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Accidental Find May Lead To a Cure For Baldness

Posted by Soulskill on from the make-it-so dept.

kkleiner writes "Science is full of stories in which great discoveries are made by accident: the discovery of radiation, the discovery of the universe's shape through x-ray detection, and now perhaps the cure for hair loss. At the time they returned to the cages to find that their bald mice had miraculously grown their hair back, the scientists at UCLA had no intention of curing baldness. Originally, theirs was in fact a study aimed at reducing the harmful affects of chronic stress. The unanticipated side effect of their treatment could prove a boon to balding men and women everywhere, not to mention to the drug company that delivers the cure to them."

55 of 404 comments (clear)

  1. Shocked. Simply SHOCKED. by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 3, Funny

    PETA will have a field day with this one, what with causing artificial stress in the mice to the point where they start losing hair? Think of their self esteem, think of premature heart attacks and strokes...

    --
    If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
    1. Re:Shocked. Simply SHOCKED. by Kozar_The_Malignant · · Score: 3, Funny

      The lucky grad students are the ones that don't get stuck with the night job in the Rat Room. No amount of washing will diminish the smell to the point of your being able to get a date. Your only hope is if the poor soul curating the dead shark collection is of the opposite sex.

      --
      Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
    2. Re:Shocked. Simply SHOCKED. by jrumney · · Score: 2

      PETA should be made to understand that a cure for baldness is worth sacrificing a few mice for. It's right up there with curing erectile dysfunction in the importance stakes. If the researchers had been researching something as mundane as a cure for cancer, or heart disease, then those PETA guys might have a point.

    3. Re:Shocked. Simply SHOCKED. by ThePromenader · · Score: 3, Informative

      How and when you lose your hair is determined before birth (through a fetus' genes and the 'correctness' of homone programming during development (xx chromosomes should get estrogen, xy should get tetesterone). Every hair on your body will grow/fall an x number of times. Men with more tetesterone lose their hair sooner, and men with less keep a full head of hair until later in life, if they lose it at all. This has been scientific fact since the 1970's - I really don't understand why this is not common knowledge yet (perhaps so people will continue falling for those bullsh*t "hair recovery" commercials).

      So when a man goes bald, the hair follicle is still there, it's just not producing hair anymore. According to TFA, researchers have managed to chemically 'trick' the follicle into producing hair again - but this will last only as long as the chemical is present; in its absence, the body will go back to its 'normal' pre-programmed (bald) state. In other words, if you stop taking the drug, you lose your hair.

      This sounds like $$$ to me.

      --

      No, no sig. Really.

      ThePromenader
    4. Re:Shocked. Simply SHOCKED. by dwye · · Score: 2

      PETA should be made to understand that a cure for baldness is worth sacrificing a few mice for.

      No, it is not.

      That is why medical experimentation should be done on PETA members, only. Besides, they are much closer to humans, in the genetic sense.

      OK, occasionally one can use lawyers, too, if there aren't enough PETA members available.

  2. Uh, don't we maybe NEED that hormone? by elrous0 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This treatment works by restricting a hormone that helps regulate our stress levels. Isn't it maybe a bad idea to go fucking around with that just because we want a full head of hair?

    Just a thought.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    1. Re:Uh, don't we maybe NEED that hormone? by CastrTroy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Meh, million of women mess around with their hormones every month just as a method of birth control, even though much more successful methods exist, and even though many (non-manogamous) should probably be using other methods anyway to protect against diseases. Most people have no problem with stuffing their body full of chemicals, especially when it's prescribe by a "doctor" or in a tasty meal.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    2. Re:Uh, don't we maybe NEED that hormone? by Wyatt+Earp · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Not to mention athletes, body builders, and people like myself who get to adjust male hormones, if you do it with the right chemicals in the right doses, farking around with hormones isn't a problem.

      Before I got my current treatment regimen going, I was at 39 ng/dl when normal total testosterone levels range from 300 - 1000 ng/dl

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypogonadism

    3. Re:Uh, don't we maybe NEED that hormone? by ShavedOrangutan · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The current treatment (Propecia) restricts testosterone. I tried that and it completely eliminated my sex drive. After 8 months, I stopped, but I swear my drive never come back 100% and my hair fell out anyways. So yeah, going bald sucks but messing with your hormones is much worse.

