Potential New Cure Found For Baldness (bbc.com)

A potential new cure for baldness has been discovered using a drug originally intended to treat osteoporosis. BBC reports: Researchers found the drug had a dramatic effect on hair follicles in the lab, stimulating them to grow. It contains a compound which targets a protein that acts as a brake on hair growth and plays a role in baldness. Project leader Dr Nathan Hawkshaw told the BBC a clinical trial would be needed to see if the treatment was effective and safe in people. Only two drugs are currently available to treat balding (androgenetic alopecia): minoxidil, for men and women, and finasteride, for men only. Neither is available on the NHS, the national healthcare system for England, and both have side-effects and are not always very effective, so patients often resort to hair transplantation surgery instead.

Comments

I wonder...

[Oswald McWeany]

I wonder how much one will have toupee for this.

cyclosporine A - transplant rejection drug

[Hadlock]

Article says it is "cyclosporine A" which is designed to prevent your body from attacking transplanted organs. That is a pretty serious drug, suppressing your immune system to the point that it mostly ignores giant blobs of foreign meat in your body. I'm sure the wikipedia article will get more fleshed out but the list of side effects sound about as severe as you could imagine.
 
I'm guessing that this is effective in extremely low doses? All it needs to do is attack a specific protein, I believe.

Re:cyclosporine A - transplant rejection drug

[starless]

Article says it is "cyclosporine A" which is designed to prevent your body from attacking transplanted organs. That is a pretty serious drug, suppressing your immune system to the point that it mostly ignores giant blobs of foreign meat in your body.

From the article:

But because of its side effects, CsA was unsuitable as a baldness treatment.

The team went on to look for another agent that targeted SFRP1 and found that WAY-316606 was even better at suppressing the protein.

Also, perhaps it's applied topically rather than ingested?

Re:"Side effects"

[Anonymous Coward]

Side effects may include:

Job promotions, new interest from women, increased social activity, uncontrollable smiling at parties, wind blown hair in the face, hair blowing in the wind, fingers getting caught in hair, sudden urges to flip your head like a stallion and wave thick locks of hair around in slow motion.

Among others...

Re:I have my own cure

[fluffernutter]

Bill Cosby is one step ahead of you.