Placebos and hair

[Nashville Hairline]

I've read enough studies at this point and one thing thats interested me has been the number of studies that show a percentage of subjects who actually responded when they were taking what they thought was a treatment that would help them

 Finasteride Placebo 
1 Year 65% 37% 
2 Year 80% 47% 
5 Year 77% 15%

So, if I'm reading this right, nearly half of guys who thought they were getting a great new treatment for hair loss showed improvement after two years!

Has anyone got any, er, thoughts on this? Ok, big 3, yadda yadda, but to me it shows the importance of the whole positive mental attitude in attacking this pain in the arse. I used to be cynical about the new age positive crystals mumbo jumbo but these days I'm thinking there might be something in it.

 

[Quantum Cat]

where can I buy these placebos, and do they have any sides? :woot:

 

[Nashville Hairline]

where can I buy these placebos, and do they have any sides? :woot:

:woot: side effects seem to be slightly less than with Finasteride!

http://www.drugs.com/sfx/propecia-side-effects.html

I'd have to take a long hard look at myself if I stopped getting wood from what was just a sugar pill.

 

[Fundi]

My guess is some weren't even balding...just had a 'mature hairline'.

 

[Nashville Hairline]

My guess is some weren't even balding...just had a 'mature hairline'.

Huh, why would the finasteride testers pick non-baldies for its tests?

 

[Thickandthin]

They might have picked men whose balding was at a standstill.

Its possible to bald noticeably and then stop for a long time. George H.W. Bush has had massive recession on one side for 60+ years for example.

And of those men, some might have been in a natural shed when the first hair counts were measured and had regrown some of that hair when it was measured again.

 

[Nashville Hairline]

That means the Propecia figures must be skewed too.

 

[ClayShaw]

They might have picked men whose balding was at a standstill.

Its possible to bald noticeably and then stop for a long time. George H.W. Bush has had massive recession on one side for 60+ years for example.

And of those men, some might have been in a natural shed when the first hair counts were measured and had regrown some of that hair when it was measured again.

I think thats the way he combs his hair... I mean it has to show on one side. W is starting to bald also. I think if GHWB combed his hair back, it would be pretty similar on both sides.