      --
      Godaddy is a scam and a ripoff.
    4. Re:Uh, don't we maybe NEED that hormone? by Mongoose+Disciple · · Score: 2

      Insightful?! Clearly there are some mods today that aren't balding yet. :P

      Every problem seems trivial until it's your problem.

    5. Re:Uh, don't we maybe NEED that hormone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Abstinence has been working for millions of Slashdot readers for years.

    6. Re:Uh, don't we maybe NEED that hormone? by gad_zuki! · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Err, stress literally kills. The hormones it produces are toxic. A significant amount of people are stressed all the time and its only made worse by the 24/7 society.

      Unlike our hunter-gatherer ancestors, we aren't sitting in the sun all day. We're not getting a short high stress event (killing an animal) and then relaxing the rest of the day. We're not getting this level of downtime anymore and chronic stress is common. Heck, Americans barely get vacation days.

      Your society, your city, your processed food, your vitamin enriched food, the vaccines in your blood, etc are all technology that has nothing to do with how evolution shaped us for so long. Of course, we should be addressing stress, the same way we address horrible urban conditions with germ theory, cleaning, better sewage, soaps, and antibiotics.

      Its a luddite position to think that your body and mind are well suited for modern living and anything controlling that is "unnatural." Its a luddite who says we shouldnt be playing with this. This pandora's box was opened long ago. Appeals to "the natural man" are a fallacy for this reason.

      Adding relaxation techniques into your life can make such a significant change its not even funny. Its incredible how much stress we take for granted. Its not normal, its not healthy, and it is a problem. I'm very excited by this research. I hate the idea that its 100% socially acceptable to be a caffeine addict workaholic, but once we start talking about relaxation, downtime, stress, etc suddenly we're all so careful!

    7. Re:Uh, don't we maybe NEED that hormone? by Mongoose+Disciple · · Score: 3, Funny

      Hey, you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet with a gorgeous full head of hair.

    8. Re:Uh, don't we maybe NEED that hormone? by PCM2 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Condoms, lower failure rate.

      Actually, that's not true. According to this data, women on the contraceptive pill experienced less than half the number of unplanned pregnancies than women who used condoms alone. Combining the two is pretty darn effective. Contraceptive pills also do nothing to limit the spread of disease.

      --
      Breakfast served all day!
    9. Re:Uh, don't we maybe NEED that hormone? by hedwards · · Score: 4, Informative

      Unfortunately, it's might not be your imagination. Hair loss drug linked to less libido, ED To be honest, that possibility wasn't even on my list of things to consider when I opted not to treat my baldness.

    10. Re:Uh, don't we maybe NEED that hormone? by digitig · · Score: 2

      Really? The only more successful ways of having sex without risk of pregnancy are surgeries that make it impossible or expensive to have kids in the future.

      I know some lesbians who would disagree with you on that.

      --
      Quidnam Latine loqui modo coepi?
    11. Re:Uh, don't we maybe NEED that hormone? by PCM2 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Many women report the same from contraceptive pills. They can't get pregnant; the irony is that once they start the pills, they have no interest in sex. There are many different types of pills, and it's possible that women who find their libido affected by one kind can find another that doesn't affect it, but working your way through the options can be a laborious process -- and since you don't have any real desire for sex anyway, it doesn't seem like much of a priority (at least, not until you look back on the last year and think, "wait a minute...").

      --
      Breakfast served all day!
    12. Re:Uh, don't we maybe NEED that hormone? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I hate the idea that its 100% socially acceptable to be a caffeine addict workaholic, but once we start talking about relaxation, downtime, stress, etc suddenly we're all so careful!

      Caffeine addict workaholics make soft-drink manufacturers, Starbucks and CEO's very rich.

      The only one that gets rich when you learn tai chi or some other stress reduction technique is you. And it's not the kind of "rich" that our society generally recognizes.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    13. Re:Uh, don't we maybe NEED that hormone? by mldi · · Score: 2

      False. Birth control pills have many side effects, one of the more famous is having a significantly higher risk for developing blood clots.

