Did UCLA Just Cure Baldness?

Yeah, having the option is definitely an interesting thought... You made me think... Out of my surroundings, only my parents have seen me with hair in person...

Ahahah, okey... So at this point, going back would feel like a betrayal of everything I've built

How much are the alternatives, like finasteride or follicle implants? It will probably need to be somehow competitive with those

Thankfully there will be copies made in India and China for a tenth of the price.

If you do PRP treatments a few times a year, apparently the transplants hold indefinitely. Or so I have been told by my doctor…

I don't remember exactly, but I'd guess $5k back then.. I remember I used reddit to get a recommendation for a doctor. But then there was another forum and I validated him there, before I decided.

And it will cause the sale of both of those to increase as well

Same. I took finasteride (propecia) for a week and it caused ED for 60 days in my early 20s when libido was usually strong. Would not recommend finasteride. Hair did grow back thick, but it was not worth it. Scariest 60 days of my life. Also felt strange because I think it reduces testosterone; I felt more easily upset and different to usual. Difficult to describe and I'm no expert. I was suddenly very happy to be bald, as the finasteride alternative was far worse and a scary experience.

The funny thing is, the same happened for me. I could only get it up with tadalafil.

Yet half a year later I decided to take the deal with the devil: What good is my libido if I can't get hookups anymore due to hair loss? I'd rather keep my hair and lose my libido. And so I went on finasteride again. The most feared and vilified medication in existence. I just took the finasteride and swallowed lots of tadalafil every day and things just worked that way.

Half a year ago I decided to switch to dutasteride because I felt like I was slowly losing ground again. I still couldn't get it up without my penis pills and was always nervous about timing them correctly to not be embarrassed during sex. But then I ended up in a relationship which kind of reduced this stress. If I can't get it up, I can't get it up and I don't care. There are other ways to satisfy my partner.

And guess what: My penis actually works and I can have sex -any time I do not plan it. What I want to say is: I read all this nightmare fuel about fin and dut and suffered from severe nocebo.

People worrying about hair loss are neurotic. Those that take fin or dut after reading all their scary side effects must be super neurotic. We are easy prey to the nocebo effect and playing mind games with ourselves.

It seems what would be best is something topical that did not "go systemic," which blocked androgen receptors from receiving DHT.

I have been tiptoeing around this topic because, while I desperately need testosterone supplementation (my levels have never been high and they're now in the toilet), my situation is made more complex by having a metabolic disorder wherein I must avoid the estrogens (and since testosterone is partially metabolized to estradiol, I would need an aromatase inhibitor) and one of the few attractive features I have is a head full of thick wavy/curly hair, nice enough that it had been requested I grow it out and donate it for wigs. I am hesitant to gamble with one of my scarce obvious assets.

So, yes, I definitely want to find a counterbalance that would not kill the libido (I have almost always lacked) I would like to, uh, relaunch more successfully.

Hm, maybe that solves two problems then: my bald head and suffering from my wife's complete lack of interest.

I've been taking 1mg orally for 2-3 years with noticeable side effects

Also same, though fortunately only for 6 months or so.

I read it can make you grow man boobs

No libido, erectile dysfunction, testicular pain, depression and suicidal ideation

You’re basically eliminating the most potent testosterone analog in your body because it can also damage hair follicles

Everyone’s different, but I was not willing to trade my manhood for my hair

I just tried this in the last few weeks after oral minoxidil didn't do anything noteworthy; I was on it for only a week before I started having these bizarre and extremely vivid/realistic dreams.

I'd never read about that as a side effect so at first I didn't connect the dots, but it was almost daily. Stopped after I stopped taking it - I looked it up out of interest and it's a rare side effect. I wasn't keen on it because it was a neurological side effect.

The dreams themselves didn't bother me but I also found myself more tired than usual, and I'm not overly bothered about my hair so dropped it. Others will probably tell you about the more common side effects, but wanted to drop this one in as it's not often mentioned!

Oral low-dose minoxidil doesn't seem to have much in the way of side effects once you get used to it. It even can be mildly cardio protective. Very rare side effects include pericarditis that goes away if minoxidil is discounted.

Finasteride is more hit-or-miss.

From what I've read finasteride can cause general psychological adverse events, including suicidal ideation[1], in mostly younger people. Heard someone saying their suicidal thoughts began when taking it and stopped when not, leading them to find more info about it.

[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33175100/

Go full chop and live like you don't care (which you shouldn't).

Full chop is indeed awesome, also solves a lot of other side issues

- look dangerous so people take you more seriously

- always have a “good haircut”

- swimming / bath - no need to dry hair

- solves dandruff immediately

Just positives really

Buuut I always did feel a little bit jealous of guys with fulls set of hair.

That’s why after almost 15 years of full chop, just did “an elon musk” and got myself some implants. And honestly it has been so worth it, just from the feeling you get to run fingers through your hair.

I am not sure that makes sense, historically people were marrying and having children much younger. I am talking about under 20 years of age. As such I don't think it would have much impact on mate selection as it was done when they were younger and had more "follicle vibrancy".

It usually sets in past your prime years though. Maybe it was an advantage on a societal level to make men less attractive in middle age compared to young men.

(I say this as a 42 year old who misses my hair)

Evolution only “cares” (it doesn’t care; you know what I mean) about attractiveness during the time the male is able to procreate. Which is, <= 30 years. After that, the human animal is dead of sickness, malnutrition or a fight. The human person lives way longer thanks to modern medicine and tech. Evolution might “cares” about the male sticking around defending/teaching the family/tribe until he dies. He doesn’t need to be attractive by that point.

I think it depends a lot on factors like head size/shape, proportionality to the rest of the body, etc. Some guys look amazing bald, but having been almost bald (very close cut) I find it quite awkward looking on myself.

Unless most procreation was done before it developed.

Short men are really unattractive to women, yet there are lots of them.

Many people do care about it though, just see the market size of hair implants and Rogaine.

> Why are you "struggling with it"? > your attitude towards it is the problem.

Totally agree this the best way to handle a lot of issues in your life. But that doesn't stop it from being a negative experience. If you have something that you liked about yourself and lose it, it's negative.

You can overcome that (and I feel somewhat better about it than I have previously), but doesn't somehow make it a positive experience.

It would be better if you could spend that time and mental energy on making your life better, instead of dealing with a random flaw in your genes.

I spent twenty years feeling ashamed about my very crooked teeth. I told myself that it didn't matter, that it wasn't a problem, but I was very self-conscious of it. People used to give me shit for not smiling in photos, but it was because I hated the way my teeth looked. Then in my late 30s, I finally just gave up and got braces. 18 months later, they came off, and now I love the way my teeth look. I have a huge smile in all my photos.

So yeah, accept the things that you need to in life. But it's also OK to avoid needless suffering.

I'm sure there is a historical reason we have "half" and "quarter" and no others but it's not my area of expertise but still, not using them when they're appropriate just seems...odd.

it almost sounds robotic, if I didn't expect that even AI would prefer generally accepted terms even just to try sound more authentic.

I disagree. This article is typical embellishment from the university that produced the research. The reality is that they're likely pre-trial stage. Even if they make it through all stages of clinical trials (historically, chances of a drug candidate doing that are 2-5%), that usually takes the better part of a decade. So the answer is "no, we're very far from curing it".