Hair Loss Cure 2020

To date, I have covered two anti-androgens in detail on this blog: Spironolactone and RU58841. Two other anti-androgens, fluridil and flutamide, are also fairly popular in the hair loss world. Due to their similar names, many people confuse the two, so I am writing one post to cover both products.

I do not want to write too many separate posts on anti-androgens. Moreover, if Breezula (Clascoterone) is ever released, it might end up being the most effective androgen receptor (AR) antagonist in history.

Flutamide

Flutamide (brand name Eulexin) is a synthetic anti-androgen that was first approved by the US FDA in 1989 to treat prostate cancer in men. The drug is sold under numerous brand names. According to the wikipedia entry on Flutamide, the drug has now largely been replaced with newer anti-androgens with fewer side effects.

I am not so sure if this is true when it comes to scalp hair regrowth applications since numerous hair loss forum members continue to use flutamide. Moreover, topical application of flutamide via nanoparticles could results in fewer or no side effects.

An interesting study from 2011 where a women with hair loss saw no results when on Spironolactone plus topical Minoxidil, but did see hair regrowth when on Flutamide.

Hirsutism

An interesting 2000 study from Italy compared Finasteride, Flutamide and Spironolactone for treating hirsutism. It found that all three were almost equally effective in reducing body hair modestly after a 6-month course of therapy.

Fluridil

The chemical name for Fluridil is Topilutamide. It was developed by Biophysica, Inc. of San Diego, California. Fluridil is currently sold via the brand name Eucapil, a topical product that is manufactured by Czech Republic based company Interpharma that holds patent rights to Fluridil.

The company claims that Eucapil is not absorbed systematically and it has thus far not resulted in any side effects. Interpharma was founded in 1932, and became a subsidiary of Japan’s Otsuka Pharmaceutical in 2008. Eucapil is only approved for sale in several European countries, but many people around the world seem to be getting their hands on the product easily.

The one and only study on Pubmed regarding Fluridil is from 2002, and suggests a modest benefit (anagen hair quantity increased from 76 percent to 87 percent) for hair loss sufferers with no major side effects. Also see this one other important paper on Fluridil. Eucapil’s before and after photos of scalp hair when using Fluridil seem decent, but perhaps they are exhibiting a best case scenario.

Fluridil versus Flutamide

Over the years, on all major hair loss forums people have created a number of threads asking whether fluridil or flutamide is better for treating hair loss.

If you do a google search for each product, flutamide has 423,000 results and fluridil has only 15,900 results. Clearly, this is a no contest when it comes to importance (by comparison, Spironolactone has 728,000 results and RU58841 has 78,600 results).

Moreover, if you do a search on Pubmed, flutamide has 3,238 results (although the majority are not related to scalp hair loss issues). Meanwhile, fluridil has only two results, with only one of those two being of significance. So based on popularity, it seems like flutamide is the way to go.

It is also likely that because flutamide is so heavily studied, its side effects are unlikely to result in any major surprises. However, based on effectiveness, the superiority of flutamide over fluridil is is not clear when reading hair loss forum testimonials.

Conclusion

There are numerous anti-androgens available in the market today. If I were to take one just for scalp hair loss, I would only use a topical one in order to limit side effects. When it comes to effectiveness on scalp hair, do not expect miracles. While all anti-androgens seem to result in at least modest benefits for scalp hair, regrowing hair on totally bald scalps is not likely.

As far as flutamide versus fluridil, I am not sure which one is more effective, but fluridil seems to be somewhat safer. However, flutamide is by no means dangerous from what I have read on the various hair loss forums and studies.

It is imperative to consult a doctor prior to trying such drugs, as my opinions and conclusions are just based on internet research. I am neither a doctor, nor educated or experienced in any kind of medical field.

Hair loss news first:

BiologicsMD

Update: October 18, 2022 — Dr. Brett King joins BiologicsMD as senior scientific advisor.

On July 30, it was announced that the University of Arkansas (along with several other entities) was issued a patent for a new hair loss drug based on work done by Dr. Joshua Sakon and three others. The patent is titled “Fusion Proteins of Collagen Binding-Domain and Parathyroid Hormone.”

