Think of it as a radical body modification. Suppose someone wasn’t really a fan of having hair at all and wanted to just not. Most of the scientific research on hair loss has been about stopping or reversing it, but in all that research have we learned whether we could cause it to happen on purpose? I don’t mean conventional hair removal, and I don’t mean laser or electrolysis which both have significant limitations and wouldn’t be feasible for total hair loss on the entire body.

I mean like a vaccine for hair, an injection someone could take that would cause their immune system to attack all their hair follicles in the same way we see in alopecia universalis, so they have literally no hair at all anywhere on their body permanently. It feels like it should be possible, especially now with the increasing use of mRNA vaccines.

  • iegod@lemmy.zip
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    11 hours ago

    Wouldn’t you seriously fuck up your balance and hearng since part of the inner ear relies on hair in a complex system? This seems like a bad idea.

  • NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de
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    1 day ago

    Interesting questions. It would also remove eyebrows and eyelashes, which serve to protect eyes from dust and things like that. Armpit and pubic hair serve to reduce friction in those areas and prevent chafing. Nostril hair, assuming it would also be gone, is part of the filtering system of the air we breathe. Considering all those health implications, being fully informed before doing it would be really important.

    But if someone still wants to do that to themselves, and is an adult capable of making their own decisions, I say let them!

    Whether it’s possible or not (the core of your question), I have no idea but the other comments seem to have some theories about that.

    • _deleted_@aussie.zone
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      1 day ago

      Cisplatin, a platinum-based chemotherapy treatment, even destroys the stereocilia in the cochlea of the inner ear and damages hearing function. chemotherapy is not a recreational drug, folks 😢

  • HobbitFoot @thelemmy.club
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    1 day ago

    Given the knowledge base in inducing hair growth, I would think that developing a treatment like you’re describing would be in the realm of possibility.

    That being said, a medical treatment to loose all hair likely wouldn’t sell given the human aesthetic preference for a head of hair seeming to be almost hard coded in humanity as a sign of virility.

    The tech is likely there, but the demand isn’t.

  • tal@lemmy.today
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    1 day ago

    I’m sure that there’s some theoretical route to do it, but I’d be really hesitant about trying to induce situations where one’s immune system attacks one’s own cells. That can do some pretty unpleasant things.

  • nomad@infosec.pub
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    1 day ago

    Sounds doable. You need a hair follicle cell culture and to give it a reason to attack it like a vaccine works. Inverse vaccines are a thing now, should not be too hard to do.

    But honestly, I would rather you get some mental health help.