How much better could solutions to hair loss be in 10 years?

[Winter]

I think the key to this whole hairloss thing is finding the EXACT cause/causes and then go from there rather than improving hairtransplanting. Finasteride is halfway there and if i'd have a guess i'd say in 10 - 15 years there will be some kind of concentrated medicine that blocks the cause of hairloss a hundred percent.

thats what i think

 

[Thickandthin]

I think the key to this whole hairloss thing is finding the EXACT cause/causes and then go from there rather than improving hairtransplanting. Finasteride is halfway there and if i'd have a guess i'd say in 10 - 15 years there will be some kind of concentrated medicine that blocks the cause of hairloss a hundred percent.

thats what i think

I agree. 10 years until a better conventional method of treating baldness comes along, and 20 years until hair multiplication is commonplace.

I'm also predicting an accidental discovery in the next 5 years leading to either of those 2 scenarios coming true.

 

[Belmondo]

It's hard to say.

Unlike the field of erectile dysfunction treatment, in which tremendous progress has been made in the last 10 years, the future of baldness treatment seems uncertain. I don't believe in HM anymore and even if it becomes available one day, it won't be THE definitive cure.

Anyway, let's keep our fingers crossed and pray for that accidental discovery - something that will protect hair follicles from DHT without altering hormone levels.

 

[haunted-ballroom]

I highly doubt there will be any more successful treatments than the ones we already have in 10 years time.

 

[s.a.f]

Haunted is probably right, and I cant see hair transplant's progressing much more either they seem to have reached the limits of what can be achieved already. I still think that something along the lines of a new improved finasteride/dutasteride will arrive before HM. But I dont think alot of new ideas will happen in the next 15 yrs or so.

 

[Artas]

Haven't they already identified the gene which causes hair loss (Sox21)
I thought there could be an improved treatment in 5 years time. Wish i was right, but from what you guys are saying I guess I'll have to wait a lot longer, when I'm completely bald.

 

[wannakeepitall]

I'm sure hair pieces will get better and less detectable to human eye if that counts as a development.

 

[anabolicmind22]

I strongly disagree with these bleak predictions.

Hair follicle cloning and gene therapy are both VERY promising avenues for treatment, not only because they probably hold the most immediate "cures" (cloning makes existing hair transplant technology 1000x better while gene therapy could erase male pattern baldness altogether).

The great news is that, whereas specific treatment for hair loss was always a big draw, it is now being put in line with other, incredibly desirable areas of research.

Whoever mentioned "accidental progress" is 100% right: any advance in gene therapy made to cure a disease or treat an illness will probably have extensive carry-over to treating male pattern baldness, as any advances in cloning technology and gene mapping will help with follicle cloning.

I see no reason not to be incredibly optimistic about these next 10 years.

 

[s.a.f]

I strongly disagree with these bleak predictions.

I see no reason not to be incredibly optimistic about these next 10 years.

Yeah that was what I thought about 15 yrs ago.

 

[mykal_P]

I strongly disagree with these bleak predictions.

I see no reason not to be incredibly optimistic about these next 10 years.

Yeah that was what I thought about 15 yrs ago.

Just like in the 50's when people thought in the year 2000 there would be flying cars and living in outer space. Technology progresses at its own rate which is way slower than in most peoples minds. This question is basically as much an enigma as will they cure cancer.

 

[JLL]

Actually, technology progresses faster than people think. There's tons of stuff going on all the time that people have no idea of.

 

[uncomfortable man]

I've been bald for about ten years now and have seen promises of a better treatment deferred on a consistent basis. Lesson learned- don't get your hopes up. There is no point in taking meds since I'm already bald and hair transplant's are way too much of an investment for not promising acceptable results. Wigs are way to much maintenance. There are no practical solutions for anyone nw5 and over. Which is why I am looking into micropigmentation as a way out of this hell. There are currently two companies that stand out in this area, Headstyl and Artistry Concepts. Headstyl is in London but AC is in Southern California so I will go there first and see some examples first hand in real life. I've seen some good pictures on their site and it gives me hope...real hope, not the false hope that promises of HM have delivered.

 

[Boondock]

It's irrational to believe the hype, but it's equally irrational to assume that because past promises bore no fruit, current developments will be the same.

Here's my overview of the options:

1. Medications. I personally doubt that we'll see better developments along the lines of propecia. Propecia and dutasteride already knock DHT down by 70-80%. It's hard to imagine a drug that will be able to do much better, and without the same risk of side effects. The only avenue here will be a topical which can reduce scalp DHT without any effect on serum DHT.

