Hairgain

Hold on. This Visudyne stuff isn't cheap. You think people have bought it and just microneedled with it? Where's your proof? Do you think they've bought the FAK inhibitors too and did the same? But yes, getting the papers, seeing how it was used successfully and not successfully is what we need to know. Of course if microneedling was never tried then it's worth a shot. Even more interesting is to use the YAP or FAK inhibitor with Alma Ted and see if getting it under the skin that way could produce a worthwhile result. We have new tools and methods to use this stuff. We've got to think out of the box and creatively. I love the fact the Alma Ted delivers the aqueous through the skin sonically and without wounding the skin.

I totally agree! Of course the main obstacle is how to best accomplish this. If it's thinning hair (like what I have in my right vertex) then I certainly don't want to make a huge wound and gamble. Basically I want something that at worst won't move the dial and hopefully improve the thickness and hair count.

Well, here's another way to think about what you're saying. I really don't think it has to do so much about the safety factor you mention. If it was really about safety then why do brand new antidepressants get promoted with ease? My father was one of the early folks to take Venlafaxine AKA Effexor. Was there such an uproar about the safety? No. Psychiatrists prescribed it. You know what it's really about when they use the code word "safety"? It means (how) are we going to make a constant stream of money revenues from this? That in the end is all the drug makers and medical industry really cares about. They couldn't give one hoot about curing disease or making people feel whole as individuals. Antidepressants have to be taken continuously to be effective in patients, so there's a constant revenue stream to the pharmaceutical industry. If people get a one time dose of Verteporfin, how is that going to translate to continued revenue streams to keep businesses afloat, companies profitable, stockholders wealthier through dividends and increase stock value? This is why Finasteride, Minoxidil, Dutasteride, hair vitamins, Ketokonazol, platelet rich plasma treatments, keep being pushed. It's a constant revenue stream for most, not a one and done. Heck, even hair transplant surgery is often not just one procedure. The only exception to this is low level laser helmets. No idea why that one got allowed. Frankly it hardly matters, those things do practically nothing from my experience. Here's another great example of the code word "safety" as an excuse for business against the interest of the people. These red-light and speed cameras. These things are not about safety, they are about making money for municipalities and corporations claiming their contraptions keep us "safe". It's a trick they use to fool people who aren't critically thinking behind the motives of their decision making. If these red-light and speed cameras are keeping us safe then how do they explain the increased number of accidents they are causing drivers to jam on their breaks and have unnecessary rear end collisions? It's good for insurance companies too. Cars get damaged, they increase car insurance rates. This is all capitalism done the wrong way, working against the public rather than helping the public. Governments and corporations will never explain this as it is not in their economic interest to do so and even if they were forced they'd just fudge numbers and statistics to their advantage. No different than polling for politicians, political issues or election fraud in general. They just make up the numbers they want. Sorry to go on a tangent here. This is not a forum to discuss such matters but essentially my point is you've got to be a detective and see past the things they're doing and why they're doing them. As long as the comment here isn't edited, deleted or I'm not banned then I'm happy to share this. Don't worry though, I won't regularly post such material. I just want a way somehow to get my see through parts of my scalp to be hair covered once again. Amazing that something that seems so easy as a concept is so difficult to figure out but if there was the investment we'd have had a cure already and I bet a long time ago. Nonetheless, this is why I would not like to back down on the FAK inhibitors. Let's use what will work best should individuals be willing to take the risk. It's part of freedom that sadly has been forgotten too long in too many countries.

Hi Melvin, Thank you for hosting this! The bad was the video cut out a few times, so we couldn't get those ideas related. The other thing that would have made the argument more convincing to the doctors is the FAK inhibitors were also tested in red duroc pigs, not just mice. Whenever mice are the subject of hair regeneration from a therapy or drug no one really is convinced as to the potential effectiveness as it relates to humans. I hope some of the doctors were convinced to do their own trials regarding YAP inhibitor Verteporfin (hopefully FAK inhibitors as well) and they should definitely first consult with Dr. Bargouthi about how to correctly go about the process.

When, where and at what time? (mention time zone please).