      --
      If you aren't suspicious of your government's actions, you aren't doing your job as a responsible citizen.
    14. Re:Uh, don't we maybe NEED that hormone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Being a lesbian is not an option for everyone. I've been trying to be one for years, but no luck. They can't just get past the penis.

    15. Re:Uh, don't we maybe NEED that hormone? by Malc · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Our predecessors had an average life expectancy approaching 80 years did they? That's right: if I keel over with a stress induced heart attack or stroke at 40 years old, I've still lived longer than the stress free peoples you're talking about. What's your point?

    16. Re:Uh, don't we maybe NEED that hormone? by tnk1 · · Score: 2

      When I heard that symptom on TV, I laughed my ass off. "May cause gambling addiction" has to be my favorite drug side effect ever.

    17. Re:Uh, don't we maybe NEED that hormone? by Wyatt+Earp · · Score: 2

      Cancer and radiation, its also a growing issue as the male population in the industrialized world gets older, so good luck avoiding it.

    18. Re:Uh, don't we maybe NEED that hormone? by sznupi · · Score: 2

      1) We don't use the germ theory (and related) very well (do a quick search for MRSA Norway), likewise with cleaning and hygiene (going overboard with this one again probably contributing to some illnesses) or antibiotic over-prescription (people demanding - and getting - antibiotics for flu, WTF?! The way we're headed, antibiotics will become useless and we'll be pretty much back to early XX century). And better don't mention eating habits...

      We're doing many things wrong, it would be good to try to NOT take them in much worse direction.

      2) You might be overstating the idyllic existence of our distant ancestors. While records from their times are scarce, bones and corpses we find don't paint very idyllic picture - telling us how undernourished they often were (real hunger is a big thing), enough to quite often resort to cannibalism; marks of many traumas telling about a generally painful, hardships-filled existence. This tends to be stressful.

      --
      One that hath name thou can not otter
    19. Re:Uh, don't we maybe NEED that hormone? by jrumney · · Score: 2

      Infant mortality has a big effect on average life expectancy. The life expectancy of grown adults has not changed as much as it appears from the statistics.

    20. Re:Uh, don't we maybe NEED that hormone? by __aaqvdr516 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Meh, million of women mess around with their hormones every month just as a method of birth control, even though much more successful methods exist, and even though many

      • (non-manogamous)

      should probably be using other methods anyway to protect against diseases. Most people have no problem with stuffing their body full of chemicals, especially when it's prescribe by a "doctor" or in a tasty meal.

      That should be non-manogamouse!

    21. Re:Uh, don't we maybe NEED that hormone? by Rob+the+Bold · · Score: 2

      My guess is couples using condoms feel much more comfortable not withdrawing than couples using the pill . . .

      Ahh -- Good old "pull and pray".

      --
      I am not a crackpot.
    22. Re:Uh, don't we maybe NEED that hormone? by Rob+the+Bold · · Score: 2

      Natural family planning.

      http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070221065200.htm

      Maybe this doesn't apply to you specifically, but hearing "natural family planning" irritates me to no end.

      I went to a Catholic wedding last year. And they just went on and on and on and on and on and on about welcoming children and praying for the souls of women who'd had abortions and on and on about their natural family planning program at their church. And more about welcoming children, etc. etc. etc.

      Then for the life of me I couldn't find a restroom with a changing table for my daughter.

      --
      I am not a crackpot.
    23. Re:Uh, don't we maybe NEED that hormone? by HiThere · · Score: 2

      Well, there weren't "massive plagues" until after the creation of cities. So that's just about at the tail end of evolutionary time. You probably couldn't tell an average person then from an average person now by looking at his genes. (There's a few differences, but not many, and they don't appear significant.)

      So recorded history isn't in it. When the Bible talks about "Methuselah lived 900 years", that's almost certainly a poetic exaggeration. But it's not totally rubbish. People probably lived a lot longer before they started living in cities than they did when the Bible was written (i.e., before sanitation).

