9 ms·

Solving balding will open the door to solving many genetic problems, deepening our understanding of our cells, hormones, etc.

by arberx 4y ago

giraffe_lady 4y ago
- stuckinhell 4y ago
  I don't think this needs to be an exclusive or situation. Baldness affects ALOT of men, and their loved ones. A cure for baldness doesn't mean no one is researching breast cancer. If my husband could get a cure for baldness, I'd be thrilled.
  - throwaway743 4y ago
    Not just men, but to a lesser degree, women too. It'd also be great if a solution were to be developed for those with alopecia or going through chemo. It could do wonders for those folks struggling with such health issues.
    - piva00 4y ago
      And on top of that the effects of balding on women's mental health are even rougher than for men.
      - sidewndr46 4y ago
        Do you have a source for this?
        piva00 4y ago
        https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5986111/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5986111/ > Conclusion > Alopecia has been shown in multiple studies to have a psychosocial impact in both men and women; however, the impact may be more severe and devastating in women. The psychological burden of hair loss in women is significant and should not be overlooked.
        indymike 4y ago
        This is really an indictment of the social value we put on appearance. We care way too much. This needs to change.
- eska 4y ago
  Sooo what terminal disease are you currently trying to cure?
  - giraffe_lady 4y ago
    prisons
- ericmay 4y ago
  > affects people beyond their ego & surface-level masculinity. While I'm balding and it no longer bothers me, it used to bother me quite a bit and while maybe I should have just "gotten over it", it had a very adverse affect on my mental well being for a number of years when I was a little younger. Truthfully it still bothers me when I look in the mirror, just not as much anxiety about it. Since you are (based on your user name) not someone who is experiencing or likely to experience balding, I'd ask you to consider not being so aggressive and insensitive with your comments here. > In fact if we did consider this, as we should, gender-affirming care, would it have the same support and defense it tends to? Many other gender-affirming techniques have and could lead to advances with wider applications, why are we so fixated on this one. It's questionable whether this is "gender-affirming care", or whether that even matters. It's disappointing that you're grandstanding on this issue when research into one area does not preclude research into another area. Likely, since so many men are balding and do not want to, they'd be willing to pay money for this elective and optional treatment which could then go on to fund additional research in other, more important areas. If scientists and researchers can figure out how to control hair growth, this could also help women who are affected by conditions such as alopecia, burn victims, cancer patients, and many others. This can help people who are seeking gender-affirming care (MtF, FtM, etc.) who want to grow a beard (or not) or MtF who want a full head of beautiful hair so they can be who they want to be.
- SantalBlush 4y ago
  >So would solving any other problem that actually affects people beyond their ego & surface-level masculinity. What a hostile and clueless take. Many women also struggle with baldness.
- elliekelly 4y ago
  Many women suffer from hair loss, too. And, no matter your gender, a bald head can be uncomfortable beyond just the social implications. A bald head gets cold very quickly and just a little bit of sun can cause quite a lot of pain.
  - throwaway5959 4y ago
  - MegaDeKay 4y ago
    So much this. My hair thinned out and I shaved my head. I think I look fine, but I'd jump at the chance to get my hair back so I'm not cold all the time. Wearing a hat or a toque all the time looks worst of all.
- MisterBastahrd 4y ago
  Well, maybe the people who desire gender affirming care should just get in line and get over it, like you seem to be wanting the population of balding people to do. Which, I might add, is not limited to men and their "ego and surface level masculinity." There are plenty of scientific reasons to pursue a cure for balding that have nothing to do with aesthetics.
nerbert 4y ago
Wasn't aware that baldness was a problem.
- edge17 4y ago
  Whatever it is, problem or not, it's a huge market.
- mywittyname 4y ago
  It effects like 2/3s of men by age 35 and about 1/2 of women by age 55.
- jjoonathan 4y ago
  Bald man here: I got clued in when I accidentally started A/B testing with a baseball cap. It was strange, every so often I would have a day where people were noticeably warmer on average. They would laugh at my jokes, they would help carry a conversation, they would let me have the stage in a group discussion without pushing in -- it was amazing. This only happened every so often, and I chalked it up to luck and chance and some days just being better than others. On one of these good days, I was busy regaling my enraptured audience with a tale about a covey of quail we were raising when I got an itch on my head. I lifted my hat to scratch and a wave of revulsion washed over people's faces. Instantly, they lost interest, glanced away, and looked generally uncomfortable. Someone even coughed. I stumbled but kept going, however it was clear that the story was now unwelcome so I abortively wrapped it up. I made a few attempts to restart conversation but got the "good day" responses were gone, I got only the typical lukewarm responses. I went to the restroom to look for something on my head that might have caused the reaction, but it took me some time staring in the mirror and searching until I found the culprit. Peoples' enthusiasm didn't return until the next day, when I ran the test again, this time intentionally, but with the same result. It was reproducible. "Good days" happened when I covered my thinning hairline. To be clear, these people included both men and women and they had known me for years. On a conscious level, they knew exactly what I looked like and that I was balding. On a subconscious level, though, they treated me very differently depending on whether or not they had recently seen my hairline at its worst. Once I started paying attention, I realized that this behavior was universal, and a bit of introspection revealed that the exact same instincts were active in my own mind. Appearances matter! Incidentally, I've found that women tend to be much more understanding as they often have had similar A/B experiences with makeup, while men will often just chalk my observations up to confidence, reversing cause and effect.
bamboozled 4y ago
So would solving cancer, so why start at baldness ?
- jjoonathan 4y ago
  Sure, why not run a marathon instead of taking a first step? There are thousands of steps in a marathon, it's literally thousands of times better, so why not do it instead?
- culi 4y ago
  There's only one scientist in the world and we have to collectively decide what she focuses on... Is that how it works?
  - bequanna 4y ago
    I prefer to think of the scientists working on solving balding as Larry David or George Constanza-types. Bitter about their hair loss, kept going by the promise of a better life in the future through hair.
    - thedailymail 4y ago
      There's a baldness research team at the institute I work at. The head of the lab looks like a talk show host from the 1980s, and his work is derided by other labs. But he brings in more external funding than any other group, I don't think of him as a lonely crusader.
- seydor 4y ago
  True, we could also prolong erections...
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- sib301 4y ago
  Because we as a species can multi-task. Many billions of dollars are spent on cancer research every year by the NIH alone. Imagine if we did all our research as a species in series as opposed to in parallel.

