8 replies to this topic

[andromeda]

In the last few months I began searching and reading a lot about reversing gray hair and I found out that there is actually a surgical way of transplanting new melanocytes(the cells that produce the pigment in the hair and is in smaller amount or not at all in gray hair) into gray hair follicles and turning them back to black hairs. its usually used to restore the damage caused by vitiligo(a disease that destroy melanocytes) in the skin and there was some successeful attempts of using this treatment on hair that turned gray due to vitiligo destroying the melanocytes in the hair follicles: https://researchgate...sion_Techniques
And here is another article by the scientists behind this experiment : http://www.odermatol...r-SharquieK.pdf    In which they claim the following: "In cases of gray hairs, the grafted melanocytes will move from regimented epidermis into the outer root sheath then move down to reach the hair matrix thus inducing pigmented hair".
There is also a larger study about this with more participants https://www.ncbi.nlm...pubmed/24372919  (leukotrichia means "whiteness of the hair").

Since the lack of melanocytes in the hair follicle is also the main cause of "natural" or "age related" gray hair this treatment can be a potential treatment for gray hair in general.

 

I am trying to arrange an experiment and find volunteers and a doctor who is willing to do melanocyte transplantation for hair and preferably by one who also lives in the same country as the volunteers. 

I managed to find one in india but I don't know how other volunteers will feel about traveling far away to other country for a surgical procedure (personally I don't feel comfortable with this). I saw that there is a lot of experiments and scientific studies people in this site arrange and since I have no experience in arranging scientific experiments I hope to get some help with this or hear from potential volunteers or just get some advice.

 

BTW you can check my introduction post(https://www.longecit...-i-am-new-here/ )if you wonder why I am determined to find a treatment for gray hair.

[andromeda]

If someone want to talk to the doctor I found in india here is his email: mulekar@gmail.com  

and here is an article his sent me about an experiment he was part of where a woman with vitiligo-induced gray hair on her head experienced hair repigmentation after melanocyte transplantation: 

https://drive.google...J0TTRLZmQ0/view

there are different methods for this treatment but from what I understood most of them involve taking a very small parts of skin from your body that contains melanocytes and then use it to transplant melanocytes into the area that lacks melanocytes. and according to the doctor I talked to the treatment will require a medical dressing on the donor area and those dressing will be removed after a week.

But melanocyte transplantation is done by doctors in the US and other countries so you should check with them first, I sent some emails to some of them and some told me that they don't do this treatment for hair and others didn't answered me. If someone who speak English(I know to write in English but speaking is something else) will actually speak to some doctors from hospitals and clinics in the US he/she will get much more information about where he can do this experiment in the US.

[Bubbles]

Hi, to reverse gray hair, you should look into prepared He Shou Wu or prepared Fo Ti. Remember, it needs to be prepared, which is a very long process, and some companies do not do it and therefore Fo-Ti unprepared is a stool softener, however prepared it is when its qualities appear. It is a prized her in TCM and if you find the right brand and know for sure it was processed/prepared, then you can reverse the grair hair. I could provide more information, links etc if you are interested.

[Ximet]

Hi, to reverse gray hair, you should look into prepared He Shou Wu or prepared Fo Ti. Remember, it needs to be prepared, which is a very long process, and some companies do not do it and therefore Fo-Ti unprepared is a stool softener, however prepared it is when its qualities appear. It is a prized her in TCM and if you find the right brand and know for sure it was processed/prepared, then you can reverse the grair hair. I could provide more information, links etc if you are interested.

 

 

 

Hi Sir, i,m very interesed in know a good and effective brand of Fo TI.

 

thanks

[Bubbles]

Hi, unprocessed he shou wu (fo ti) is associated with liver damage in some cases. i personally took the unprocessed version and didn't had any liver damage, but besides the stool softener properties i haven't really noticed much. what you need is the prepared version which becomes a whole new thing for the body.

 

please take your time to read this, especially the reply in there where it explains the preparation process:

 

"the traditional method to process Zhi He Shou Wu is rather long and complicated. It begins with cooking 10 kg of Hei Dou (Semen Sojae) in water for four hours to yield 15 kg of the resultant solution. Hei Dou (Semen Sojae) is cooked again in water for three hours to yield 10 kg of decoction. Two batches of the decoction are blended together for a total of 25 kg. The decoction [1 part] is now blended with the slices of unprocess root [10 parts], and the mixture is stewed in a non-metallic container until juice is completely soaked into the roots so they appear dark brown in color. The roots are then removed from the container and dried under the sun. This process of stewing and sun-drying is repeated nine times before Sheng Shou Wu (Radix Polygoni Multiflori) can be considered Zhi He Shou Wu (Radix Polygoni Multiflori Praeparata)."

 

This was a part of the reply from https://www.reddit.c...h_he_shou_wu_a/ of Dr. John Chen (Ph.D., Pharm.D., O.M.D., L.Ac. Medical Consultant Evergreen Herbs and Medical Supplies) as you can see in that reddit link posts. His email is john.chen@evherbs.com so maybe you can be lucky and receive some words from him too. The site evherbs seems to sell https://www.evherbs....9&category_id=7 (no affiliate links) a processed fo-ti, the zhi he shou wu version which seems to be the right one, however I would contact that doctor or the support to make sure I am getting what I am paying.  

 

I also found out that there are other companies that sell 'processed' fo-ti but some just steam it instead of the long process, so that shortcut might be not good and just a marketing gimmick, therefore you have to get the right one and make sure you always ask if the "prepared method" is the one as explained from the reddit link or the excerpt I pasted above. I think many questions can be answered if you read that entire reddit link I put above. Keep in mind there are many benefits that comes with this herb not just for hair And I will leave you the pleasure you to discover the other benefits on your own.

