We can completely stop and somewhat reverse hairloss since at least the 90s. The difficult part is restoring hairs that have either died already or are so damaged that they can’t grow on their own anymore.
There’s plenty of folks resilient to 5α-reductase inhibitors and/or minoxidil.
I think what you mean to say is that we can slow down hairloss.
Also, finasteride loses efficacy over time and dutasteride is linked to metabolic syndrome. Systemic minoxidil carries a serious cardiovascular risk profile, which to some seems moot, but yea, no cardiac remodelling for this cat.
Maybe some microneedling pain sessions? Won’t work if you actually have longer hair. Tretinoic acid? Peeps using this may actually get worse hair loss.
I don’t get it, do you mean a hair transplant?
The Italian, Japanese and South Korean long term studies point to 90% or more of people maintaining their hair over 5-10 years with finasteride/dutasteride. Combine that with new topical AA and close to 100% of men with AGA will have their hairloss halted.
As for topical minoxidil, it’s true that only around half of men respond well to it. With extended-release oral minoxidil coming out soon, that figure will rise to 90% or higher.
Using both methods, almost every man will be able to grow hair.
Also, finasteride loses efficacy over time
There are people who have been on it for over 20 years now and most report either maintenance or slight thinning/recession when they were likely destined to be NW7 by now. And that’s just with the weakest 5ar inhibitor on the market.
I don’t get it, do you mean a hair transplant?
No, I meant growing hair in places with either only vellus hair or no hair at all. PP405 was supposed to do that but results so far are underwhelming.
yes man, but it doesn’t cure hair loss, it just slows it down bro. I’ve been on these compounds for many years. The fin does lose efficacy, so I switched to dut, but my LDL is rising, so I am cutting back to 1ce a week dut + 6x 2.5 mg fin. I’m not touching mino.
My hair is still there but its much thinner twenty years later, so it didn’t stop it.
I appreciate that it slowed it down, and even if it didn’t, I personally believe the destruction of DHT is a good thing, so I will keep it up. I think I will prob go back to dut after a while.
Anyhow, that’s my own experience, and I read many times a lot of people have similar results.
Also, one good site for this kind of research is Hair Loss Cure 2020, although 2020 is long gone, the site is still active. I linked one of their newer reports (on Clascoterone).
We haven’t solved aging yet so slowing hairloss by well over 90% means that you’ll effectively have hair your entire life and that’s with just finasteride.
My hair is still there but its much thinner twenty years later, so it didn’t stop it
You’d be bald 17 years ago without fin. If there was any other compound that slowed aging as much as finasteride slows/stops hairloss, the average life expectacy would be 1,000.
Also, one good site for this kind of research is Hair Loss Cure 2020, although 2020 is long gone, the site is still active. I linked one of their newer reports (on Clascoterone).
Clascoterone is a welcome addition but likely not enough as monotherapy. It stacks well with 5ar inhibitors and once it goes generic in 20 years, I’ll probably add it to my stack.
you don’t know that lol. All my brothers still have lots of hair and none of them use those compounds.
I’m not too argumentative these days and accept each to their beliefs. I know what these drugs do and what they don’t.
It’s 2026 and we haven’t cured hairloss (ie. reversed the damaged follicle !) and yet we think we can tackle aging (like by using NMN instead of nicotinic acid !).
Edit; to be honest, I like the idea of senolytics regarding future therapies. I still hope for extending life, but completely curing age… this will take a while to figure out.
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You just had the misfortune of having balding genes.
It’s 2026 and we haven’t cured hairloss (ie. reversed the damaged follicle !) and yet we think we can tackle aging (like by using NMN instead of nicotinic acid !).
We know the root cause of MPB and can pretty much prevent damage. We don’t know the root cause of aging and at the upstream there might even be several causes that all need to be addressed at once.
Edit; to be honest, I like the idea of senolytics regarding future therapies.
Senolytics are a dead end.
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If you catch it early enough and/or are lucky enough, then finasteride can bring you back pretty good in most cases. Around Norwood 4 is roughly when response becomes much lower.
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Circling back to the Folligenz product, their website contains virtually no documentation related to product stability or the purity of the active ingredient.
Minoxidil sulfate is notoriously unstable, as this reviewer discovered. The company appears to have made a band-aid to the formula but I would suggest waiting a few months for confirmation that it’s actually fixed - their claimed cause of too much stearic acid barely passes the smell test.
And it seems unlikely that they were able to fix the formula and create new batches, import from Brazil to US, all in 3 months having actually done any real stability testing.
Almost all useful information is locked in their discord, seemingly by design. Talking about this in public is met with a vicious reaction from Kwaku Ampadu, the company founder.
