» Raptor,
»
» While Im very impressed with the photogrpahs in the picture that shows dog
» fur in injured areas growing all the way back, there is a concern with this
» product in regards to efficacy for MPB.
»
» That concern is that these animals do not have male pattern baldness. Dogs
» dont go bald naturally in response to testosterone like we do.
»
» The recent Costarialis announcement that in response to wound healing, if
» wnt pathways can be upregulated, hair can regrow face much the same
» problem. Namely, we can get the miniaturized hairs to regrow, but for how
» long? Now the MPB hairs are growing again, and they are now producing
» larger dermal papillas that have many more receptor sites to be hit by
» …much more DHT. Unless the underlying genetics of the hairs in
» MPB are changed, how long would they last?
»
» Thats a conundrum. I’d love to see it tested though. Im for anything that
» will give men full heads of hair.
»
»
» I could show you pictures of various topicals for instance that grow hair
» like wildfire on shaved mice. Minxodil will do this vs. placebo, grape
» seed proanthoscyandins will do it, barley proanthocyandins will do it,
» apple proanthocyandins will do it, copper peptides will do it, latanaprost
» will do it, phenytoin will do it, etc. There are abundant hypertrichotics
» out there, but counteracting the hormonal shutdown of hair in androgenic
» alopecia as a result of male hormone being uptaken at androgen receptors,
» too much TGF beta,TGF beta 2, thrombospondin, FGF-5, IL-1, and PKC being
» made by the dermal papilla and sent to other cells in the follicle,
» slowing their growth, and somehow inviting an immune response that sees
» the dermal fibroblasts around the hair follicle deposit to much collagen
» underneath the follicle and in the root sheath, surrounding it, and
» superoxides and inflammatory cytokines sent at the follicle scarring its
» structure and resulting in the apoptosis (cellular death) in some
» important follicle parts, are the etiology of the genetic condition we
» call male pattern baldness. I wonder if something like Acell could be used
» to get hairs growing so treatments like finasteride, spiro and minox could
» keep them “alive” however.
»
»
» Like I said, I’d love to see it tested in human beings, but like lots of
» guys at hairsite, who have had our hopes raised before…we
» are kinda world weary when it comes to anything that doesn’t simply
» multiply the donor area for re-implantation.
»
»
» Youre quite right about tranpslants,they would be wonderful
» if the docs could simply “make” about 40,000 more hairs to put it.
Benji,
I agree with you that our hopes have been raised over and over again only to be deflated and send many on this forum on an emotional roller coaster ride. Therefore we should be skeptical about new advancements in hair technology. I’ve been following this board for years and I can relate. I’ve been suffering from hair loss for about 17 years (I’m 37) and have gotten excited about many of the snake oil treatments that have come down the line…only to be disappointed later. I can understand your feelings about this product. I am not completely convinced by it either (because of my past experiences) but see it as one of the more promising advancements to come along in a while. I just think that it should be examined more closely.
As far as the hair still be susceptible to the genetics that cause hair loss, I agree with you. Placing this extracellular biomatrix on the balding area of your scalp will not change the fact that that area is genetically determined to being bald. That is why I think that a much better idea would be to take the hair from the area from the side of the head (as in a traditional hair transplant where the hair is not genetically determined to fall out) and move it to the top of the head. I’ve had transplants about 15-16 years ago and still have all of the hair that was transplanted. After removing this “genetically protected” hair to the top of the head, apply the acell material to the side of the head (rather than closing the wound) and allow the wound to close and regrow more “genetically protected” hair…thus ultimately producing and UNLIMITED DONOR SUPPLY.
I think that it is worth a trial (at least). For a patient who is willing to have a conventional hair transplant, there is not much to lose. It is simply a matter of having the transplant (like they were going to do anyway) and instead of suturing up the wound on the side of the head, covering it with the extracellular biomatrix and allowing it to heal. Hopefully it will heal naturally and regrow the hair that was previously in that area (a new crop of “genetically protected” hair). If it doesn’t, the tissue can always be removed and sutured together later. I would definately start with a SMALL area of the scalp to test this theory.
Although this new technology has not been around long enough to determine long term outcomes…neither has anything else. The only options that have been on the market long enough to remotely state long term consequences are minoxidil and traditional transplants. When ICX comes to market, those who have that procedure done will be gambling on the long term effects also. The only other option would be to spend the majority of your life bald…waiting to observe the long term effects before you have the procedure done.
Many are having body hair transplants done. The outcome of this procedure is somewhat risky. The thickness and terminal length of this hair often does not completely match that of the surrounding hair (on the head). I feel that the Acell product may allow the patient who is willing to undertake these types of surgeries a better outcome. Obviously, these patients are willing to take a certain amount of risk with a procedure such as bht, maybe they would be willing to give Acell a try.
Take Care,
Raptor