Cure for male pattern baldness?

[t0oL1]

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a65350192/baldness-cure-sugar-study/

• New research suggests the cure to male pattern baldness might be sugar.
• The team simulated testosterone-based balding in mice and treated them with deoxyribose sugar, which stimulated blood vessel formation and ultimately caused hair regrowth. 
• Researchers say that the sugar treatment is just as effective as minoxidil (the active ingredient in Rogaine), a hair loss treatment currently on the market

https://www.iflscience.com/this-sugar-could-be-a-cure-for-male-pattern-baldness-and-its-been-in-our-bodies-all-along-79950

Put down the rosemary oil and pause the red light therapy, research suggests the secret to curing male pattern baldness could lie in a sugar that occurs naturally in our bodies. 

In a mouse model of testosterone-driven hair loss, the sugar, called 2-deoxy-D-ribose, stimulated hair regrowth just as effectively as existing treatment minoxidil – the active ingredient in Rogaine.

Though commonly referred to as male pattern baldness, the condition, also known as hereditary-patterned baldness or androgenetic alopecia, affects women too. In fact, up to 40 percent of people experience it, making it the most common cause of hair loss worldwide. Symptoms typically begin in a person's 20s and 30s, or after menopause. We still don’t know for sure what causes it, but it’s thought that a combination of genetics, hormones, and aging all play a part.

Treatment options are currently limited, so breakthroughs like this one, even if they’re limited to mice for now, are very promising.

“Male pattern baldness is such a common condition, affecting men all over the world, but at the moment there are only two FDA licensed drugs to treat it,” Professor Sheila MacNeil, Emeritus Professor of Tissue Engineering at the University of Sheffield, said in a statement. 

 

“Our research suggests that the answer to treating hair loss might be as simple as using a naturally occurring deoxy ribose sugar to boost the blood supply to the hair follicles to encourage hair growth.”

available on Amazon

[PeterRS]

5 hours ago, t0oL1 said:

In a mouse model of testosterone-driven hair loss, the sugar, called 2-deoxy-D-ribose, stimulated hair regrowth just as effectively as existing treatment minoxidil – the active ingredient in Rogaine.

I'm not sure I would have liked to try sugar, the more so as it has not even been tried on humans yet. As the link provided in the OP clearly states, “The research we have done is very much early stage". Obviously a very large monitored study, almost certainly an international one, will be required before any sugar treatment is given the go ahead by the various regulators. I suspect that if in fact it does work on humans , it will be 4 to 5 years before it is available on the market.  

My grandfathers and father were completely bald and twenty years ago my younger brother was going quite bald (he is now totally bald!) Apart from a slightly receding hairline, I had a small bald patch on the crown of the scalp and had been wondering for a while if anything could be done about it. I thought about transplants but was then recommended Rogaine which in some countries is sold as Regaine. It was then quite expensive but I decided to try it.

I have no idea if it was due to the daily applications of Rogaine, but my gradual hair loss stopped. I used the liquid for ten years from 2005 and not since. My small bald patch is perhaps fractionally larger, but I think it is only I that notice it. Many people say they are surprised that I seem to have almost a full head of hair, the more so as baldness runs in the family.

The only problem I found with Rogaine was you are supposed to use it morning and night. But it does start to leave a yellowish stain on the pillow. I just added an extra cover.

[t0oL1]

Already ordered some from Amazon.

No study is required. 

[BjornAgain]

Not sure if your travels have you visiting Columbia, but this local remedy might be worth considering!

 

[kokopelli3]

I always wondered why they called it a "cow lick".

[floridarob]

35 minutes ago, BjornAgain said:

visiting Columbia

@BjornAgain  Stop that!!

@macdaddi you ever gotten any cow licks, you have a full head of hair 😉

[vinapu]

poison ivy mixed with Hagen Dazs vanilla ice cream and grinded dried frogs tongue it well known  cure for male baldness working 11 times out of 10 as found by researches from Maseru's Lesotho Medical College and Deli

[PeterRS]

1 hour ago, vinapu said:

poison ivy mixed with Hagen Dazs vanilla ice cream and grinded dried frogs tongue it well known  cure for male baldness working 11 times out of 10 as found by researches from Maseru's Lesotho Medical College and Deli

Sounds like this might be related in some way to the Foodland 7-Michelin Star establishment - although i have never tried their frogs legs! 🤣 🤣

[macdaddi]

8 hours ago, floridarob said:

 

@macdaddi you ever gotten any cow licks, you have a full head of hair 😉

I promise all my bovine partners that I will never kiss and tell.

Colombians have a "cure" for absolutely everything, so while this is a new one to me, zero surprise at this video.

