Can we finally reverse balding with these new experimental treatments?

Male pattern baldness could soon be a thing of the past, with new hair loss treatments beginning to show tantalising results

Sept 26, 2023, New Scientist

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I’LL level with you: a part of me didn’t want to write this story. When I first realised that I was losing my hair, I found it important to mention it often in conversation. I was so embarrassed about it that I was trying some sort of reverse psychology. But I soon realised that if there was one thing less attractive than my balding head, it was how much I was talking about it. I am joking, of course: there is nothing wrong with being bald. Still, for me, the prospect is terrifying. My hair is a big part of my identity, so to lose it is crushing.

I’m not alone. By the age of 50, between 30 and 50 per cent of men have begun to experience male pattern baldness. Despite there being plenty of handsome hairless men out there – I’m looking at you, Thierry Henry – studies suggest that people tend to perceive bald men as less attractive and less friendly. And we don’t need science to tell us that this can be deeply upsetting.

So although I have dialled down the discussion of my growing bald patch, I have been quietly digging into the science of hair loss – and what I found is worth shouting about. It is common knowledge that some treatments can slow hair loss. What is less known is that as we are coming to understand the reasons why male pattern baldness causes people to lose their hair, we are finding new strategies to restore it. There may soon be a way to not just slow balding, but reverse it.

In a field where tales of miracle cures are ten a penny, it is important not to overpromise. Still, there is a sense that the science of hair is advancing at breakneck speed. “People are now starting to get excited that we’re reaching a tipping point,” says biologist Maksim Plikus at the University of California, Irvine.

What is baldness?

There are many reasons why people lose hair from their heads. It can happen suddenly after an infection or chemotherapy. Sometimes, people can lose patches of hair through an autoimmune condition called alopecia areata. But the most common type is androgenetic alopecia, or male/female pattern baldness. In men, we know that the condition, in which hair loss begins around the crown and forehead, is related to male sex hormones, but we don’t understand the exact trigger.

The female version tends to cause an overall thinning that rarely progresses to total baldness. It is also thought to be caused by sex hormones, but again the mechanics elude us.

Through the ages, people have looked to a variety of unlikely remedies for baldness, from donkey hooves in ancient Egypt to fresh air and exercise in Victorian England. A quick look online and the modern-day choices are just as bamboozling: scalp rollers, caffeine shampoo, laser combs, microneedling, to name a few. The latest trend is rosemary oil, with TikTok full of young men exhorting its powers. (Personally, I’m not minded to try it, on the basis that I don’t want to smell like a roast potato.) Some of these treatments may do limited good for some people, but there is little scientific evidence that they slow or reverse balding. Those that do can have side effects and don’t always work for everyone

外刊精读191&192：男人的福音：逆转秃头的最新黑科技疗法 (选自New Scientist 新科学人)

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