Any idea what caused your lichen planopilaris? I think I have this condition but none of the dermatologists/trichologists/hair transplant surgeons I've seen can find it. It's frustrating. Sometimes it's such a minor manifestation that they just don't notice it. If they can't find the spot(s) then to biopsy won't even be accurate. Often lichen planopilaris gets mistaken for androgenetic alopecia, seborrheic dermatitis or even hair parts. I'm so sick of dermatologists. I think most of them really don't know what they're looking at. I would probably only trust someone like Jeff Donovan. That guy knows scarring alopecia like no other! I really want the human trials for FAK inhibitors VS-6062 and VS-6063 for hair follicle neogenesis. These scientists need to stop playing with animals and start curing diseases for humans. I tell you this, if scientists treated hair loss like they did COVID-19, we'd have had a cure for all hair loss yesterday, not having to wait just another 5 years to infinity/eternity.

I second this. If Melvin could mention at the convention to work with FAK inhibitors as well for human testing I would really appreciate this.

I don't understand the logic to your statement. We're trying to come up with a cure for both scarring and non-scarring alopecia types and find a way to regenerate the donor area with hair should a hair transplant be considered. I personally think once the cure is found that hair transplantation will not be a needed option. It will be a matter of simply healing scarred tissue from which hair follicles are generated thereafter. Don't worry either that it will cause unemployment, instead it will be that surgeons will be retrained to accomplish the newer method at hair restoration. Think of it like the computer largely replacing the typewriter. Additionally, for me personally I did get an official diagnosis of androgenic alopecia. All that was found based on dermoscopy, HairMetrix and reflectance confocal microscopy in the trouble spot was androgenic alopecia with a terminal-vellus ratio of 5.3 to 1 hair follicle count/187 cm squared with average hair thickness of 48 μm. I honestly think the cure is coming soon, so to biopsy doesn't seem worth doing. Let the cure come, fix the thin spots and problem solved (hopefully).

I just thought of this today. I'd like to understand exactly the difference in the mechanism of how YAP inhibitors and FAK inhibitors work. I think if we understand this, then we've got a better general idea of why one would work differently or better than the other.

