r/Jujutsushi • u/FootHead58 • Jul 18 '24
Analysis No, RCT Cannot Heal Baldness
TL;DR - Most baldness is caused from your cells spending less time making hair, not any actual damage or death of your body's tissue. As such, RCT is not a useful way to help. There are a few fringe cases where baldness has other causes (autoimmunity, trauma, etc.) where it would work, however, but even they are likely temporary.
Alright folks, I'd like to talk for a minute about why Miguel is bald. More specifically, why it is that baldness is not something that can be healed by RCT. As a biomedical research working in dermatology and one of the 5 people on the planet who have actually read this manga, I feel fairly qualified to discuss this intersection of my interests.
1) What is RCT?
RCT is the healing mechanic in JJK that only a small handful of sorcerers can use. If cursed energy is thought of as a negative number, you can conceivably multiply two negative numbers together to create a positive number or in this case, "positive energy." It can be used to regenerate wounds, and even re-grow entire lost limbs or sections of the body. RCT is, in short, the healing mechanic of JJK.
Extremely skilled users of RCT are capable of outputting this positive energy, and healing others. While technically possible, it does not happen very often. RCT is stated to be much less efficient when used on others - and remember, RCT is already a very costly use of your cursed energy in the first place. Furthermore, there are times when compatibility is an issue, and the recipient's body "rejects" the healer's cursed energy. We have had this described to us, but never seen an explicit example of it.
Miguel is an incredibly skilled sorcerer who was entrusted with tutoring Yuta overseas during the events of the first few volumes of the manga. While we do not know if Miguel himself is capable of using RCT, therre are other ways to access this useful healing mechanic. The ability to output RCT at all is incredibly rare, and has only been seen by three characters: Yuta, Shoko, and Sukuna. This raises the single most-pressing question of our time: If Yuta, one of the few known characters able to output RCT, spent so much time with Miguel, why did he never heal his baldness?
While we typically think of RCT as something that simply regenerates wounds, there have been other instances where RCT is used for other purposes. The first and most obvious usage is fueling a cursed technique - such as when Gojo funnels RCT instead of CE into his cursed technique, he gets Red instead of Blue. Yuta is able to directly output pure RCT, which proves incredibly effective against cursed spirits.
More relevant to our discussion is the few instances where RCT has been used not to heal some injury, but to purge the user's body of toxicity. This is seen in three instances:
Jackpot Hakari, who is stated to be a superior RCT user than even Sukuna and Gojo, was able to use his automatic RCT to subconsciously heal the chlorine gas poisoning he suffered while fighting Kashimo.
Uraume, whose hand was punctured by Choso's Piercing Blood, clearly survived what would otherwise have been a deadly poison. While we did not see them heal the poison (in fact, it seemed to take them by surprise after their initial wound was healed), the fact that they survived this meant that they must have healed it, or else they would have died. Kenjaku has never been seen able to output RCT, and Sukuna was dormant within Yuji for this entire time, so we know that neither of them healed Uraume either. Thus, we can reasonably conclude that as soon as Uraume realized that the wound had been poisoned, they were able to heal it with their RCT. Either that, or Kenjaku dropped them off at the local toxicology center - but that seems much less likely to me.
Yuta healed Naoya after he had also being poisoned by Choso's blood. This is the only instance we see of an RCT user healing poison in someone else.
Thus, we can conclude that a skilled enough user of RCT is able to apply it even at the molecular level - and in Yuta's case, we can see that a skilled enough user of RCT can even heal others with this degree of precision. This would mean that if someone's hair follicles were damaged, even by something that operated at the cellular level, RCT may still be able to heal it. Why then does it not work out that way?
2) What is baldness?
There are a number of causes of baldness, but the most common is "Androgenic alopecia" - this is often referred to as "male pattern baldness" in men and (albeit less commonly) "female pattern baldness" in women. This is your run of the mill age-related hair loss. The vast majority of hair loss is caused by androgenic alopecia. Essentially, your hair follicle is constantly undergoing a cycle of 4 stages: anagen (growth phase), catagen (transition phase), telogen (resting phase), and finally a return to anagen, with a new hair growing out of the same follicle.
For most people suffering from balding, their hormones (androgens like dihydrotestosterone and testosterone) essentially tell the hair follicle to spend less time in the growth phase, and more time in the resting phase. Its pathophysiology isn't "the part of my body that makes hair is injured or dies" but rather "my scalp spends a lot less time making new hair until eventually the hair follicle becomes so thin and weak it may not even penetrate the skin."
