Will there ever be a cure for baldness? Yes and there are already some products on the market, see below for the answers. Maybe the question has cropped up even more after Mr. Donald Trump once advised to never go bald because it was the worst thing that can happen to a man!
Do you know that Jeff Bezos, Patrick Stewart, and Donald Trump have more in common than power and wealth? They all suffer from baldness, a condition that strikes men and women of all ages and statute which even money can’t prevent.
I’ve also read that baldness is not a modern-day problem. It’s been in existence since the dawn of time, with proof of spells, prayers and funny concoctions used to cure baldness. Since this problem has been in existence since centuries, it’s but natural for anyone and everyone to wonder.
Future of Hair loss treatments
There are today more than 80 million men and 40 million women suffering from baldness in the US alone. This is why there are so many pharmaceutical companies and researchers constantly researching for a hair loss cure.
Not only will a permanent cure give a huge sigh of relief to a large percentage of the population, but the company that comes up with a patent first will also definitely end up making a lot of money.
This is why I decided to conduct some research on the promise of a hair loss cure in the horizon. This is why this post of mine is all about the upcoming hair loss cures for both men and women.
2018 hair loss cures- Your available options
I decided to first cover the current hair loss cures you have in 2018. While you can use one or more of these treatments to retain your hair, they don’t actually provide a permanent hair loss cure.
They have their limitations and can be considered to be more like hair loss management treatments. They help you keep whatever hair you have and prevents future hair loss. They, however, do not help stop your hair loss.
1.Finasteride
Most of you may know about finasteride with the market name Propecia. It’s one of the best hair loss cure pills and basically a DHT hair loss cure. If you may recall, I’ve mentioned the connection between DHT and baldness in my earlier post.
While 5 alpha reductase converts testosterone to produce DHT, finasteride or Propecia prevents the process to inhibit DHT. As all this works internally at the root cause, DHT sensitive follicles located at the front and back of scalp doesn’t fight off too much DHT.
As usual, finasteride comes with limitations. It is not a one-time solution. You’ll have to use it every day. Besides, some people report that it loses its effectiveness with time. There’s another drawback which is the limited number of damaged follicles it can revive. So in a nutshell, finasteride is better at preventing further hair loss than reversing or re-growing hair.
2.Natural supplements
There’s not much data supporting using natural supplements containing natural DHT inhibitors like saw palmetto and nettle to help with hair growth. Of course, it does not have many side effects but its time-consuming. Only a few people notice a reduction in hair loss only after continuously taking supplements for at least six months.
3.Hair transplantation
Of the lot, I think that this offers the most permanent solution for those who have lost hair. This is where hair follicles are harvested from places like the back of your head and seeded to the bald regions.
While the results used to look rather artificial at its conception, the latest techniques used today give a natural looking head of hair. The latest technique uses the assistance of robots to transplant hair, which in turn gives more precise seeding with minimal scalp scars.
However, there’s a drawback here. Hair transplantation does not increase your total hair count. It’ only works at shifting whatever existing hair follicles you have to the bald regions.
It does not help increase the hair on your scalp or stop any future hair loss. As it’s not a permanent cure, you may even need more sessions if and when you lose more hair.
Besides, I have to say, hair transplanting may give astounding results, but is really expensive! It costs around $10,000, which I think may lead to added stress and hair loss to some people!
4.Vampire treatment
Yes, you heard it right! There’s a bald hair remedy called vampire treatment that’s also known as platelet-rich plasma therapy. It got the name ampire treatment’ because platelet-rich plasma is extracted from the patient’s blood and then injected back to the scalp.
The system works because the new active blood flow energizes the scalp to help restore hair growth. However it’s available only at selected clinics, and there’s still time for it to become widely known and applicable.
While it’s a less invasive treatment option when compared to hair transplants, it’s much more expensive.
5. Dutasteride
Dutasteride’s market name is Avodart. While it is popularly used for treating enlarged prostates, it’s also an effective hair loss treatment. Now, there are two types of 5 alpha-reductase that Propecia blocks which are Type I and II.