Solving balding will open the door to solving many genetic problems, deepening our understanding of our cells, hormones, etc.

by arberx 4y ago

Solving balding will open the door to solving many genetic problems, deepening our understanding of our cells, hormones, etc.

giraffe_lady 4y ago

stuckinhell 4y ago
I don't think this needs to be an exclusive or situation. Baldness affects ALOT of men, and their loved ones. A cure for baldness doesn't mean no one is researching breast cancer. If my husband could get a cure for baldness, I'd be thrilled.
- throwaway743 4y ago
  Not just men, but to a lesser degree, women too. It'd also be great if a solution were to be developed for those with alopecia or going through chemo. It could do wonders for those folks struggling with such health issues.
  - piva00 4y ago
    And on top of that the effects of balding on women's mental health are even rougher than for men.
    - sidewndr46 4y ago
      Do you have a source for this?
      - piva00 4y ago
        https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5986111/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5986111/ > Conclusion > Alopecia has been shown in multiple studies to have a psychosocial impact in both men and women; however, the impact may be more severe and devastating in women. The psychological burden of hair loss in women is significant and should not be overlooked.
        indymike 4y ago
        This is really an indictment of the social value we put on appearance. We care way too much. This needs to change.
eska 4y ago
Sooo what terminal disease are you currently trying to cure?
- giraffe_lady 4y ago
  prisons
ericmay 4y ago
> affects people beyond their ego & surface-level masculinity. While I'm balding and it no longer bothers me, it used to bother me quite a bit and while maybe I should have just "gotten over it", it had a very adverse affect on my mental well being for a number of years when I was a little younger. Truthfully it still bothers me when I look in the mirror, just not as much anxiety about it. Since you are (based on your user name) not someone who is experiencing or likely to experience balding, I'd ask you to consider not being so aggressive and insensitive with your comments here. > In fact if we did consider this, as we should, gender-affirming care, would it have the same support and defense it tends to? Many other gender-affirming techniques have and could lead to advances with wider applications, why are we so fixated on this one. It's questionable whether this is "gender-affirming care", or whether that even matters. It's disappointing that you're grandstanding on this issue when research into one area does not preclude research into another area. Likely, since so many men are balding and do not want to, they'd be willing to pay money for this elective and optional treatment which could then go on to fund additional research in other, more important areas. If scientists and researchers can figure out how to control hair growth, this could also help women who are affected by conditions such as alopecia, burn victims, cancer patients, and many others. This can help people who are seeking gender-affirming care (MtF, FtM, etc.) who want to grow a beard (or not) or MtF who want a full head of beautiful hair so they can be who they want to be.
SantalBlush 4y ago
>So would solving any other problem that actually affects people beyond their ego & surface-level masculinity. What a hostile and clueless take. Many women also struggle with baldness.
elliekelly 4y ago
Many women suffer from hair loss, too. And, no matter your gender, a bald head can be uncomfortable beyond just the social implications. A bald head gets cold very quickly and just a little bit of sun can cause quite a lot of pain.
- throwaway5959 4y ago
- MegaDeKay 4y ago
  So much this. My hair thinned out and I shaved my head. I think I look fine, but I'd jump at the chance to get my hair back so I'm not cold all the time. Wearing a hat or a toque all the time looks worst of all.
MisterBastahrd 4y ago
Well, maybe the people who desire gender affirming care should just get in line and get over it, like you seem to be wanting the population of balding people to do. Which, I might add, is not limited to men and their "ego and surface level masculinity." There are plenty of scientific reasons to pursue a cure for balding that have nothing to do with aesthetics.