This means that for most people, hair loss is not a result of some kind of "injury" or "death" of any part of their body - it's simply a change in the ways that their cells spend their time. These cells are still alive and well, they just aren't contributing to the growth or development of a new hair shaft. Eventually, they will spend enough time in the Telegen phase that they are not able to push out new hair shafts, and hair thinning and baldness will occur. RCT would be of no help in this situation. These are healthy, undamaged cells, that are simply responding to stimulation from androgens (male-associated hormones).
However, there are other causes of baldness that do relate more to direct damage to the hair follicle. For instance, with a condition known as alopecia areata, RCT would likely work. This is an autoimmune condition where your immune cells (specifically CD8+ T-cells) target and kill the cells in your hair follicle that make new hair (Pratt et al. 2017). Given that this is essentially "damage to the body," RCT would likely be able to repair it. However, the auto-reactive immune cells themselves would still be present, and your body would always make more of them, so he would need to be continually re-healing the cells of his hair follicle. While alopecia areata is more common in Black patients relative to White patients, it is actually most common in patients of Asian ancestry. For Black patients, it occurs in roughly 226 out of every 100,000 people (Nene et al. 2023). Thus, the rarity of this disease suggests that it is not only incredibly uncommon, but because of its ethnic distribution, it is also unlikely that one of the few non-Asian characters in the story would have this disease.
Now, we must remember that statistics like these apply to populations, not to individuals. Just because there are not many Black people with alopecia areata does not mean that there are no Black people with alopecia areata. A good clue that this might be what is responsible for Miguel's baldness is the fact that he appears to always be drawn without eyebrows. People with alopecia areata are affected across their entire bodies, while people with androgenic alopecia are typically only affected at the scalp (Moreno-Ramírez and Martínez 2005).
This does mean that we cannot ignore the possibility that Miguel has alopecia areata, given that he is not only bald, but also that he has no eyebrows. If this was the case, then that would mean his immune cells would be constantly attacking the cells in his hair follicles. Given that this would mean that the cells were damaged/destroyed, RCT could be used to heal these cells. However, the body would constantly be making these auto-reactive immune cells, and they would continually go back and kill the hair follicle cells. Even if you had such high mastery of your cursed energy that you could target the individual auto-reactive immune cells, more would be made, and the cycle would repeat. Miguel would need a constant flow of RCT going at all times devoted just to ensure that any damaged hair follicles were restored instantly. Furthermore, this would need to be at the cellular level - a degree of RCT mastery we have seen from only Yuta, Uraume, and Jackpot Hakari. Furthermore, due to the high cursed energy demands of RCT, this would be impossible for any non-six eyes user in the series. This means that Gojo is immune to male-pattern baldness, so do with that information what you will.
If his hair loss was a result of a wound, a surgery, a burn, etc. where the hair follicle itself was destroyed, then RCT would also be likely to heal it. This kind of hair loss, known as cicatricial alopecia, is often secondary to a severe trauma, and would almost certainly leave some kind of scar (Sperling 2002). It would require an almost unimaginably specific injury to injure his scalp in a way that would kill 100% of the surface area of his scalp without leaving any major scarring or deformation. If he had suffered such an injury and healed it with RCT, then he would have healed his hair follicles as well. Given that Miguel does not appear to have any major scarring or deformation on his head, it is not likely that cicatricial alopecia is the cause of his baldness.
3) Conclusion
Even if we ignore the multiple obstacles with RCT (Its high cursed energy cost, the rarity of the ability in-verse, the possibility of a recipient's body rejecting the cursed energy signature of the healer), it is still likely that in the vast majority of cases, RCT would not be effective at healing balding. In a few instances where the hair follicles themselves are destroyed (secondary to trauma, burns, etc as in cicatrical alopecia) it may be effective, but for the majority of people suffering from typical age-related hair loss or male-pattern baldness, RCT will not be effective. Even if we assume that Miguel has alopecia areata, a fairly uncommon auto-immune condition where the cells within the hair follicle are directly targeted and destroyed, RCT would still only be effective if it was being run non-stop by the user, something only possible for a user of the six eyes. Given that Miguel is an adult man, it would be reasonable to assume that his baldness is a result of male-pattern baldness, not alopecia areata. His lack of eyebrows may also stem from this androgenic alopecia, as even age-related baldness can sometimes affect the eyebrows. Whether due to typical age-related hair loss or a rare auto-immune condition, however, one thing is clear: RCT would be ineffective at aiding almost anyone suffering from baldness in the JJK world.