Folks, I'm brand new here on Hair Restoration Network with an account (this is my first post) although I've been following this particular thread for months. In terms of the ideas and comments you folks are relaying in my view are definitely on the right path. So here's a bit of news from behind the scenes. I've been in discussion with Dr. Bargouthi about doing a scarring alopecia study. I was not the first either to suggest that according to him. There is another group or individual involved in this prospect. I tried contacting the email address Dr. Bargouthi gave me to collaborate but so far haven't heard back. I recall Dr. Bargouthi telling me that the cost of this study would be US $15,000 roughly. In this we are looking to do a study of microneedling with Verteporfin applied, another with incision wounding of an old scalp scar injecting Verteporfin into it. I will add that doing a microneedling and Verteporfin study of a scarred area too would also make sense, not just to an area which has been subjected to the effects of androgenetic alopecia. So this is another factor involved and perhaps a fundraiser can be done through this online forum to get the study to take place? I am trying to contact multiple hair loss web sites now to find out what can be done to raise the capital needed to get this underway. Recently I have contacted someone at scarringalopecia.org about trying to fund the study mentioned above, maybe doing a fundraiser through their organization but surprisingly the reply to me was no interest on their end! They did a costly survey months ago about people having scarring alopecia but this is not even something that had potential to cure the problem. I kind of think this organization doesn't like me much because I am outside of the groupthink and offer suggestions to them that are not standard, outside of the orthodoxy they espouse in diagnosing and dealing with scarring alopecia. I am also male and the group is made up of nearly all women, so I feel especially alienated given this by them. Any advice they offer is from what I've found not the right approach but then I have nothing against them either and am glad they are a resource that helps people find local hair loss specialists and their web site shows pictures of what scarring alopecia conditions look like. They post medical articles too related to scarring hair loss but nothing that has the real prospect of a potential cure. I tell them about technologies in diagnosing hair loss that they never heard of and when I ask for their opinion about my findings they take note and don't reply. I feel they aren't doing as much as they could at least for me. They look to raise revenues but so far am not excited about their programs or research. I believe I have scarring alopecia but no hair related professional has diagnosed me with it. So far they say I've got androgenetic alopecia, telogen effluvium, natural hair parting and early on it was seborrheic dermatitis (an early clue it really is potentially a scarring alopecia). I did not do a biopsy but have gone through many other non-invasive tests. I say no to biopsies as in all cases it leaves scarring, which is what I am looking to prevent. The only time I may consider it is if a YAP or FAK inhibitor is injected after the wound in that there is potential for it to heal with normal tissue and follicle unit neogenesis. Not only that but let's face it, a scalp biopsy hurts and maybe can lead to permanent nerve damage as with any hair transplant procedure done incorrectly. I've seen the results of people who've had scalp biopsies and are left with a big bald spot. I think a new standard protocol must be if a scalp biopsy is administered, Verteporfin must be applied to the wound or a FAK inhibitor such as VS-6062. What is on my wish list is for Dr. Bargouthi to find a way to get the FAK inhibitor, VS-6062 tested in human subjects. The results shown in the red duroc pigs looked quite promising and as the video posted pointed out the healing process occurred quicker than with YAP inhibitor Verteporfin. I suspect but cannot prove that the VS-6062 may even grow more dense hair. The VS-6062 may have more pathways towards healing than Verteporfin. It is my opinion that use of VS-6062 is the better choice yet maybe harder to obtain. Basically, in America, what has been holding the researchers back is approval to use this VS-6062 in human subjects. If it's worked in porcine models without issue then why not go on to test in human subjects next? How will we know if we don't try? It is these gatekeeping agencies like the FDA that are delaying and tying the hands behind the work these scientists are looking to accomplish through a slow and costly bureaucratic process. This should not be the case and the FDA needs to step aside regarding this and should a volunteer get hurt let the legal process sort this out. Almost as bad is many American doctors refuse to do safe procedures on patients unless the FDA has approved them first. I think the FDA needs to take on a much more passive roll as a body of suggestion rather than dictator of what is and isn't allowed. We need a libertarian design to get ahead regarding medical progress for people. Also mice are lousy test models for anything skin and hair related in regards to people. I and every hair loss sufferer is so sick of hearing that something regrew hair in mice because it never translates to working in humans. The new pre-clinical model should be the pig first, not the mouse or rat. It is at Stanford University, the Longacre Lab that pioneered the research behind Verteporfin and VS-6062. Here are the individuals behind the research: Dr. Michael T. Longaker's Profile | Stanford Profiles and Researchers find drug that enables healing without scarring | News Center | Stanford Medicine and please read FAK Inhibitors, Cassiopea and Drew Brees | Hair Loss Cure 2020. Getting back to the VS-6062 compound, I've learned that it doesn't even need injection into the skin for it to work. Topically applied it seems to do the job. Although Verteporfin is a workable solution, the VS-6062 seems better, easier to use and perhaps more effective. It is my suggestion we go with this instead if it is possible to obtain from a reliable source. It would be great if Dr. Bargouthi could experiment with this FAK inhibitor, VS-6062 and compare the efficacy between the two. This is best as we will know which one has the preferred outcome. Another avenue to explore is multi-therapy. Perhaps combining this with implanting cloned follicles may produce even greater hair coverage and density, that is assuming there is enough vascularity to accommodate the new hairs being introduced or perhaps the steps might have to be done separated by time to allow new blood vessels or capillaries to form. First say the wounding and drugs are used then a few months later cloned follicles can be added if density isn't quite satisfactory. So I've composed many of my thoughts. I'd like the users of this group's input as we go forward with ideas behind Dr. Bargouthi's research. If perhaps enough have thoughtful or shared opinions it could be decisive in where Dr. Bargouthi will focus his energies and funding into future research. Above all I am very appreciative of Dr. Bargouthi's research and outreach to the community of hair loss sufferers. He is someone that sadly few doctors today emulate. Most just follow the standard, the rules of the powers that be and simply want to make a comfortable living. The people/doctors/scientists though who contribute their time and funds to make positive change are the ones though who will be remembered, truly loved and that is people such as Dr. Bargouthi.