June 2020 | Hair Loss Cure 2020

I live in the greater Seattle region. We just gave birth to the world’s newest country (no. 196) called CHAZ. Now renamed to CHOP. This area is home to Amazon, Boeing, Microsoft, Starbucks, Zillow, Costco, Nordstrom, T-Mobile, Expedia, Nirvana, Jimi Hendrix, the world’s two richest men, Bruce Lee’s grave and much more. Yet CHAZ is surely Seattle’s proudest moment ever?

Earlier this month, the National Guard arrived in Seattle due to looting and ransacking of the most popular nearby high-end mall. Not to mention total chaos in the downtown core itself. The high-end mall looting occurred at exactly the same time as the local police inspector was prostrating to a crowd just several hundred meters away. A successful decoy tactic by some of the protesters + looters acting in cahoots?

The controversial mall owner is not causing anyone to shed tears. However, I do feel sympathy for numerous smaller retail shop owners in my region and throughout the US. Instead of a hair loss cure, 2020 has brought us armageddon.

Mac Jack's Beer to Keep Calm — Mac & Jack’s Beer to get through 2020.

Our Seattle Mayor calls this whole tragic situation the summer of love. Our Governor pretends to be totally oblivious about the new breakaway country of CHAZ. Our third most powerful politician aims to make this new country permanently independent from the police. She is also leading the way in massively raising taxes on Amazon. The most popular video about my city on YouTube is called “Seattle is Dying“.

I nevertheless always remain calm, cool and collected by drinking locally made Mac and Jack’s African Amber Ale. Until recently, it was only available in draft at bars. It seems like they now sell this beer in cans at stores too.

As Long as you have Hair, Death is Okay

The wise Elton John once stated that even when he thought he was being burglarized and potentially murdered, his only concern was his hair. He wanted to make sure that his dead body was shown in newspapers the next day with a full head of hair. You never want looters to kill you when your baldness is visible and not hidden. This advice is better than buying guns, which I still refuse to do.

By his own admission, Elton John’s most valuable possession is his great hairpiece. His past bad hair transplants did not work out well at all, but the hairpiece is fabulous.

Hair Transplants Booming

It should be noted that hair transplants have improved drastically in the decades since Mr. John had his mishaps. Hair transplant news related articles have been especially frequent these past few weeks.

As always, British newspapers cover hair restoration related topics far more thoroughly than US media. Many of the US readers will not recognize some of the celebrities mentioned below. In chronological order:

- On May 12, British football (soccer) superstar David Beckham made an appearance with very thinning hair. Perhaps his 2018 hair transplant rumors were incorrect.
- Actor Cheyenne Jackson’s hair loss story is quite moving and was widely covered in the US. His strip hair transplant surgery scar is a result of 5 hair transplant surgeries spread across 14 years. Hair loss and hiding his strip scar have both effected him very deeply.

Cheyenne Jackson Strip Hair Transplant Scar — Cheyenne Jackson’s Strip Hair Transplant Scar.

Australian cricket legend Shane Warne believes that he is the leading force in ending the stigma around hair transplants. I did not realize that Mr. Warne suffered so much in front of the cameras as a professional athlete and celebrity. He is an ambassador for Advanced Hair Studio.
Also from the UK, 25-year old Stuart Scott got a hair transplant after suffering from hair loss since his teens. The final straw was when a women on Plenty of Fish rejected him due to his baldness. Now he gets far more interest from women due to his increased scalp coverage. His hair transplant cost was “more than £2000”.
Hollyoaks star Stephanie Davis is pleased with her British Hair Clinic hair transplant results. She used to be bullied due to her her high hairline.
31-year old boxer Tyson Fury does not care about his hair loss. He has refused numerous free hair transplant offers from leading clinics. Well down Mr. Fury.

Pluripotent Stem Cells and Hair Growth

Yesterday a very important study was published in Nature Magazine. It is titled “Hair-bearing human skin generated entirely from pluripotent stem cells”. The scientists behind this research took 6 years to complete and publish their work.

The study has numerous co-authors from a few medical centers and universities based in the US. The lead author is Dr. Jiyoon Lee, while the correspondence author is Dr. Karl Koehler. The latter works at Boston Children’s Hospital as well as Harvard Medical School. Moreover, Dr. Koehler’s lab has its own site, on which he published a post about these findings.

Dr. Karl Koehler via Twitter

Pluripotent Stem Cells to Grow Hair. From Dr. Karl Koehler’s Twitter feed.

From Skin Organoids to Hair

In this latest research, undifferentiated human stem cells were successfully coaxed into developing skin-like organoids in vitro. When these human-derived structures were grafted onto immuno-compromised bald mice, the rodents produced robust (albeit shorter length) hair.

Note that in 2015, Dr. Alexey Terskikh and his team used pluripotent stem cells from humans to create dermal papilla type cells. These were then injected into hairless mice and grew hair.

Pluripotent Stem Cells and Hair Growth — Nature Magazine.

In this new work, the scientists generated near-complete skin organoids first that ultimately resulted in pigmented hair. The skin cells grew in a sphere and were “fed” with various chemicals and growth factors (such as BMP4 and FGF2) for 4-5 months. Both the dermis and epidermis skin layers were grown successfully.

If this work goes through successful clinical trials, it will essentially mean a cure for hair loss. Nevertheless, the global media has largely ignored this research, with the UK’s Mirror being a notable exception. And as always, the Daily Mail too.

Cotsarelis Rises Again

Prolific blog commentator “MJones”‘ favorite hair loss researcher and fellow Alexander the Great progeny Dr. George Cotsarelis has been missing in action of late. However, this new research is so significant, that Dr. Cotsarelis and Dr. Leo Wang wrote a detailed article summarizing it in Nature Magazine.

Per the two doctors, this study represents a major step towards a cure for baldness in humans. They are confident that this research will eventually see its promise realized. This technique makes it possible to produce human hair without having to take any donor hair from the human.

Moreover, individuals who have major wounds, scars and genetic skin diseases will all benefit from revolutionary new treatments based on this research. That is if it comes to clinic of course.

In these times of pandemics, protests and riots, it is great to see Dr. Cotsarelis’ still unabated optimism. Ironically, for “MJones”, the glass has always been half empty.

Hair Loss Cure 2020

Monthly Archives: June 2020

Birth of a Nation and Hair Transplant Boom