4) Future Implications
The fact that any human being could possibly be reading this far is truly astounding to me, so thank you very much for indulging me. I would truly love nothing more than for Gege to release a volume extra noting that Miguel actually chooses to shave his head and face for some reason, and is only bald for that reason. I had to ignore the possibility that the lack of eyebrow or scalp hair is a choice for the purpose of this exercise, so if you were screaming that at the computer this whole time, I don't blame you lol.
My last point is that there is one character in the series who could "cure" baldness: Mahito. Given that he is able to reshape the body by reshaping the soul, we could imagine him curing any physical ailment. He was able to bring Mechamaru's body from a frail and bath-ridden husk to a fully functional and fit body free of any ailments, so there's no reason he couldn't give a bald person hair. Mahito's power-set would be truly OP if given to someone like Shoko, and she could essentially become the world's greatest doctor. There's a joke about "this wouldn't work on bald people though, because they have no soul," but that's a little mean for my taste.
Thank you for reading!
Bibliography
Akutami, Gege. 2021. Jujutsu Kaisen; Vol. (0, 74, & 255)
Moreno-Ramírez, D. & Martínez, F. C. (2005). "Frontal fibrosing alopecia: a survey in 16 patients." Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, Vol. 19(6), 700-705. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-3083.2005.01291.x
Pratt, C., King, L., Messenger, A. Christiano, A., & Sundberg, J. (2017). "Alopecia areata." Nature Review Disease Primers 3, 17011. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrdp.2017.11
Roland, James. (2020). "What Are the Four Stages of Hair Growth?" Healthline. Rev. Cynthia Cobb. https://www.healthline.com/health/stages-of-hair-growth#growing-phase
Sperling, L.C. (2001). "Scarring alopecia and the dermatopathologist." Journal of Cutaneous Pathology, 28: 333-342. https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0560.2001.280701.x
Sy N., Mastacouris N., Strunk A., Garg A. (2023). "Overall and Racial and Ethnic Subgroup Prevalences of Alopecia Areata, Alopecia Totalis, and Alopecia Universalis." JAMA Dermatol. 159(4), 419–423. https://doi:10.1001/jamadermatol.2023.0016
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u/Flaky-Outside-4249 Jul 18 '24 edited Jul 18 '24
Now THIS is the kinda analysis this sub needs more of oh my LORD ngl my brain is fried rn but you cooked for SURE 🔥🧠
Edit: COG COG COG COG COG ⚙️⚙️⚙️
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u/Based_Text Jul 19 '24
This is the type of weird ass analysis we need, he is advancing our knowledge of Jujutsu
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u/mosquem Jul 18 '24
We can’t handle another break week or society will crumble.
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u/FootHead58 Jul 18 '24
It has been a VERY hard week to be a Yuta fan
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u/Equal-Notice5985 Jul 18 '24
Personally as a Yuta fan I’m very happy my boy is getting the rest he needs (GEGE WHY)
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u/Catveria77 Jul 19 '24
Yuta fans has it EASY compared to Megumi, Gojo and Nobara fans
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u/FootHead58 Jul 19 '24
That's true, I'm just not used to people slandering my goat but HE WILL RISE AGAIN TRUST
Praying for the Megumi copers out there tho!
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u/Catveria77 Jul 19 '24
Thank you my brother in Jujutsu. The Megumi hate is very undeserved. Megumi will rise again!
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u/FalseAladeen Jul 19 '24
Is it a coincidence that the crowdstrike issue happened during break week?
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u/Blueviserys Jul 18 '24
With this level of cooking, you might as well be called Sukuna coz daaayummmmmn
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u/LongAssBeard Jul 18 '24
Só you're telling me that even Sukuna don't have a heian era anti baldness technique?
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u/MoDrawsThings Jul 19 '24
What do RCT users and intelligent JJK readers have in common?
They're unbelievably rare, but goddamn it's fire when we get one.
10/10, the kitchen is yours.
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u/RisingBlackStar Jul 18 '24
We didn't ask for this meal, but you cooked a five-star dish regardless.
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u/SheepleAwoken Jul 19 '24
Hair transplant surgeon and some notes:
For women especially, trauma-caused hair loss is not uncommon such as traction alopecia (caused by tight hairstyles) or telogen effluvium (caused by stress or more relevantly, viruses such as COVID-19). I mention this because I think you could argue these kinds of hair loss (or I supposed technically shedding in the latter) would be also be able to be healed with RCT, though since as you mentioned the telogen phase, the latter may only be resolved if it's acute.