[vinapu]

53 minutes ago, PeterRS said:

 Foodland 7-Michelin Star establishment - although i have never tried their frogs legs! 🤣 🤣

It's why you have some doubts if that 7 stars is deserved

[khaolakguy]

Surely the cure for baldness is a big cock. Well it's at least the best mitigator!

[ToTheCore]

1 hour ago, khaolakguy said:

Surely the cure for baldness is a big cock. Well it's at least the best mitigator!

OR lotsa cash. ☺️

[unicorn]

20 hours ago, t0oL1 said:

Already ordered some from Amazon.

No study is required. 

Well, I guess some people have made a fortune by claiming jellyfish extracts improve memory. 

https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2017/01/prevagens-fishy-brainpower-claims

"...The FTC and the New York Attorney General’s Office sued the marketers of Prevagen  for allegedly making false claims that the dietary supplement can improve memory loss and support brain health in older adults. Marketers say Prevagen’s active ingredient — derived from a species of jellyfish — can get rid of excess calcium that builds up in the brain as we age... As a result, estimated gross revenues for Prevagen are roughly $165 million – the amount the FTC is seeking to return to people who bought the product...". 

[unicorn]

On 7/11/2025 at 12:54 PM, t0oL1 said:

...New research suggests the cure to male pattern baldness might be sugar.

• The team simulated testosterone-based balding in mice and treated them with deoxyribose sugar, which stimulated blood vessel formation and ultimately caused hair regrowth. 
• Researchers say that the sugar treatment is just as effective as minoxidil (the active ingredient in Rogaine), a hair loss treatment currently on the market

...

 

On 7/11/2025 at 7:48 PM, t0oL1 said:

Already ordered some from Amazon.

No study is required. 

Just for kicks, I checked the prices on Amazon for the deoxyribose and for the minoxidil solutions. The minoxidil, which has actually been proven effective in humans, generally come out with a better price (and I can get it even more cheaply at CVS). 

[PeterRS]

On 7/13/2025 at 6:20 AM, unicorn said:

Well, I guess some people have made a fortune by claiming jellyfish extracts improve memory. 

Not sure about memory but perhaps there is some truth that jellyfish can extend life. The Japanese eat it with lots of dishes and sometimes on its own (mixed with mustard it is delicious) - as do the Chinese with some. Recent life expectancy tables show that Hong Kong people lived longer than anyone closely followed by Japan with women in both outliving men by over 5 years.

The USA comes in at #48 and an average of 79.61. Thailand at #78 and an avaerage of 76.83. African countries make up most of the last 25.

https://www.worldometers.info/demographics/life-expectancy/

[vinapu]

6 hours ago, PeterRS said:

Not sure about memory but perhaps there is some truth that jellyfish can extend life. The Japanese eat it with lots of dishes and sometimes on its own (mixed with mustard it is delicious) - as do the Chinese with some.

lets not over do those theories, Swiss don't eat it at all and they are not far behind.

I'm surprised French overseas possessions bypassed France itself.

as most of countries from first 10 are warm ones my theory of helping to extend life is lots of sex in the open air

[unicorn]

7 hours ago, PeterRS said:

... but perhaps there is some truth that jellyfish can extend life...

I feel a song coming on.

@vinapu hit it on the nose.

[vinapu]

I watched and listened to above at least 5 times today. Very thank you unicorn !.

[PeterRS]

9 hours ago, unicorn said:

@vinapu hit it on the nose.

Come on guys. I did say "perhaps!"

[unicorn]

3 hours ago, PeterRS said:

Come on guys. I did say "perhaps!"

You could have said "Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps." 😉But, seriously, epidemiology is not even designed to show associations, much less causation. Epidemiology can only serve as a starting point for ideas of "real" research. The next steps are case-control studies, in which populations are followed and controlled for known factors. Those studies still can only show associations, not causation. To show causation, one has to randomize a given population and give some the intervention (such as jellyfish extract), and the other a placebo, then follow them over time. Ultimately, causation is accepted when multiple RCT (randomized controlled trials) are pooled together in a meta-analysis. 

[t0oL1]

On 7/14/2025 at 1:44 AM, unicorn said:

 

Just for kicks, I checked the prices on Amazon for the deoxyribose and for the minoxidil solutions. The minoxidil, which has actually been proven effective in humans, generally come out with a better price (and I can get it even more cheaply at CVS). 

except the effects of Minoxidil wane when you cease treatment.

Wait for years for a study and see if you are still around. 

My God! you saved a whopping $2/oz. Such "kicks"

 

 

 

 

[PeterRS]

2 hours ago, t0oL1 said:

except the effects of Minoxidil wane when you cease treatment

That has always been the PR about the treatment. Yet in my case, in spite of the men in generations of my family being bald, the effect of Minoxodil did not wane - more than  tiny fraction. Maybe because i had been using it for about 10 years?