I learned that while Propecia only blocks type II, Avodart can block both types. This provides for an overall better reduction of DHT levels which in turn reduces the number of damaged hair follicles.
But like Propecia, it also has to be taken every day and it tends to lose its effectiveness over time.
6. Low-light laser therapy
Low light laser therapy involves directing a laser comb towards thinning and bald areas of the scalp. It’s done weekly or more frequently, and the most popular option today is Harimax Laser Combs.
Like Minoxidil and Finasteride, it’s also FDA approved for treating genetic balding. But only some scalps respond to it to start growing hair while it helps others by reducing hair loss. Besides, each treatment session needs at least 15 minutes at the hair loss clinic.
7. Minoxidil
Minoxidil which I’ve written so much about works in a completely different manner. While it doesn’t inhibit DHT, it helps increase blood flow for improved nutrition to the scalp and hair follicles.
It’s also believed that minoxidil helps widen the scalp blood vessels so that more oxygen and nutrients can reach the hair follicle base for a better hair growth environment. This is how it can help revive dormant hair follicles in some users.
There’s a reason for my writing ome users’. It’s because Minoxidil’s effectiveness at treating baldness depends on the user, which is why only a minority of users’ hair follicles get revived.
Besides, you can expect the best results in cases where there’s been hair loss for only less than five years and not longer. And like Propecia and Avodart, Minoxidil helps in retaining and not re-growing hair and has to be used every day.
A cure for hair loss coming soon 2020
Now that we have covered most of the presently available and used hair loss treatment options, it’s time to take a look at the future hair loss cures. I was really surprised to note during my research that the phrase ‘hair loss cures 2020’ is rather popular on Google.
It proves that so many people are looking for the latest hair loss news or that they expect our scientists to come up with a permanent hair loss cure by 2020! I was quite impressed reading about the numerous hair loss breakthroughs.
However I wonder about its potential at providing a permanent balding cure, or if it’ll end up like the other popular hair loss treatments we know like Minoxidil and Propecia?
It’s based on my research that I’ve listed their features and pros and cons to getting a better idea of what the future beholds in hair loss treatments.
• Follicum (FOL-005)
There’s a Swedish company named Follicum that’s conducting their Phase IIA clinical studies on this hair loss treatment. It’s a modified human protein called osteopontin (FOL-005) that is injected into the participants’ scalp to stimulate hair growth. The company plans to launch the product in 2020 or 2021.
• Follica
Now, this is an interesting potential hair loss cure. It’s supposed to be a wounding device which with a hair stimulant like minoxidil triggers new growth. This wounding process is referred to as kin disruption’ which works on the principle of wounded skin healing itself.
The human body impulsively sends cells to the wounded skin to help with the repair process. These cells choose between healing the skin and forming an epidermis or making hair.
It’s this part of the skin healing process that Follica realized the potential for a hair loss cure. They focus on encouraging the cells to make hair and in the process, regenerate new and more hair. Who would have ever thought that a wound could ever be the case for a hair loss cure!
• Histogen
Histogen is still in its clinical trials where participants notice an increase in their hair count and thickness. Histogen is an injectable which stimulates dormant hair follicles when injected into the scalp to form new hair follicles.
I read that you could compare it to a Botox for hair follicles instead of skin cells. It’s founder Gail Naughton is confident about it, he has plans of going retail with the treatment in the near future.
So while this may not actually be a magic bullet treatment for hair loss, it looks like it’s a formidable hair growth stimulating supplement to Rogaine.
•Propolis
This is another interesting hair cure in our midst! It was a group of scientists from Japan’s Hokkaido University that created a huge buzz in the hair loss niche when they discovered that the Propolis bees produce induced hair growth in mice.
However there drawback here is that it can treat only inflammation induced hair loss like alopecia areata and not much is known about how helpful it is at treating androgenic alopecia.
• PTD-DBM
According to the latest hair loss news, South Korean University’s Professor Kang-Yell Choi’s research team may have discovered a new protein PTD-DBM that may control hair growth. While there seems to be some potential in this remedy, you’ll have to wait at least 3-5 years to find out!