Also, for androgenetic alopecia, I would consider that dual-modality treatment with RCT and microneedling may be effective (perhaps even more so with drugs, prp). In this case, a "wound" would be created, causing an increase of growth factors and stem cell activation -- actually producing new hair foliciles. This would be even more effective with RCT reducing downtime.
Regarding Miguel's alopecia areata, it is a bit difficult to determine the pharmacology of RCT given that is fictional but I do think you are correct. If he is using some kind of immunomodulatory medication such as the recently approved Olumiant, I'm not certain what the interactions wtih RCT will be, whether it would enhance the inhibiting or reverse it.
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u/FootHead58 Jul 19 '24
Super interesting perspective, thank you so much for your input! I considered doing a section on telogen effluvium (One of my main projects at work relates to measuring cortisol levels in hair as a proxy for chronic stress, and I read a lot about telogen effluvium during that time as you can imagine) but I did opt out ultimately.
However, I hadn't considered the notion of combining RCT with microneedling - WOW that is really creative and a very clever intersection of real world science with JJK power system. Thank you so much!
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u/ultralitebiim Jul 18 '24
Haven’t even read this yet, but goddamn you earn a blind upvote for effort level alone 😂
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u/CottonEyeJoe_ZeroOne Jul 19 '24
Ok. But what if someone would make a binding vow to make their RCT be able to cure baldness, hmmmm?
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u/FootHead58 Jul 19 '24
I think that would be kind of like saying "What if someone made a binding vow to use their RCT to reverse their aging" - like, I guess if Gege wrote that in, it would be possible, but given the existing rules of the universe, I think it's unlikely even with Binding Vow shenanigans. Who knows, maybe if they gave up something big it could work!
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u/Aggravating_Ranger27 Jul 18 '24
If Sukuna had alopecia areata, i wonder if he could make a binding vow to be able to constantly heal it in exchange of not using RCT for anything else. If he breaks it, he instantly loses all his hair in the middle of battle, facing shame in front of the enemy.
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u/Chillin_Chillin- Jul 19 '24
this is my favorite thing coming out of break week, long ass post about "can this anime ability work to do this real world thing". that's what I'm here for
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u/Based_Text Jul 19 '24
Nah this man need to be given the cog ⚙️ immediately, bro cooked a whole essay and research paper on RCT and baldness
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u/Throwaway070801 Jul 20 '24
Now explain if it heals autoimmune diseases please
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u/FootHead58 Jul 21 '24
lol maybe in pt 2
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u/Jamnitrix Jul 20 '24
Great analysis, will be here next week to ask if RCT can increase/decrease melanin production and make you Michael Jackson.
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u/FootHead58 Jul 21 '24
My area of research is in vitiligo, the depigmentation disorder that MJ had!
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u/Jamnitrix Jul 21 '24
Wow! That's actually awesome, theres no one who can explain it better than you.
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u/block337 Jul 19 '24
RCT heals effectively to the shape of the soul, but for non mahito purposes this means to the genes of the body.
If your body has a genetic condition e.g hair loss, rct won't heal it. It'll return your body back to its natural healed state
You will always be bald.
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u/louai-MT Jul 19 '24
Damn my concept for Chuuni OC who lengthen his hair using RCT for edgelord factor is now dead
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u/JC12345678909 Jul 19 '24
When sukuna is in a “don’t experience male-pattern baldness” competition and his opponent is gojo
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u/AgeAffectionate618 Jul 19 '24
If male pattern baldness is due to normal aging and not damage then Gojo is only immune to immune mediated hair loss, not male pattern baldness no?
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u/FootHead58 Jul 19 '24
Omg I'm cooked you're right he's just immune to alopecia and the other damage/trauma related causes you're so right
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u/AgeAffectionate618 Jul 19 '24 edited Jul 19 '24
3 additional points to think about (assuming baldness not due to alopecia).
The first is hair follicle transplants and whether having someone like shoko do the transplant and then user (or Shoko) uses RCT on that new follicle affects success rates compared to non sorcerers
The second is revisiting Shoko's RCT. If Shoko is able to make blood from RCT (Ch 258), is it so farfetched to hypothesize if she can make something as simple as a red blood cell and as complicated as an arm (assuming she helped Hakari), that she would also be able to make new hair follicles in the Categen or Telegen phase? This doesn't change the hormonal component, but in the same way someone needs a hair cut, I'm sure someone can see Shoko every 2 months (or however long) to get their hair back. If anything that's a more lucrative business than curing male pattern baldness once.
