Hair Loss Cure 2020

Over the years, I have been somewhat of a pessimist when it comes to natural treatments for hair loss being any kind of miracle treatment. I do not doubt that some natural treatments can make existing hair stronger and in rare cases even bring back recently miniaturized hair. However, I have serious doubts whether natural treatments can regrow hair that has been lost for more than a few years. i.e., hair that has miniaturized to the point of becoming vellus.

Some natural treatments such as saw palmetto (which reduces DHT, the main culprit in male pattern hair loss) have numerous studies backing their positive effects on hair. However even in the case of saw palmetto, synthetic/pharmaceutical treatments such as finasteride and dutasteride are drastically superior at reducing DHT, so most people prefer the drugs if they do not get side effects.

Nevertheless, every now and again I do cover natural treatments when there is sufficient scientific backing. Who knows, one day something natural could turn out to be a miracle for hair like aspirin was for human health.

Algae and Hair Growth

This week, South Korea scientists from Jeju National University published a very interesting study (based on work done in animals) titled “Undariopsis peterseniana promotes hair growth by the activation of Wnt/β-Catenin and ERK pathways“. Undariopsis peterseniana is a type of edible algae (singular = alga). Apparently, it helps scalp hair growth via a number of mechanisms:

Opening the ATP-sensitive potassium (K_ATP) channel.
Decreasing 5α-reductase activity.
Increasing the proliferation of dermal papilla cells via the activation of the Wnt/β-catenin and ERK pathways.
Increasing the levels of various cell cycle proteins.

Moreover, some of the same scientists involved in this study also did another one in 2013 that found the shige sinicola alga to benefit hair growth. And in 2012, some of the same scientists found the grateloupia elliptica seaweed to also benefit hair growth in animals. Note that all seaweed are considered to be algae (but the reverse is not true).

Update: May 2022 — It seems like the quest for a head transplant has not been shelved. Dr. Ren just co-published an interesting new paper titled: “Whole-Body/Head Transplantation: Personal Identity, Experimental Surgery, and Bioethics.” Also see his 2021 paper on who would the person be after a head transplant?

Sergio Canavero and the Quest for a Head Transplant

I have covered Italian neurosurgeon (and ex-director of the Turin Advanced Neuromodulation Group) Dr. Sergio Canavero twice before this blog. Both times via small updates on his head transplant procedure plan in my “brief items of interest” posts.

I was nevertheless suspicious that Dr. Canavero was more in it for the fame and shock value rather than for anything else. To be fair, he also does often come across as being compassionate towards people with malfunctioning bodies. I did not think that his human head transplant procedure would ever come to fruition in the near term, as he has often declared during the past few years.

Usually, I am very optimistic when it comes to medical/scientific/ technological advances, but in this case I (like numerous other people) thought that Dr. Canavero was a borderline lunatic. Albeit an entertaining one who uses bananas to explain surgical processes. I did not think that western governments would ever allow him to proceed with his experiments on humans. Even the more willing Chinese government would probably only allow it after a few more years of research.

Dr. Sergio Canavero

Head Transplant in China First?

However, it seems like there is now a decent chance that the first ever human “head transplant” procedure is on schedule and will be attempted within a year. Several days ago, Dr. Canavero gave a detailed interview to a German magazine (four pages long) that is worth a read.

As I have mentioned in the past, this procedure is technically a “full body transplant”, since a live patient with a faulty body will get a dead person’s full body as a replacement. However, I will call it by the “head transplant” phrase that is now widely used by the global media.

Originally, it had been announced that Russian Valery Spiridonov was going to be the first ever patient to ever get a head transplant. However, with the operation now scheduled to take place in China, it looks like a Chinese patient will be the first one.

Dr. Xiaoping Ren to Lead

It also seems like Dr. Xiaoping Ren (who was part of a team that performed the first ever hand transplant in the US) will now lead the surgery proceedings, with Dr. Canavero assisting. Dr. Ren became well known in 2015 after that shocking article came out. He has since conducted many more experiments (primarily on rodents), including this recent grotesque one. I hate seeing such images, but they are everywhere on the internet these days so I decided to post the link. Dr. Ren works at Harbin Medical University in China. Dr. Ren is extremely experienced, just like Dr. Canavero.

Brief Video Conference Between Dr. Canavero and Dr. Ren

Watch this video on YouTube

My Thoughts

Even if the first ever human head transplant does occur within a year in China, I do not think that it will be a success. In a best case scenario, the human will live for a few hours like a vegetable -> Dr. Canavero will say it was a huge success because the patient lived briefly –> the global media will call it torture –> and the Chinese government could go either way (i.e., ban future procedures on humans, or allow them to continue a few more times after considering the surgery somewhat of a success and a pride for the country).

Overall, as the title of this post indicates, this procedure sounds like hell to me. If my body was disintegrating, I would rather die than go through this kind of experiment. Kudos to the patients who are volunteering for something that could potentially end up making medical science progress drastically.

Having said that, it will be absolutely ludicrous if a successful human head transplant occurs before a hair loss cure is realized.

I almost forgot to mention…Dr. Canavaro also plans to unfreeze cryogenically frozen brains and move them to bodies within three years.

If you like this kind of reading, make sure to check out my past posts on:

The first ever skull and scalp transplant.
The world’s youngest recipient of a double hand transplant.

Algae to Treat Hair Loss