• DNA-Testing
I wouldn’t say that this is actually a hair loss cure, but it’ll really help if DNA tests could help you find out at an early age if you are pre-disposed to losing hair. These tests have just been recently launched commercially, and it’s expected to get more affordable and advanced by 2020.
The benefit of these tests is that if you find out through them that you are predisposed to balding, you can at least plan, budget and look for help and ideas to prevent hair loss and thinning from an early age.
Like they say, revention is always better than cure!”
• Shiseido or Replicel
I read and learned that there’s lots of excitement in the air about this hair loss treatment. It’s also called Replicel or RCH-01 and is a cell therapy collaborated with the international cosmetic company Shiseido.
This will be another injectable where cells, instead of hairs, are migrated. You could say its hair transplants on steroids because a seed biopsy is taken and replicated in the lab over a three months period.
These replicated cells are then injected into the scalp as needed. While its phase 1 clinical trial has been completed, the Phase 2 trial hasn’t been completed yet. According to another Shiseido baldness cure update, RepliCel will collaborate research with the University of British Columbia to learn more about hair follicle cells’ protein and gene expression. This will help them improve their existing cell therapies to create better hair loss prevention products.
• Tofacitinib (Xeljanz) and Ruxolitinib
If you have been using these drugs for treating rheumatoid arthritis, you’ll be surprised that scientists consider it a potential hair growth medicine. These are a class of medicines called JAK inhibitors with promising trial results.
Two studies were conducted where the participants went from bald to a full head and re-grew full heads of hair after taking Ruxolitinib for a few months. However, the continuous use of these drugs can lead to severe side effects which are why researchers are trying to come up with a topical formula to sidestep these side effects.
• Stem Cells or hair multiplication or hair cloning
If you ask me, I’d say that if proven safe, this will be the most popular hair loss treatment! It’ll be the ultimate solution hair transplant clinics will offer for baldness because the main restriction in hair transplantation was always the number of base hair follicles that could be transplanted without making the back hair look thin.
Looks like stem cloning, or growing of dermal papilla cells will put a complete stop to this problem. While the Californian Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute has proven that human skin stem cells grow hair upon grafting onto mice’s skin, their challenge lies in producing the same results in human trials.
If successful, fully bald men and women can look forward to getting back their teenager’s head of hair! But of course, this is possible only if and when the treatment is considered to be safe and efficient, which is why we can only wait and see!
• RT1640
A neuroscientist David Weinstein has also developed another topical hair-growth compound RT1640 which he’d actually tried on himself. It’s the results he experienced that prompted him to found a company RIverTown Therapeutics to commercially develop RT1640. Though the company is still small and unknown, Weinstein is really confident about his balding cure.
According to him, RT1640 comprises three small molecule drugs that synergize to create a three-fold impact on hair biology. It works by promoting the growth and migration of new stem cells, by promoting follicular stem cells to grow into new hair and by protecting dermal papilla from DHT effects.
While all this looks legit and doable, there’s lots of competition amongst companies to bring out similar products. Besides, the brainchild behind the idea, Weinstein has slowed down because of a lack of funds.
There are also failures
Now I think that I’ve just about covered all the potential hair loss treatment options that are expected to bring a full stop to baldness in the near future. However, I also have to mention that there are also quite a few other targeted programs for hair loss treatments which have come to a dead end because of poor results and failures.
There are quite a few drugs that haven’t been able to make it through FDA’s stringent regulatory system to get FDA approval. There are also some dietary supplements like Viviscal that hasn’t been proven to work clinically well.
Keeping these failures aside, the other hair loss breakthroughs show that there should soon be a cure for baldness. With so many companies and people in the race for a cure it looks like it’s not a question of when the cure will come out, but more like who will be the first person or company to produce the best and most effective cure!
But in the meantime, it looks like good old minoxidil is the best hair loss treatment for today. It’s not only pocket-friendly, but it also does at least stop hair loss. And considering the fact that the rich and powerful like Mr. Trump, who can easily afford any other alternative treatment still choose to use this one-a-day pill, it’s definitely the best treatment to use till something better comes up!