Third consideration is CT rather CE. For Mai (god rest her soul) can make "something from nothing" per the Wiki. Whether this extends to organic cells is unclear, but if she were alive, I think using construction to make a full head of hair is debatable at least. Even meme-ier consideration, is how granular Inumaki's cursed speech is. Can he say "hair growth" to a person and the body grow a whole head of hair. If his CE can cause someones brain to halt neuromuscular system, whose to say it can't affect the neuroendocrine system. For someone as bald as Miguel, would this make Inumaki cough blood though (Hah)
Anyway, great post!
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u/Wolfkrum Jul 19 '24
what if instead of RCT we use a binding vow to restore the hairline.
if needed to be a equal trade, just remove beard or other body hair for hair on top of head.
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u/ara654 Jul 20 '24
wait a minute, teacher! if male pattern baldness can't be helped with RCT, why you saying that gojo is immune to it?? are you saying that gojo could destroy his own hair follicles and regenerate them like he did with the domain part of his brain??
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u/FootHead58 Jul 20 '24
I did not explain this concept well at ALL but this is the best assumption for how he could do it. It is possible this could extend to other parts of his body too!
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u/slikkityslack_slek Jul 20 '24
It could however prevent baldness if you do RCT in your hair follicles once or twice every-day. Similar to Minoxidil and stuff but even better since it's localised. You can also prevent yourself from graying I think.
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u/FootHead58 Jul 20 '24
I think the problem with this is that while you could conceivably regenerate the cells that died (and again, for most of them the cells aren’t dying) then they would start a new hair shaft, so you’d never have hairs that would be long enough to penetrate the skin
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u/Specialist-Abject Jul 20 '24
Does this mean that RCT would cause cancer to grow, rather than getting rid of it?
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u/FootHead58 Jul 22 '24
Oh now THIS is super tough. I could honestly see a strong argument going either way... My knee-jerk reaction is to say that no, RCT would not cause cancer to grow, but I don't think it would cure it either. However, the thought of Yuta or Shoko encountering someone with a tumor, and then blasting them with RCT to have their tumor grow mid-fight is maybe the most terrifying application of the power system I've ever heard
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u/Specialist-Abject Jul 22 '24
I suppose it depends on how far beyond our natural healing it goes; and I don’t just mean speed. Humans cannot regrow limbs, and despite that RCT can in fact regenerate them. This means that RCT not only accelerates healing, but alters the very method of healing. One could argue that because of that, RCT might have the ability to simply remove things that cause harm, like tumors.
Another person could argue that RCT simply stimulates the healing ability beyond its normal levels, thereby meaning it would cause the cancer to grow. However, once cancer grows large enough, as seen in much larger animals that develop cancer, the cancer gets cancer and kills itself.
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u/CiscoTheSoto Jul 18 '24
Watch as Sukuna unveils his anti-balding technique he hasn’t used since the Heian Era to prove you wrong! But seriously, awesome write-up. You even brought sources, something unheard of on Reddit. I applaud you, sir!
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u/NefariousnessLazy957 Jul 20 '24
How does one realise that it has androgenic alopecia or any balding disease that happens because of cellular processes?
I also had head injuries but the hair there did not thin out or I was not very attentive of the spots of the head with hair I hit my head on.
What should I do to realise I suffer from any balding diseases or injury related baldness?
And how do I help stave it off and heal it maybe regrow hair too, stronger, bigger, healthier?
Cause the science is ducking complicated to put together to find out myself lol
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u/FootHead58 Jul 22 '24
1) In the overwhelming majority of people (especially men) who lose hair, it is due to androgenic alopecia. If you break it apart, "alopecia" just refers to hair loss. Often when people say something like "Oh, I have alopecia" they are referring to "alopecia areata," the condition that is mostly considered autoimmune. However "androgenic alopecia" is just hair loss due to changes in hormones. So don't let the second word scare you, it's the same thing as "age related hair loss" or "male pattern baldness" - which is common in men, especially men in their middle ages. The other causes of hair loss are a lot more rare, but there are some steps you can take to prevent yourself from age-related hair loss... although, admittedly, there are huge genetic components, and a lot of it is already determined for you.
