after when upright to boost the effect.

We know that many men with the same levels of DHT as men with male pattern baldness, don't develop male pattern baldness. I think the big difference is the blood supply to the scalp. This is the key in my opinion. I think it is the high blood supply in male pattern baldness that prevents all the other treatments from working to the max.

Once you reduce the blood supply, it is a case of working on the scalp to reduce fibroses and soften the tissue to get the maximum regrowth.
 

Switzer

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S Foote, what's your take on dermaneedling? Do you think it can be beneficial for maintenance/regrowth of hair?
 

Hairbackpls

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S Foote, what's your take on dermaneedling? Do you think it can be beneficial for maintenance/regrowth of hair?

I'd say that everything is pretty much pointless until you treat the main cause. Wich is androgen feed to the follicle..
Even if it had some minimalistic benefit and you grew couple strands of vellus hair, it's not going to last long term. Unless.. you are using strong antiandrogens.
So its not worth the money and effort in my opinion, but that's just me.
 
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Ventures

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And why transplanted hairs don't fall out ? Ok you've said they are transplanted to deeper levels in dermis and somehow
resist fluid retention.
In premature balding your theory certainly doesn't make sense. In senile alopecia yes. look at black people who do not suffer hair loss, they tend to have very tendon skin in scalp. and thin skin.

it's all about sensitivity of DP to androgens which makes DP smaller and smaller ... But to say it about blood flow, it certainly isn't like in my case as I am in my 20s, and I certainly don't have problem with my blood pressure.
 

whatevr

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About the points raised.

I think that the influence of the galea is it acts as a barrier to fluid drainage from the male pattern baldness area. If there is increased fluid pressure in a tissue, this naturally wants to disperse to lower pressure areas. The galea makes this difficult.

Inversion therapy and massage etc don't increase blood supply to the scalp long term, they exercise the scalp circulation which helps. I think the effect of inversion happens when you stand up afterwards. The blood that has pooled in the scalp flows downwards increasing scalp circulation, and removing some of the stagnant fluid in the scalp.

I think it is important not to invert for too long to get the right effect. I find the best effect comes from just a couple of minuets inverted, then a scalp massage after when upright to boost the effect.

We know that many men with the same levels of DHT as men with male pattern baldness, don't develop male pattern baldness. I think the big difference is the blood supply to the scalp. This is the key in my opinion. I think it is the high blood supply in male pattern baldness that prevents all the other treatments from working to the max.

Once you reduce the blood supply, it is a case of working on the scalp to reduce fibroses and soften the tissue to get the maximum regrowth.

Can you explain estradiol's success in treating male pattern baldness within the context of what you propose?
 

S Foote.

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And why transplanted hairs don't fall out ? Ok you've said they are transplanted to deeper levels in dermis and somehow
resist fluid retention.
In premature balding your theory certainly doesn't make sense. In senile alopecia yes. look at black people who do not suffer hair loss, they tend to have very tendon skin in scalp. and thin skin.

it's all about sensitivity of DP to androgens which makes DP smaller and smaller ... But to say it about blood flow, it certainly isn't like in my case as I am in my 20s, and I certainly don't have problem with my blood pressure.

I did not say that follicles are transplanted to deeper levels. I have explained my view in my article, along with the other points you raise.

https://www.academia.edu/17570665/A...nt_Hair_Research_and_an_Overlooked_Connection.
 

whatevr

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Do you have any particular treatment in mind, topical or systematic?

I personally am having great success (maintenance and regrowth) using a topical lotion called Alpicort F, which contains estradiol benzoate, prednisolone and salicylic acid. And I am not using any oral anti-androgens, just Minoxidil and Keto.

So I am interested how that can be possible given that I've failed to maintain on Propecia.
 

S Foote.

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I personally am having great success (maintenance and regrowth) using a topical lotion called Alpicort F, which contains estradiol benzoate, prednisolone and salicylic acid. And I am not using any oral anti-androgens, just Minoxidil and Keto.

So I am interested how that can be possible given that I've failed to maintain on Propecia.

It is interesting that both prednisolone in particular and salicylic acid, are both anti-inflammatory.

In my article, I suggest the possibility that a range of sex hormones can effect the fluid balance of tissues by one action or another. Females regularly experience such "Hydraulic" changes with hormonal changes. I think there is a complex interaction between both male and female hormones.
 

Beowulf

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Out of interest what came out of Chemical's research?

I mean those guys did all that crazy gene stuff, and were talking about PER2 and TWIST2 and were trying to figure out what you could mix with Estradoil to make hair grow, and did that crazy *** graph.

Now it just seems like they disappeared off the face of the earth, and after all that work!
 

Galeaoman

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I believe mechanical stress associated with the galea sheath may play an important role in male pattern balding. There is some research that shows that hair follicle androgen sensitivity is regulated by Hic-5, an androgen receptor co-activator which may be activated by the mechanical stimulation. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4639964/
 

Swoop

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I believe mechanical stress associated with the galea sheath may play an important role in male pattern balding. There is some research that shows that hair follicle androgen sensitivity is regulated by Hic-5, an androgen receptor co-activator which may be activated by the mechanical stimulation. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4639964/

For what it's worth if you believe that it plays an important role in male pattern baldness you can actually perform a "galeatomie" in Belgium.

Costs around 1000 euro and they claim it stops your hair loss completely.

Consists of making a cut of approx 3 cm above your ear on both sides to loosen up your galea.

A clinic that does it; http://www.hoffkliniek.nl/haren-en-huid/haarverlies-galeatomie

galeatomie_haaruitval.png
 

Xander94

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I still cannot believe that its 2017 and we still have the same solutions from 1990 for hair loss today. This is the biggest cosmetic issue in the world affecting millions of people why are companies not giving two shits about it ? Even a topical anti androgen that doesnt go systemic is yet to be developed by a reputable company for f*** sake I'm completely dissapointed by the lack of progress.
 
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