- Reaction score
- 2,035
One thing that I do notice is that line about hair shaft elongation. Does this mean that the hair is growing slower? Because this could be true while overall hair growth and appearance improves due to increases in anagen. I do see that it mentions catagen and telogen which seem to be poorly understood and studied. But in general, I think female hair grows more slowly but with all of the other improvements in anagen and sheen, manageability and lessened kink and breakage. Increased kinking of hair as we progress in life after puberty seems correlated with poor hair outcomes besides merely loss of hair count. I call this phenomenon Son of Sam hair, where counts are fine or even good but for most people, at least a cueball is neat and low maintenance:View attachment 163519
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faseb.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
On the other note, THC is actually an anti-androgen.
But from OP's study:
"Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is a CB1 receptor partial agonist, and it has been shown to dose-dependently inhibit hair shaft elongation, decrease proliferation of hair matrix keratinocytes and induce intraepithelial apoptosis and premature hair follicle regression (catagen)"
These effects were inhibited by CB1 antagonism. As we all know, CBD, when smoked in conjunction with THC, reduces the negative effects of THC. This seems to be the case as well when applied topically. CBD is a CB1 antagonist and prevents THC-induced CB1 agonism. But, as the study says, at higher concentrations, CBD can possibly induce hair-loss via another mechanism being TRPV4 activation-
"A more recent study of human hair follicle cultured cells (Szabóet al., 2017) revealed that use of lower doses of CBD resulted in hair shaft elongation, likely via CB1 antagonism. However, much higher doses resulted in premature entry into the catagen phase, probably via a different receptor, the vanilloid receptor-4 (TRPV4). Therefore, the dosing of the topical CBD needs to be evaluated in order to obtain positive hair regrowth."
Why does she have to be either? Obviously, there isn't enough science on this topic, even the authors of the study mention the lack thereof. Should we not stay with an open mindset, yet maintain skepticism? Not form an absolute opinion prematurely.
If this actually works, and with the increasingly availability of CBD around the world, it could be a possible cheap adjunct, no? It works through other pathways than minoxidil and finasteride. As previously stated, the authors note how there are dose-dependent effects and that higher could work to the contrary