      For that matter, I recall a grave of an old woman, probably a potter, from the times when Neanderthals still walked the earth. (And were still distinguishable from Cro Magnon. I'm of the camp that believes that the two varieties interbred, but that Neanderthal women had narrow hips that were often a death sentence when they had a Cro Magnon baby, with it's wider head.) She was quite elderly, and had suffered from a stroke at least years, probably decades, before her death. Of course, I'm presuming that the heads they found were self-portraits. This can't be proven. But they're proof that there was SOMEONE who looked like an 80+ year old woman with a stroke way back then. And I don't believe we have very many realistic human images from that long ago.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    24. Re:Uh, don't we maybe NEED that hormone? by yabos · · Score: 2

      Actually it's blocking the conversion of testosterone to DHT, dihydrotestosterone, through blocking of the 5-alpha reductase enzyme, but pretty close. DHT is a major factor in libido(as is healthy estrogen levels even in men btw)

    25. Re:Uh, don't we maybe NEED that hormone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      She obviously skip the pills to get you to marry her. But if lies make you happy, congratulation.

    26. Re:Uh, don't we maybe NEED that hormone? by yabos · · Score: 2

      This is a well known side effect. If your doctor doesn't know this, get a new one. A simple google search turns up lots of information.

    27. Re:Uh, don't we maybe NEED that hormone? by Lunzo · · Score: 2

      You don't need to withdraw with either condoms or the pill. That's the whole point of contraception.

      Both are 100% effective if used correctly.

  3. Disclaimer for TV... by penguin_dance · · Score: 2

    The bad news it makes your dick shrink.

    --
    If you've never been modded as "flamebait" or "troll," you've never tried to argue a minority viewpoint here!
    1. Re:Disclaimer for TV... by BradleyUffner · · Score: 2

      It's ok, they make a pill for that too.
      And one to fix its side effects also.

  4. Conspiracies abound by sumdumass · · Score: 2, Funny

    Now, who wants to bet that a major food company who also owns a razor manufacturing plant will by the rights to this drug, pay off the government and convince them to label it an herbal food supplement, rename it something that sounds like it will cure cancer, then put small amounts into the food stuff they see.

    Of course I didn't read the article. But hey, I've seen less believable conspiracies based on less facts flourish so don't blame me for trying my own 100 mile per gallon carburetor.

  5. Wait, wat? by binford2k · · Score: 2

    Three months later they returned to the cages

    Misleading title. Should be "Scientists accidentally discover a way around that pesky eating requirement."

  6. One day... by damburger · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...there will be a simple, over-the-counter cure for baldness.

    And then, on the following day, a drunk college student will pass out and have the formula smeared all over his face by his almost equally drunk 'friends'

    --
    If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we shoot people for Apollo-related non-sequiturs?
  7. just like the weener pills all over again by Thud457 · · Score: 2

    screw this shit, I want my boosterspice!

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  8. Re:Socialists find the answers that Capitalists ca by damburger · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Playing devils advocate, public funded research could be consider an integral part of a capitalist society, and something capitalists support?

    --
    If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we shoot people for Apollo-related non-sequiturs?
  9. Re:Hair Loss? by rolfwind · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ditch your palms and buy an iPhone or Android. It's not worth the bother cleaning them up.

  10. Missing info... by thePowerOfGrayskull · · Score: 5, Informative
    This has nothing to do with male pattern baldness despite the grand title. It only allows showed the hair loss specifically related to stress to be reversed -- which actually can also happen on its own if you remove the stressor(s) that are causing it to occur.

    http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress-and-hair-loss/AN01442

  11. Re:Socialists find the answers that Capitalists ca by pushing-robot · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Or perhaps "capitalist societies" and "socialist societies" don't exist outside of textbooks, because real societies always contain some degree of each?

    --
    How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
  12. Bald-headed captains by hellfire · · Score: 2

    Kirk got a hairpiece stapled to his scalp... and he had no problems getting women.
    Picard was proud to be bald... and didn't seem to have problem getting women.
    Sisko shaved his head! He was married twice!

    This is not news for nerds. If nerds know anything, it's not what's on top of their head, but what's in the captain's chair that counts.