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Link to more detailed discussion about the stability issues, as well as a follow-up from the original customer where they eventually got a refund. https://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/topic/78323-my-honest-review-of-folligenz-10-liposomal-minoxidil-sulfate/
well according to you, I’ve been cured
watch out, assumptions and all. The same can/can’t be said regarding aging. Who knows, maybe it’s a hayflick thing?
this is a belief, not evidence. Why don’t you explain why you feel that way>
what do you think of PP405?
Treated*
watch out, assumptions and all. The same can/can’t be said regarding aging.
Do telomerase activators increase mice lifespan indefinitely already? Last I heard they extended it by 10% or so.
Why don’t you explain why you feel that way>
Because a) not all senescent cells are bad, b) senolytics failed in various trials like the ITP and c) cell potential is not a limiting factor for aging (yet).
what do you think of PP405?
Given the lack of actual hair count changes in the treatment and placebo group, this thing is likely a (much) weaker regrowth stimulant than minoxidil and can at best help strengthen a few hairs on your hairline that aren’t quite invisible yet but also won’t grow terminal on their own even on dutasteride.
either way I’m happy I’ve lasted this long
i was meaning hair loss… but yea, every bit counts.
then what does this mean? "
i beg to differ. less telomeres on many diseased tissues.
its thru a completely different mechanism than androgens. My point is that there is much more to learn. And to declare that we have figured out hair loss, I think we still have a ways to go. I ordered some of that sh*t this morning btw. My hair is still ok for my age, but it ain’t like it was when I was 25, that’s for sure. I’ve never used topicals though…
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They’re a pain. 90% of topical minoxidil users quit within 1 year. It’s split into mostly 3 reasons or combinations of reasons:
- Inconvenience
- Poor response
- Irritation
In the context of this thread, the Folligenz Liposomal Minoxidil Sulfate product is designed to overcome 2 and 3, but has virtually no evidence for being able to do so and isn’t very shelf-stable.
But ultimately oral minoxidil has become the real answer to all 3 and is dirt cheap and safe.
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although the incidence might not be high, I do recall reading:
I don’t mind fin and dut, but I have been playing hopscotch between them in the last couple months. I don’t like the idea that they are associated with metabolic syndrome, and being that I was solely using 0.5 dutasteride each day, I thought to take a break and use fin for a while instead @ 1mg AM and 1mg PM. I still use 0.5 dut once a week though.
The only reason I said I’d try the makebelieve PP405 is that it’s suppose to regen zombie follicles, so theoretically, you would just pulse this product and not need to use it forever. Personally I don’t think it’ll do anything.
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left ventricular hypertrophy is considered a fairly marginal risk on low dose oral minoxidil, but personally I got a baseline ECG and follow-ups every 2 years since starting. Ignoring extremely early adopters, we’re at 5 years since it exploded in popularity.
In another 5 there will have been so many people on it that the rarity question could be ballparked.
I think the association with fin was incredibly weak, though dutasteride seems to be more of an open question. Have you tried a protocol where you take dut 2 times a week and fin the rest? Switching back and forth might not be best.
Many see it as worth a shot. I know the current gray market PP405s are “fake”, but according to the patents they exhibited the same MPC inhibition mechanism. So if the real one works, I’d expect the more advanced attempts from gray market to do something in some people given the popularity. We’ll see.
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i read a korean study where the protocol is 1ce a week dut and the rest fin, but i didn’t see the other u mentioned.
i would just like to see more positive results.
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There was this study in 2025. Dut 2-3 times a week was roughly equal to fin daily. Efficacy and safety of twice- or thrice-weekly dutasteride versus daily finasteride in men with androgenetic alopecia: A randomized, investigator-blinded, active-controlled, parallel-group pilot study - PubMed
There’s also topical dutasteride options if you’re worried about systemic effects. Most are bunk that are dosed so high they will anyway, but Xyon is probably the most popular.
Another recent contender is Anagen Precision Dutasteride, but it’s pricey and I’d wait until the human study they’re planning happens unless you like taking the risk of losing your hair https://anagen.xyz/products/precision-dutasteride. Full disclosure I think their HairDAO project is really cool, but no conflicts beyond liking them.
I’m at the point where hair loss stuff is so astroturfed I don’t trust any anecdotes lol.
Look at what started this thread - a sketchy company took down a confirmed legitimate negative review, blamed it on their competitor anyway, then posted a variety of fake positive ones. And this was one hobbyist gray market IT worker doing it in his spare time - what could a real business do to trick us?
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Very positive phase III results out today from Veradermics (MANE) on extended release oral minoxidil, specifically designed to have a better safety profile. https://nitter.net/hairypapasmurf/status/2048726896913842661#m
Anagen already started selling their own version called MINX https://anagen.xyz/products/minoxidil-5-mg
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