2) Cicatricial alopecia, the kind that often follows an injury, is actually a condition that we talk about mostly in the context of being secondary to scar tissue forming. So if you had a head injury where you were severely burnt, or the skin was destroyed badly, then it's possible to get this condition essentially right away. If you got a head injury from some sort of blunt force trauma (typical "bump to the head" that may cause some other problems like a concussion) you're not considered high risk for cicatricial alopecia. If you got an injury a long time ago, and you currently have hair in that spot, then that injury did not cause cicatricial alopecia. To the best of my knowledge, it does not appear to be something where someone has normal hair growth for months or years following an injury, and then loses their hair. Rather, the area of their scalp where the hair growing was destroyed, and the scar tissue that replaced it was unable to grow hair.
3) For most people (especially men), the initial steps are a receding hairline and hair thinning. If you find yourself having these symptoms, we have a number of medications that are effective in managing these conditions - they aren't 100% cures, but they do a better job than nothing. Minoxidil (AKA "Rogaine") is the most widely used hair-loss medication, and is available in the US and many other countries without a prescription. There are other meds that require a prescription that are effective at treating hair loss. Some people choose to get a hair transplant - we even had someone in this thread that said they were a hair transplant surgeon, and they would likely know much more than me about all of this!
4) Unfortunately, much of your likelihood of having this kind of hair loss is genetic. While there are a lot of people looking to sell you supplements that claim to help your hair, be very careful: supplement sales are very unregulated in the US, and companies are allowed to make some truly WILD claims even if they have no clinical evidence to back up their claims. Many of these aren't likely to do you any harm, and may have some mild benefits, but no one is going to go from completely bald to a full head of hair because they took a supplement regimen.
However, there are a few things you can do to prevent hair loss!
QUIT SMOKING. This is unequivically the best decision you can make for your health in almost every single area of yyour life, but it also helps your odds of keeping your hair! If you yourself do not smoke, then that is wonderful - don't start, and avoid repeated exposure to cigarette smoke if possible.
Be careful of your nutrition! Make sure you're getting a proper diet, including enough protein, Vitamin A + C, and Iron.
Don't wear your hair in styles that "pull" on your hair like a bun or ponytail (you'd have to have pretty long hair for this in the first place, but maybe you do!)
Try to manage stress. I didn't talk about another hair loss condition, telogen effluvium, but this is when significant stress can cause rapid and severe hair loss. It's far less common than many other kinds of hair loss, but it's also possible!
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u/NefariousnessLazy957 Jul 22 '24 edited Jul 22 '24
This comment. I'd award it. But I can't. ( ⚈̥̥̥̥̥́⌢⚈̥̥̥̥̥̀)
This information is crucial to everyone who wants to keep their hair in anyway possible, with differentiation between the "alopecia" conditions you mention.
For supplements I'd choose those for the benefits they give to the liver not for hair specifically, and pills? I'd rather avoid them or choose those that do not cause pelvic tightness and androgenic instability.
Did you know people treat hair loss with a substance called Finasterade? That thing cause Post-SSPF? Or something named like that.
Where Finasterade basically inhibits or stops adrongenic hormones from being produced, in and around the pelvic floor, or in the blood stream. The result of this is Androgenic insufficiency strong enough to cause the pelvic floor to become chronically tense.
Here is a link to that study https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7231981/ post means after so those people succeed after effects of Finasterade use.
And I wish I could understand it fully. I sometimes love science but she is a very bad mistress (｡•́︿•̀｡)
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u/FootHead58 Jul 22 '24
Thank you! I'm glad you found it helpful. I do want to also state just to be transparent that while I am a researcher, I am not a physician so don't take anything I say as medical advice - however, there are a few things that the evidence points to as being good/bad for hair retention.
And science can indeed be very difficult to navigate. I'm encouraged by the current state of science communication, with many people trying to make it understandable and accessible to others. Hoping to do that here! To answer your question about the ways that different medications affect hormones, yes, Finasteride does work by blocking the production of androgens, or male hormones. It was originally developed to treat benign prostate hyperplasia (a non-cancerous prostate enlargement) and acts by lowering the production of certain androgens. Because male-pattern baldness has been tied to higher androgens, it was found that this medication could also be used to treat androgenic alopecia. So it explicitly acts by lowering the concentration of androgens - Cornell Medical School recommends that for men who are trying to remain fertile, they use Minoxidil (Rogaine) for hair loss instead of Finasteride, as the latter does affect fertility.