2. hair transplants. Current hair transplants are as good as they're going to get, in my view. FUE and even body hair transplantation may become more widespread, but it's hard to see how they'll be better than with the top surgeons now.

3. Gene therapy. Isolating the gene for hairloss is all well and good, but it's a lot harder to "turn off" a gene. This technology is really in its infancy, and the odds of it being commercially available soon are extremely low.

4. Hair multiplication. I'm actually not so sceptical on this. I see no reason why some form of hair multiplication won't be available in ten years. The science makes sense, there have been some promising initial trials, and there are several companies and technologies working on this right now. I'm not ruling out its availability in ten years time.

 

[toocoolforhair]

Maybe there will be better treatments to slow down its progression, but I doubt there will be any magic cure. On a personal level I think I'll be at least a norwood 5 in ten years, if not completely bald. I'm already a norwood 3 now at age 23.

 

[uncomfortable man]

I can't wait 10 to 15 years for a cure, that is why I'm looking into micropigmentation.

 

[YoungGuy18]

4. Hair multiplication. I'm actually not so sceptical on this. I see no reason why some form of hair multiplication won't be available in ten years. The science makes sense, there have been some promising initial trials, and there are several companies and technologies working on this right now. I'm not ruling out its availability in ten years time.

True, I agree. If histogen doesnt fail it will be here within 7 years.

 

[Boondock]

True, I agree. If histogen doesnt fail it will be here within 7 years.

Absolutely. There are several other companies and technologies in the running, and the business model is quite straightforward. It's not a technology which investors will have a hard time getting their head around - so to speak.

The one caveat is that you can never take anything for granted. I think we'll have something in ten years, but I'm not banking on it. Many of the users who are so burnt on here lived under the assumption that something would "definitely" be here by now. You can never make that assumption.

 

[Musician]

Stem cell research will be huge in regrowing hair IMHO.

 

[Thickandthin]

I think a solution for hair loss will actually be more in demand in the next 10-15 years as well. Society in general is becoming more and more shallow and obsessed with youth and beauty, and if the demand is high enough (and the money is there) it will happen.

Hair multiplication is undoubtedly the most promising of all treatments, because as others have said, actually being able to TURN OFF the hair loss gene is probably 50+ years away. Turning off genes is basically opening Pandora's Box and pretty much the holy grail of modern medical science. I don't see it happening anytime soon.

Thing about HM though is that while it will sort of be a "cure" for male pattern baldness, there will still be loads of bald guys probably into the next century. HM be nothing more than either a series of hair transplants for actively balding guys spread over many years, or one massive, week-long operation for NW5+ guys. It will be very expensive, time-consuming, and something most men won't even bother with.

 

[cuebald]

Yeah, I can't see any other oral anti-androgens coming out either, if you inhibit DHT you'll get the side effects, no matter the drug.
Maybe a new topical anti-androgen will come out that works well; I haven't seen any on the radar. Maybe in 10 years we'll have one "out soon".

I'm hoping for a new growth stimulator (like the testing going on with Brimatoprost). A growth stimulator that really does grow hairs would be very good for the hair loss market - I think it would sell very well even to people not overly bothered by baldness (people who don't generally browse these boards).
A growth stimulator that actually grows hair rather than minoxidil-like peach fuzz would be ideal.
Will we see this in 10 years? I have my doubts. Maybe, again, one will be "out soon".

I don't see any new hair transplant techniques coming out soon. Maybe FUE will just be refined - maybe with robotic surgery (enabling the surgeon to be far more precise) allowing hairs to be implanted closer together.

HM is just a hair transplant with infinite donor. It will be basically a hair transplant - not very dense, the hairs won't grow like normal hair, it would be hard to get a teenage mop of hair, but again it is better than being UCman bald. I think we'll be seeing field trials of HM in 2020. I can see it being like early FUE hair transplant's, where half of the grafts won't make it. Still, the infinite supply will mean you can just go back for more. Strip surgery will be consigned to history, where it belongs.
I can't see most "normal" bald men going for HM - it's still surgery after all. Those who go for hair transplant's will be delighted.

A pill that turns off male pattern baldness completely? I doubt we'll see this by 2020 either - barring a miracle discovery.

All in all? Pretty much the same situation as now - maybe a better Minoxidil, and with better hair transplant's. Not much hope for NW5+'s still.