Mass Hair Loss Event and Paralysis Cure

It has been a while since I wrote a post on brief news items and thoughts related to hair loss.

The Worst Year in Hair Loss

Alyssa Milano Covid-19 Hair Loss
Alyssa Milano Covid-19 Hair Loss. Source: Instagram.

The stories about Covid and hair loss never stop. It first got major attention in 2020 due to actress Alyssa Milano’s experience.

I am skeptical about whether it is: the actual Coronavirus causing the hair loss (usually lasting several months); Or whether it is major emotional and psychological stress (i.e., telogen effluvium) causing the hair loss. It also seems like far more women then men are reporting worsening hair loss since the pandemic began. At least on social media.

In any event, several days ago “The Atlantic” magazine published  a hair loss article with a great title: “The Year America’s Hair Fell Out“. The author deems the pandemic as “a near-perfect mass hair-loss event“. At this point, the one year is in reality 1.7 years of masking , lockdowns and vaccination. That is unless you live in Sub-Saharan Africa, where life continues as normal despite only a five percent vaccination rate.

The author also points out the numerous ineffective hair products and outlandish hair growth claims all over the internet. Natural  products and hair loss supplements are especially a dime a dozen. NPR now also covering the story yet again.

Will a Paralysis Cure Arrive Before a Hair Loss Cure?

Scientists from Northwestern University in Chicago have successfully created a gel that reversed paralysis in mice. This was the biggest news in  the medical world this week. The actual study is titled: “Bioactive scaffolds with enhanced supramolecular motion promote recovery from spinal cord injury”.

The gel enabled paralyzed mice to walk four weeks after initial injection. The mice given a placebo never regained the ability to walk. 76 mice were split between the treatment and placebo groups. Apparently, there are 1.5 million people in the US who are living with paralysis.

The gel sends biological signals that trigger nerve cell and blood vessel regeneration. It also restores essential fat insulation (myelin) around nerve cells and removes scar tissue that could hinder cell regeneration. Best of all, this gel is inexpensive to produce. In the future, it could also be tested on patients with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.

Extracellular Vesicle Mimetics (EMs) and Hair Growth

I am always on the lookout for new studies on exosomes and hair growth. Note that exosomes are also known as extracellular vesicles (EVs). Large-scale production of EVs remains difficult. Recently, extracellular vesicle mimetics (EMs) engineered by extrusion through various membranes have emerged as an alternative approach for large-scale production of EVs.

A new study from South Korea made an interesting finding. The research scientists developed something called macrophage-engineered extracellular vesicle mimetics (MAC-EMs). The MAC-EMs when injected induced hair regrowth in mice as well as hair shaft elongation in a human hair follicle. Encouraging signs that suggest the potential of MAC-EMs as an alternative to EVs when it comes to use for hair growth.

Hormonal Treatments

I just saw this almost 1,000 page thread on HLT a few years late. I only went through 5 pages so far, but it is great. I have frequently cited the crazy hair regrowth that balding MTF transgender persons experience after they start “kitchen skin” hormonal treatments. In many instances, they get back long-lost hair in areas that have been bald for many years.

I am always surprised that non-transgender people almost never seem to attempt this all-out approach. A male obviously never wants to become feminized. However, there are enough desperate males who have major hair loss related depression. I would have thought that many would give in and go for this “side effect guaranteed”  and “hair growth guaranteed” approach.

Lo and behold, the above HLT thread that I discovered late was started by someone “Bridgeburn” who is NOT transgender. He just wanted to regain his hair and throw the kitchen sink of hormonal treatments into the mix. He has seen amazing hair regrowth in the process. I really like his signature:

“Youth is more valuable than gender.”

Among the hair loss products that he takes or took regularly include:

  1. Estradiol (aka Estrogen).
  2. Cyproterone Acetate (an anti-androgen).
  3. Dutasteride (the strongest available DHT inhibitor).
  4. Minoxidil.

32 thoughts on “Mass Hair Loss Event and Paralysis Cure”

  1. The story about the paralysis gel is crazy, imagine if this has the same potential in humans, exciting times ahead.

  2. LOL – In the near future, all diseases will be cured. The only affliction left will be baldness. Those who are bald will be allowed to use handicapped placards in their car and handicapped spaces will be reserved for us poor bald folks. 2040 – Baldness – the last remaining affliction of mankind. Welcome to your future.

      1. Admin,

        I think I would only take the HRT route if, by the time I finished university and hit 30, I had no potential future partner lined up.

