As the overall quality of posts is continuing to drop, I ask for your patience and open-mindedness regarding a weird idea.
Recently I stumbled upon several articles which explain how the increasing prevalence of auto-immune diseases and allergies in developed countries are related to helminths. For a short summary on the topic, refer to this article on Aeon.
Now, as most of us know, many less developed societies have much lower incidence rates of Androgenetic Alopecia. The west, however, has rather high incidence rates. For countries that made the transition from non-developed to developing to developed while Androgenetic Alopecia was already being studied, one can see how the incidence rate of Androgenetic Alopecia steadily increased, the more developed a country became.
However, the societies where Androgenetic Alopecia is unheard of all have one thing in common: High rates of helminth infection. These seem to be the reason why developing societies have much fewer autoimmune issues.
Now, on top of that, we also know that Androgenetic Alopecia has several properties of (auto) immune responses:
As this thought matured in my head, I decided to google if anyone came up with the connection and, fair enough, the connection has already been at least raised for Alopecia Areata:
I'll quote:
The fact that Androgenetic Alopecia might somehow be related to our gut has been supported by a user who recently had a poop transplant and who halted his hairloss after said transplant. Some (though not all) of us also know that certain foods which are pro-inflammatory can speed up our hairloss.
So, to summarize my whacky idea:
Is the idea crazy? Most certainly.
But the parallels, especially regarding the incidence of autoimmune issues in developing/non-developed countries on the one hand vs. developed countries on the other AND the same incidence rates of Androgenetic Alopecia in non-developed/developing vs developed countries make this idea at least worth exploring. Especially, since there is a strong autoimmune component to Androgenetic Alopecia.
As one difference (allergies & other autoimmune issues) seems to be caused by an immune system which lacked contact with certain pathogens, maybe the other issue (Androgenetic Alopecia) is also a consequence of this?
Recently I stumbled upon several articles which explain how the increasing prevalence of auto-immune diseases and allergies in developed countries are related to helminths. For a short summary on the topic, refer to this article on Aeon.
Now, as most of us know, many less developed societies have much lower incidence rates of Androgenetic Alopecia. The west, however, has rather high incidence rates. For countries that made the transition from non-developed to developing to developed while Androgenetic Alopecia was already being studied, one can see how the incidence rate of Androgenetic Alopecia steadily increased, the more developed a country became.
However, the societies where Androgenetic Alopecia is unheard of all have one thing in common: High rates of helminth infection. These seem to be the reason why developing societies have much fewer autoimmune issues.
Now, on top of that, we also know that Androgenetic Alopecia has several properties of (auto) immune responses:
- inflammation
- fibrosis
- involvement of typical immune response modulators (PGE2, PGD2)
- DHT, which in some immune responses is being upregulated
As this thought matured in my head, I decided to google if anyone came up with the connection and, fair enough, the connection has already been at least raised for Alopecia Areata:
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0163725817301274
- https://helminthictherapywiki.org/wiki/index.php/Helminthic_therapy_personal_stories#Alopecia
- https://helminthictherapywiki.org/wiki/index.php/Helminthic_therapy_and_hair_growth#Alopecia
I'll quote:
The fact that Androgenetic Alopecia might somehow be related to our gut has been supported by a user who recently had a poop transplant and who halted his hairloss after said transplant. Some (though not all) of us also know that certain foods which are pro-inflammatory can speed up our hairloss.
So, to summarize my whacky idea:
- incidence rate of helminth infection is much higher in developing/non-developed countries vs. developed countries
- incidence rate of auto immune issues is much lower in developing/non-developed countries vs. developed countries
- Androgenetic Alopecia has properties of an autoimmune issue
- incidence rate of Androgenetic Alopecia is much lower in developing/non-developed countries vs. developed countries
- Maybe all this means, in fact, that Androgenetic Alopecia is one of the autoimmune issues caused by a lack of contact with certain germs (in this case, helminths), just like other auto immune issues (allergies, MS, Crohn's, some forms of depression)
Is the idea crazy? Most certainly.
But the parallels, especially regarding the incidence of autoimmune issues in developing/non-developed countries on the one hand vs. developed countries on the other AND the same incidence rates of Androgenetic Alopecia in non-developed/developing vs developed countries make this idea at least worth exploring. Especially, since there is a strong autoimmune component to Androgenetic Alopecia.
As one difference (allergies & other autoimmune issues) seems to be caused by an immune system which lacked contact with certain pathogens, maybe the other issue (Androgenetic Alopecia) is also a consequence of this?