    --

    "All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"

  13. Re:Socialists find the answers that Capitalists ca by operagost · · Score: 2

    Just to poke my anti-socialist friends with a stick, I find it interesting that a publicly funded institute happened apon this discovery and not a private corporation.

    There's nothing about this that indicates it could not have been achieved with private funds. Besides, the objective was to reduce stress, which is a lot more in the interest of the general welfare than most of what is publicly funded right now. It's also not a cure; its effects last for four months after the last dose, which is just a lot better than the existing treatments.

    --

    Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
  14. better link by simula · · Score: 2

    This is a link to the same research with pictures that address your concerns.

  15. body hair is not head hair by geckoFeet · · Score: 2

    Animal body hair human head hair. Animal body hair is analogous to human body hair, not human head hair. As we all know, when human males age, head hair tends to go, but body hair tends to sprout, especially out of the most repulsive places possible, such as the ears and the nose. There may be some kind of conservation of hair principle here. The obvious Darwinian explanation would be to prevent older men from breeding, although I'm not sure why.

    On the whole, reptiles seems rather more sensible.

  16. Won't someone think of the money, er animals! by ackthpt · · Score: 4, Insightful

    PETA will have a field day with this one, what with causing artificial stress in the mice to the point where they start losing hair? Think of their self esteem, think of premature heart attacks and strokes...

    The trauma to female mice .. when they see these bald mice returning to the general population with great big pompadours and new-found confidence, "Hey, Baby, come over to my corner of the cage tonight and we'll split some cheese."

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    1. Re:Won't someone think of the money, er animals! by ThePromenader · · Score: 2

      Hey, Baby, come over to my corner of the cage tonight and we'll split some cheese.

      Eeeeeeeeeeeeew! Oh, wait, I read "cut" instead of "split".

      --

      No, no sig. Really.

      ThePromenader
  17. Re:Hair Loss? by stealth_finger · · Score: 2

    Cut around the edge and peel of the skin, let scar tissue grow back over which doesn't grow hair then use the old hairy palms to make some furry gloves. Double Win

    --
    Wanna buy a shirt?
    https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
  18. Re:What I want to know by vux984 · · Score: 2

    Man! Maybe now we'll find out what color Bruce Willis' hair is.

    http://www.davidandmaddie.com/chemistry-newsweek86.htm

    Bruce Willis, 1986

    http://photos.telestrekoza.com/var/albums/Classic_shows/Moonlighting/Cast/Moonlighting_Bruce_Willis_001.jpg

    http://photos.telestrekoza.com/var/albums/Classic_shows/Moonlighting/Cast/Moonlighting_Bruce_Willis_002.jpg

  19. Re:Another assault on the nations vision by cvtan · · Score: 2
    Sorry to reply to myself, but I got a response back from Singularity Hub about their choice of gray text:

    >>Charlie, Thank you for venting! We really want to hear suggestions so we can improve. We will take your suggestion seriously and we might change the color soon. thanks, Keith

    --
    Sorry, but gray text on gray background is making my eyes bleed.
  20. Re:Socialists find the answers that Capitalists ca by Falconhell · · Score: 2

    You do realise that there is no such thing as a left wing in the US dont you? You have right and far right wing!

    It always amuses me that Americans call anyone in their country left wing!

  21. Re:Cosmetic cures no one really needs by ChrisMaple · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I predict this will be massively funded and become a major hit among the gloriously over paid. Elsewhere people die from measles and AIDS everyday because they can't cough up enough green.

    Your argument applies to anything a person buys beyond whatever he needs to keep alive.

    I reject your morality that demands that I consider anyone else superior to my own life. I cordially invite you to drop dead.

    --
    Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
  22. Smells like shark dissections ... by perpenso · · Score: 2

    The lucky grad students are the ones that don't get stuck with the night job in the Rat Room. No amount of washing will diminish the smell to the point of your being able to get a date. Your only hope is if the poor soul curating the dead shark collection is of the opposite sex.

    I had English after Biology. Soon after entering the room our English instructor asked when we were going to be done dissecting those damn sharks. We told her we finished last week.

    Fortunately this was high school so the male/female ratio in biology class was better than in college so there was some hope.