        Otherwise I wouldn’t consider that path at all. The funny thing is, I don’t care about being bald personally. I think I can look pretty handsome with the bald look but I just hate societies perception of bald people.

        1. I am on cyproterone and estrogen as bridgeburn for 4 months and have not seen almost any progress even though I am just diffuse nw1. So HRT is not cure for everyone, but you will get all the sides – no sperm, no muscles, feminisation, depression, gyno and I mean like A cups etc. Maybe its too early to tell, but I can’t live like this so I stopped yesterday. Will try just bicalutamide 50mg in monotherapy. If that doesn’t work then I will wait for pyrilutamide while being on just dutasteride 0.5mg.

          1. Sorry to hear :-( I never heard of someone not getting at least modest hair growth after such an intensive regimen. Perhaps it happens more than I think?

            1. I mean feminisation is not that bad it happens gradually (nobody noticed) and all those sides will vanish upon cessation except gyno. HRT is relatively safe for 3-4 months just to gauge your response if desperate. I have to say that from that thread rarely someone got response under 4 months only few vellus hairs. Like user “itsnoahkennedy” he didnt have results for 6 months (even got worse) but after additional 3 months he regained dense nw0 and continued on just dutasteride for 2 years and lost maybe 30% of gained hairs. So its not bad plan at all if you are willing to change your appearance drastically for few months which I thought I could but its too hard for me to look in to mirror and watch my body change so much.

              1. Thanks, that is very helpful.

                But I hope all readers understand that this is almost a last resort type of strategy. Unless you are actually MTF.

                1. I have to agree. Perhaps my hairloss is not severe as some people from that thread so I had higher risk/benefit ratio which eventually made me quit. My biggest concern of all was possible permanent infertility which do not happens on anti-androgens but do/can happen on estradiol (after year+ on the drug mostly). So for younger guys please bank your sperm even if odds are low for that. Stay safe.

                2. I just want to update that I tried dutasteride from different source (previous one could be fake, turkish avodart from expresspct) and bicalutamide 75mg without estrogen and in 2.5 months i reversed 2 years worth of hairloss without significant feminisation.
                  https://ibb.co/nrLcmhh(before)
                  https://ibb.co/2ZdQgVb (after,same hair length i know cause i cut my own hair)
                  https://streamable.com/jux4s0 (density)
                  https://ibb.co/KG6LTRR (before)
                  https://ibb.co/D17MvTb (facial changes,before any drugs and after now)
                  I remasculanized on bicalutamide from feminisation that I got from cypro and e2 usage before so its a good sign it wont progress any further than this.

          2. Just so you know even women on this combo sometimes don’t see any improvement. Most of the time it will stop female hair loss but will scarcely trigger regrowth.

            Also cyproterone acetate is Joe forbidden in some country because it gives brain tumors (non cancerous but tumors all the same).

          3. What cyproterone dosage were you on ? Since you are a male i suspect at least 200 ? I was on 50mg for more than a decade no regrowth but it stopped my hair loss. Now it is forbidden , so i am on aldactone 50mg, it works too. No regrowth though.

            1. Cypro lowers both T and E so you dont get regrowth from it mostly. Bicalutamide and Spironolactone raise E while blocking T so they are better for monotherapy and regrowth. I was only on 12.5mg cypro somedays 25mg because I was on estradiol also which nukes testosterone by itself so its unnecessary for higher doses and even not recommended.

  3. Haha could you imagine what would happen if baldness was contagious. We would be isolated and could not even enter a grocery shop :D (but maybe the cure would arrive).

  4. The media always likes to use “a step closer” when talking about cures. Translation it means it’s never going to get to us. If it’s going to get us in our lifetime, it has to go the speed of kantor.

    1. Eh, I don’t think natural products are going to do much, personally. It’s all been tried. It’s going to take stronger stuff to grow hair. If you try it, let us know how it is though. Curious.

        1. Well you get entertainment points for that link…………..the pose of Kamil Dogan looks like a cross between a doctor and an underwear model.

  5. Imagine how many poor saps fall for it though?! Almost as bad as that head-rubbing guy – name rhymes with knob – (who doesn’t even appear to have AGA btw, despite what his doc says) that sits behind an expensive subscription service and dodgy regrowth pics. Show me one person…just ONE…who has regrown hair with natural methods or products and I’ll eat my words. Happy to be proven wrong.

      1. Sounds good. Just a another six lots of ‘5 more years away’ to go. Can’t wait! Hopefully I’ll be cremated by then and get some regrowth?

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