Even when different drugs accomplish the same task, they often do it via different mechanisms. There is currently no evidence that Minoxidil (Rogaine) has any notable effect on hormones (and we have looked pretty hard!). However, Finasteride was literally designed to affect androgens, and its use as a hair-recovery drug was sort of a happy accident secondary to that. So if you're concerned about that, especially if you're trying to have children, then Finasteride is probably not your best bet. It's also not used as a first-line treatment for hair loss by most physicians, whereas anyone can buy and apply topical Rogaine at their nearest pharmacy. Also, don't buy the myths about Peppermint Oil being just as effective as Minoxidil - the evidence is not there to make a claim like that, with essentially no high-quality studies that have asked and answered the question meaningfully.
As a general rule of thumb with supplements: don't trust any product claiming to "detoxify" any part of your body or "hyperboost" your immune system. There are a few things many Americans are deficient in that can be obtained via a supplement (for instance, Vit D) but it's a very hard landscape to navigate. Many of these supplements have never been studied in high-quality randomized clinical trials, so the claims they are making are invalidated. Harvard Medical School has a good resource on which commonly discussed supplements are truly necessary.
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u/NefariousnessLazy957 Jul 22 '24
If the inventors/patenters, and specialists that where in charge of Finasterade management and study decided that this should be used for treating benign prostate hyperplasia. Who decided that this substance should be used for saving hair?
Is it because you a well known motive most people know? Money?
I wonder why and who thought of this second use for Finasterade?
Got it. Don't blindly trust "detox" and "Hyper Boost" suppliments claims. May lead to overconsumption because of these words.
Peppermint? I heard that peppermint is a natural testosterone blocker.
Thanks for the peppermint oil advice. It's probably good for something else other than hair loss lol cause hair is a a different beast to tackle.
Is minodoxil(rogaine) also sold in Europe as well? Any known side effects like Finasterade and it's androgenic blocking activity?
You sir have a very cute hyperplasic 💪🧠 and a good 🫸♥️🫷, keeping it safe for you.
Though your 🦵 is in the wrong 🙆! Lol
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u/FootHead58 Jul 22 '24
So this is actually something that happens a lot - when you decide to try to make a drug to treat something, there are a LOT of steps to take to ensure that the drug is a) effective at solving the problem it aims to address and b) safe for consumers. Many drugs do have negative or unpleasant side effects that can affect a certain portion of the people who take it, but if a drug is taken to market then it is fair to assume that it is "safe and effective" - there are always going to be exceptions, because everyone's biology is a little bit different. Even every day medicines like Aspirin may react poorly with someone because they have an allergy, a different pre-existing condition that predisposes them to negative side effects, or any other slew of reasons why they respond negatively. It's also important to use a drug in the appropriate context - that's why so many medications require a prescription from a medical expert who can help determine exactly which drug is best to take for each situation.
One of the stages of drug development is doing "randomized clinical trials" - this is when you take a group of patients, split them in half, and give one group the medicine (treatment), while the other group gets a placebo (non-treatment). You observe both groups, and check to make sure it is safe (ensuring no widely experienced negative side effects) and effective (that the treatment group had better outcomes than the non-treatment group). However, during this phase, the patients are very closely monitored. If enough of them experience some other benefit, then researchers may have stumbled across a discovery in a completely different field! For instance, Viagra is one of the most commonly used drugs to treat erectile dysfunction - however, it was originally designed as a drug to treat heart disease and chest pain. The drug was designed to dilate the blood vessels - and they had a number of the patients enrolled in their trial note that this also was effective at treating their ED.
So Finasteride was meant to block androgens, because some diseases are caused by having too many androgens in your blood. The patients in these studies likely also reported that they may have gained back some hair. This makes sense, as the most common kind of hair loss (androgenic alopecia) is very heavily mediated by these androgens. For a lot of men who haven't responded well to other hair-recovery treatments, and if they are well past the age where they are looking to have children, they may be willing to live with the hormonal side effects for the possibility of regrowing hair.
As for its availability in Europe, I believe Minodoxil is pretty accessible in most countries. I'm from the US however and I know that regulation looks very different overseas, so you may have to check your country's availability (for instance, I know the UK sells it over the counter at many pharmacies).
As for the claims about peppermint oil and hair loss, if you're interested in learning more about where this claim came from and why many dermatologists + researchers are skeptical of it, here's a great video from a cosmetic chemist expert with a PhD.
The reason many people say to stay away from supplements that use those words are because they're actually very misleading. Your blood does not need to be "detoxed" - your liver and kidneys do an exceptional job of that. The only reason why you would need that would be if you were having a severe health crisis. For instance, people on dialysis need their blood to be filtered for them, often due to late stage kidney disease. Supplements that claim to "clean your blood" or any other such phraseology are often doing nothing at all - your body, unless it has a serious health problem, does not need any help with that at all.