nerbert 4y ago

Wasn't aware that baldness was a problem.

edge17 4y ago
Whatever it is, problem or not, it's a huge market.
mywittyname 4y ago
It effects like 2/3s of men by age 35 and about 1/2 of women by age 55.
jjoonathan 4y ago
Bald man here: I got clued in when I accidentally started A/B testing with a baseball cap. It was strange, every so often I would have a day where people were noticeably warmer on average. They would laugh at my jokes, they would help carry a conversation, they would let me have the stage in a group discussion without pushing in -- it was amazing. This only happened every so often, and I chalked it up to luck and chance and some days just being better than others. On one of these good days, I was busy regaling my enraptured audience with a tale about a covey of quail we were raising when I got an itch on my head. I lifted my hat to scratch and a wave of revulsion washed over people's faces. Instantly, they lost interest, glanced away, and looked generally uncomfortable. Someone even coughed. I stumbled but kept going, however it was clear that the story was now unwelcome so I abortively wrapped it up. I made a few attempts to restart conversation but got the "good day" responses were gone, I got only the typical lukewarm responses. I went to the restroom to look for something on my head that might have caused the reaction, but it took me some time staring in the mirror and searching until I found the culprit. Peoples' enthusiasm didn't return until the next day, when I ran the test again, this time intentionally, but with the same result. It was reproducible. "Good days" happened when I covered my thinning hairline. To be clear, these people included both men and women and they had known me for years. On a conscious level, they knew exactly what I looked like and that I was balding. On a subconscious level, though, they treated me very differently depending on whether or not they had recently seen my hairline at its worst. Once I started paying attention, I realized that this behavior was universal, and a bit of introspection revealed that the exact same instincts were active in my own mind. Appearances matter! Incidentally, I've found that women tend to be much more understanding as they often have had similar A/B experiences with makeup, while men will often just chalk my observations up to confidence, reversing cause and effect.

bamboozled 4y ago

So would solving cancer, so why start at baldness ?

jjoonathan 4y ago
Sure, why not run a marathon instead of taking a first step? There are thousands of steps in a marathon, it's literally thousands of times better, so why not do it instead?
culi 4y ago
There's only one scientist in the world and we have to collectively decide what she focuses on... Is that how it works?
- bequanna 4y ago
  I prefer to think of the scientists working on solving balding as Larry David or George Constanza-types. Bitter about their hair loss, kept going by the promise of a better life in the future through hair.
  - thedailymail 4y ago
    There's a baldness research team at the institute I work at. The head of the lab looks like a talk show host from the 1980s, and his work is derided by other labs. But he brings in more external funding than any other group, I don't think of him as a lonely crusader.
seydor 4y ago
True, we could also prolong erections...
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
sib301 4y ago
Because we as a species can multi-task. Many billions of dollars are spent on cancer research every year by the NIH alone. Imagine if we did all our research as a species in series as opposed to in parallel.