Arkansas based privately held BiologicsMD holds the exclusive license to this technology. Their related hair loss drug will be known as BMD-2341. The related patent issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office is No. 9,062,300. The main portion of BiologisMD’s work entails bone growth, including for the spine, fracture repair and osteoporosis.

3D Printed Comb from Technion University

I am surprised that there has not been much new research coming from Israel when it comes to hair loss. The country has a booming start-up scene, and from my observations, Jewish people seem to suffer from baldness at an even higher rate than Caucasians (who in turn have much higher rates of baldness compared to Asians).

In any case, this new 3D printed comb for hair loss project from Technion University in Israel seems interesting (you need to translate), although I would not be surprised if we never hear about it again. FYI — For any readers in Israel, here is an article from 2011 with names of local hair loss experts and clinics that you could consult.

Lumigan for Thicker Eyebrows

For several months, Spencer (aka Spex) has been experimenting with using Bimatoprost on his previously sparse eyebrows. He uses the Lumigan brand that is designed to reduce high pressure in the eyes. He recently added the above page on his site, and it is well worth checking out the before and after photos on there.

Many hair loss sufferers have been waiting for months to hear about the delayed results of the clinical trials of Bimatoprost when used on scalp hair. While I have been skeptical that the drug will do much beyond what Minoxidil already does for scalp hair, Spex’s eyebrow results are very encouraging. Bimatoprost, if approved for use on the scalp, will entail a drastically higher dosage compared to what is used on eyebrows.

Other Hair Loss News this Month

— A very interesting radio interview with Dr. Luis Garza regarding his team’s latest groundbreaking findings on triggering organ and hair regeneration. See my recent post on those findings.

— Samumed is recruiting for a 50-person supplemental clinical trial for its SM04554.

— George Cotsarelis gets yet one more patent approved (this one related to FGF-9 and hair growth). Filed in October 2014 and approved in August 2015.

— An optimistic conclusion from a molecular biologist: “In any case, I think that treatment for baldness is now a matter of quite a short period of time.” Article rambles a bit, perhaps because the writer is not a native English speaker.

— Some interesting thoughts on platelet-rich fibrin matrix from Dr. William Lindsey.

— In June, Dr. Alan Feller started a controversial thread on the HTN forum regarding strip (FUT) hair transplants still being more popular than FUE hair transplants. That thread has taken on a life of its own, and I only read it this month since I do not frequent those forums too often. Based on my own research (see FUE versus FUT hair transplants), I do not believe that strip will remain very popular. It already might be less popular than FUE, considering that doctors can now just purchase the ARTAS robot. They can then start practicing FUE with little past experience in doing so. In any case, Dr. Feller raises some interesting points in that thread, and I wonder if FUE transaction rates are really that high in the hands of experts? If I was getting a hair transplant today, I would go for FUE.

— A very useful update from a Japanese resident regarding AAPE and HARG treatment in Japan.

— An interesting study (on mice), where pluripotent stem cells from whisker follicles differentiate and grow into new hair when transplanted to the spinal cord.

— Comedian Matt Lucas has suffered from alopecia universalis for most of his life. A nice story on him helping a young boy suffering from the same here.

— Somewhat related to the above, scientists use cells created from hair follicles to repair damaged nerves.

And now on to medical items of interest:

Things are getting creepier and creepier and at the same time evermore mind-boggling each month.

—Nearly complete brain developed in petri dish by Ohio State scientists. This was major news yesterday and today.

— United Therapeutics (Revivicor) is genetically engineering pigs in order to transplant their organs into humans. I find it absolutely fascinating that you can insert human genes into animals and that scientists are able to increase the number that they can insert every year. The founder and CEO of United Therapeutics is the amazing MTF transsexual Martine Rothblatt, who also co-founded Sirius XM satellite radio.

— Young blood is what we all need.

— Body-hackers. Worth clicking just to see the image.

— A pro designer baby article worth a skim-through. The Chinese will probably stab at this first.

— A list of the top 11 3D-Bioprinting companies.

Fluridil and Flutamide