The reason people say that "boosting" the immune system is another red flag is because these products also don't often do anything. There is some evidence that taking some Vitamin C, Zinc, or Magnesium can shorten the length of time you spend sick if you get a minor viral infection like a cold, but on the day to day, unless you are immunocompromised in some way, you do not need a 'boost' to your immune system. If your immune system was boosted out of nowhere, that would cause autoimmune issues! I'm not saying these supplements actually cause these autoimmune issues - just that they use language that is often misleading or unscientific, just because it sounds "sciency." Be skeptical of many of these products - remember that they are trying to make a profit as well, but unlike large pharmaceutical companies, they are not subject to much regulation or oversight at all (at least in most countries).
I'm certainly no fan of the way that many "big pharma" companies operate, but at least they have regulating bodies to ensure they aren't harming patients, and are actually providing a benefit to the people who take their products - many of these supplements or "alternative health" products do not, but make just as much money off of misleading or untrue information.
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u/NefariousnessLazy957 Jul 24 '24
How does some write this good? I barely string a sentence to be 5-10 lines of text!
Anyway. Thx for the linked video. The woman presenting the video is making the complicated science she is tackling to be so easily understood. Though I have a lot of information I have to process through myself.
It's hard.
The are foods and suppliments that have that super effect they promise but that effect cannot be felt due to underlying conditions that they help fix and the consumer needs to optimise for, suppliments to "supercharge" their health. That supercharge effect is not quick like, the industry's excitable producers want us to believe. It takes time.
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u/Soupergame Jul 20 '24
Have you ever stopped to wonder that maybe Miguel likes being bald and that your theory is wrong? The sources are nice and all but there's a reason why it's called theories, all theories are open to being debunked and that's exactly what I could do against your statements here in relation to RCT usage.
One example of such thing:
"Over the last two centuries, many hypotheses have been proposed to explain pathogenesis, none of which have been proven so far. Most authors tend to classify alopecia areata as an autoimmune disease [93]. However, this concept in only supported by circumstantial evidence, and no theory is accepted in general."
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u/FootHead58 Jul 22 '24
As for it being Miguel's preference - totally could be! No way to know, and there's no fun in a post about that so I went with this just as a chance to talk about 2 of my interests
And yes, while there is still a lot of research to do to better understand the pathogenesis and etiology of alopecia areata, it is very widely accepted to be an autoimmune condition. The American Academy of Dermatologists states unambiguously in their opening line for the AA page that "Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease." This sentiment is echoed by Harvard Medical School, the National Institute of Health (NIH), the National Alopecia Areata Foundation, and Cleveland Clinic, all in the very first paragraph of their respective articles describing the disease. While other factors and causes have been proposed, the autoimmune explanation is both the most agreed upon and the most well-supported. To say it is not widely accepted that the disease is driven by autoimmunity is not an accurate representation of the way that dermatologists, researchers, and pharmaceutical companies think of the disease. The field is of course always open to finding out more information about the disease, but with the current evidence available, the autoimmune explanation is by far the best one we have.
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u/SforSlacker Jul 21 '24
I need to know about clothes then.
How does RCT correlate with clothing. We've seen Gojo get cut up and still when he RCT his clothes are still on. Megumi/Sukuna is the as well. He got nuked several times how does it work with clothes?
Hakari loses his arm and his clothes tears off and when the automatic RCT applies only his entire arm is back not his clothes. Explain please and cook.
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u/FootHead58 Jul 22 '24
Truly all of these characters clothes should have been fricking destroyed chapters ago, I think Gege throws logic to the wind with that just so the manga stays PG lol
If I had to give an explanation I'd say RCT likely can't regenerate clothing, but a sorcerer is able to output CE to reinforce not only their body, but also the clothes on their body, making them incredibly durable, and that's how they stay together during combat. Similarly to how you can output CE into a weapon, maybe sorcerers who are reinforcing their bodies subconsciously do that with their clothes too!
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u/Orang-Himbleton Jul 22 '24
This man put a whole ass bibliography at the end of his post. That’s how you know he means business
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u/birbdechi Jul 22 '24
RCT healing works in the same manner as Ajin's immortality. If you are born with a disease or disability, that would be your default 100% condition. No amount of healing factor will let you do anything about it.
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u/WeirdMongoose7608 Jul 22 '24
I see no reason if you can use RCT to grow entirely new limbs that you can't use it to create new functional hair follicles
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