 

Alternatively you could post on https://www.reddit.c...hineseMedicine/ and ask for more guidance or find chinesemedicine forums. Just do more research and don't waste your money until you are sure what you are doing. I can only open these doors for you, the rest is up to you. Good luck!

[Ximet]

good info, thanks

[andromeda]

Hi, to reverse gray hair, you should look into prepared He Shou Wu or prepared Fo Ti. Remember, it needs to be prepared, which is a very long process, and some companies do not do it and therefore Fo-Ti unprepared is a stool softener, however prepared it is when its qualities appear. It is a prized her in TCM and if you find the right brand and know for sure it was processed/prepared, then you can reverse the grair hair. I could provide more information, links etc if you are interested.

I think TCM as any other traditional medicine is a waste of time. those things usually completely ignore scientific facts and the scientific community. If those things were of any use they would become part of the conventional medicine but they aren't. 

sticking with things that originated from scientific research and medicine with scientific explanation is the only way.

 

for now what we have is some drugs that restored hair color for some people as a side effect and a treatment that is used for restoring the melanocytes in the skin and also was experimented successfully on the gray hairs affected by vitiligo and have the potential to work for any gray hair cause according to most of the theories at least "normal" gray hair is caused by damaged or lost melanocytes.

[MKultra]

There are so many strange myths of how to cure grey hair.

 

One of the more wide spread ones (on youtube at least) seems to be that Blackstrap Molasses can suddenly make it dark again (by eating it, not by rubbing it into the hair).

 

I saw several videos where women claimed the tops of their hair suddenly was darker after eating it for some month. They don't even realize there's no way for it to reach to the very top of the hair, since it's dead.. Yes if you got grey hair because you have an iron deficiency it might work, but hardly on dead hair..

 

 

 

[Bubbles]

I think TCM as any other traditional medicine is a waste of time. those things usually completely ignore scientific facts and the scientific community. If those things were of any use they would become part of the conventional medicine but they aren't. 

sticking with things that originated from scientific research and medicine with scientific explanation is the only way.

 

for now what we have is some drugs that restored hair color for some people as a side effect and a treatment that is used for restoring the melanocytes in the skin and also was experimented successfully on the gray hairs affected by vitiligo and have the potential to work for any gray hair cause according to most of the theories at least "normal" gray hair is caused by damaged or lost melanocytes.

 

I feel that your repulse over TCM & Ayurveda would be due to the fact that you feel like these two are trying to compare themselves on the same level as western medicine, and I can understand how that would make you feel and you would be totally right. TCM & Ayurveda are not the medicine the same way as western medicine is, I agree with you. However in my eyes, they are like a lifestyle supplement that can bring good benefits when done right. It is too general to talk about it like this, so all I am saying is that while western medicine is the real and scientific medicine, the TCM & Ayurveda while not on the same level, are not a waste of time. I've yet to meet someone who wasted years of his life studying with a qualified practitioner one of these two and they say that; in my humble opinion, people that say anything about something that is a waste of time, usually never really even bothered to dive into the subject enough, but rather approach it with a reductionist mindset.

 

I think you are missing out if you consider TCM a waste of time. Moreover, TCM doesn't really work the same way as the western view. The approach is really quite different, and in no ways I am claiming one is superior over another. It goes without saying that when "shit hits the fan" we always rush to western medicine, no doubt. However it would be a pity to leave out TCM and Ayurveda out of the way because it may see like waste of time.

 

Don't get me wrong, I value your opinion and all I am saying is there is good to find in alternative medicine as well, however it would really need a qualified practitioner, whereas for western medicine, there can be plenty situations where you can hold enough knowledge to heal yourself with medicine. I repeat, no doubt, western medicine does hit the bulleye; now, just because the pharmaceutical niche prefers to sell and market more medicine that fixes the symptoms rather than the root cause, well, that's another discussion and it's a broad topic anyway.

 

The principles of Ayurveda and TCM can be helpful when you're starting to notice how certain foods and lifestyle choices affect your energy levels and your unique constitution.

 

For someone who has dieted for a long time, or for someone who is coming from an upbringing where lack of resources, education or location did not allow them to eat intuitively, Ayurveda and TCM can support you in beginning to understand why, say, certain foods - like a warm stew with grainy bread - feel nourishing during cooler months, and others - like a green smoothie on ice - just leave you cold, unsettled, hungry... and possibly bloated and gassy. When used with wisdom, Ayurveda - or TCM - can be doorways into intuitive eating. These systems offer concepts and ideas to experiment with, and can provide you with the courage needed to depart from diet culture tenets like "eat mostly raw salads". To get the most benefit from these traditions there is usually an initial learning curve, where you use your senses to decide whether dairy really is phlegm-forming for you, or whether or not avoiding curries really does make you feel calmer when you're a pitta constitution.

 

We must remember that these ancient philosophies do not represent absolute truth. As nature-based and comprehensive as they are, Ayurveda and TCM are cultural systems. They are flawed like any other. Especially when you approach them through the lens of diet culture, weight bias and healthism. Ayurveda and TCM are humoral systems of medicine, which originated in the sociocultural and historical context of India and China respectively. They evolved over thousands of years from empirical observations by the learned and wise people of the time, of how various factors - including but not limited to diet - affected mental and physical health. This doesn't mean that Ayurvedic tenets are totally irrelevant in this day and age, just that a degree of discernment is required when approaching them.