GLPs cut weight, cure addiction and now maybe raise testosterone. The marketing writes itself!
The media are crabs in a barrel.
You mean it might count as gender-affirming care?
Does the control group have similar calorie deficit?
Given that hair loss is genetic, I’m guessing that this research would be quickly picked apart on proper scientific review. I’m not saying that drugs can’t accelerate hair loss, but I am saying there’s likely to be other factors involved, which are being ignored because weight management is bad.
Given that hair loss is genetic
It’s annoying to see people so confident that “X is genetic”. Where do you get your confidence from to make such a statement?
Thanks for sharing. The fact that science is still delving into this and discovering new information is fascinating in itself. I remember reading a stat, pointing out that capitalism puts more money into researching male pattern baldness than into life-threatening diseases like malaria.
Down to the nitty-gritty, you’re essentially making the point that gut health is a major factor, with the microbiome playing a significant role in immune and inflammatory responses.
I don’t disagree with this at all, you’ve clearly presented the evidence that supports it. However, genetics are still foundational when it comes to baldness, and there are mountains of evidence to support this. The microbiome might act as the environmental trigger that dictates how and when those genes are expressed, but the underlying genetic predisposition, especially for androgenetic alopecia (pattern baldness), still has to exist in the first place.
Think of it like getting visible abs. You can do all the core exercises and drop your body fat, but your genetics ultimately dictate how your body stores fat and the actual shape of your abdominal muscles. If your genetics don’t favour it, it takes a significantly harder environmental effort (strict diet and training) to overcome that hurdle and get them to display.
Basically, genetics provide the foundational blueprint, and gut health acts as the environmental factor. It’s definitely more nuanced than just saying “baldness is genetic”, but it’s fundamentally not wrong to state that it’s genetic.
Huh? From the article itself:
On the reasons why people may suffer hair loss while on the drugs, the team said the “most likely mechanism” relates to weight loss and “reduced caloric intake”, though more research is needed.
They said restricting calories may “contribute to physiological stress and micronutrient deficiencies (for example, iron, zinc, biotin), which can disrupt the hair growth cycle”.
Yeah, but that’s my point, why is the publication linking it to GLPs? Saying, more research is needed while leading with a misleading headline is just shite.
