HairDAO: A New Frontier in Hair Loss Treatment
Andrew Verbinen, a co-founder of HairDAO, openly describes the initiative as somewhat of a vanity project. It emerged following a disagreement with his business partner, Andrew Bakst, as they confronted a common issue: approximately two-thirds of young men under 35 experience hair thinning or loss. Verbinen, who received a hair transplant himself, admits to being “selfishly obsessed” with hair loss. He’s noted that there are only two FDA-approved treatments for this condition—finasteride and minoxidil—which, while effective at slowing loss and promoting growth, fall short of his goal to completely restore hair to bald scalps.
Beyond the confines of medical clinics and laboratories, Verbinen and Bakst identified what they believed was an untapped resource. Numerous anonymous “researchers” online are experimenting with treatments for hair loss, sometimes even on themselves. One noteworthy subreddit, r/tressless, attracts about 500,000 visitors weekly, plus another 37,000 on r/hairloss. However, the vast information available was rather chaotic, leading Verbinen to think that cryptocurrencies could help in organizing and funding effective treatments.
You might wonder what cryptocurrencies have to do with healthcare. Honestly, I found this puzzling too, but it turns out that the connection varies among different organizations. DAO stands for Decentralized Autonomous Organization, meaning there isn’t a central governing body making decisions. Instead, the members of the DAO decide how funds are allocated for research. In HairDAO’s case, you purchase tokens, called HAIR (priced at $32.51), which grant you a vote on which treatment ideas to prioritize. The funding raised is then used for research accordingly.
HairDAO has already conducted its first study with a dermatologist at the University of Miami, leading to a product sold by their sister company, Anagen. This product features a topical application of the thyroid hormone T3, known to treat low hormone levels in pill form. Currently, they’re researching using donated hair follicles in a New York City lab to see if existing drugs for other conditions could help with hair loss. Verbinen highlights that this approach is significantly less costly than traditional university research.
Importantly, HairDAO doesn’t conduct clinical trials on humans or animals and does not promote self-experimentation—though some individuals do so, anyway. They gather data on product effectiveness through feedback from their community, with 3,000 Discord members earning cryptocurrency for sharing their input.
Quality of Research: More Isn’t Always Better
As for the products developed by HairDAO, both founders have used them and report that their hair loss has remained stable. Verbinen’s mother is also a user, and her hair was scanned for results, which showed an increase in strands. This decentralized science, or DeSci, operates outside of traditional research institutions and tends to differ from peer-reviewed methods prevalent in academia.
Aditya Narayan, a medical student at Stanford, has expressed some concerns about this approach, particularly regarding patient safety. He argues that there’s still a crucial need for expert oversight in such research, as access to unregulated consumer products can be risky.
In 2024, HairDAO garnered attention when a self-taught biologist named Jumpman became one of the most influential figures in hair loss research. He allegedly went as far as to test a chemotherapy drug as a “treatment” for hair loss, prompting ethical concerns about safety and oversight, particularly given HairDAO’s current lack of a formal side effect reporting system.
Empowering Patients
Some crypto-centric organizations focus not just on research, but also on empowering patients while minimizing the risk of adverse effects from certain drugs. One such advocate is Jennifer Severtsgaard, who credits her cancer treatment success to the information shared by these groups. In April 2024, she was diagnosed with stage 1 triple-negative breast cancer and faced surgery and chemotherapy. After pressing for more analysis, she sought out a doctor willing to consider her input regarding alternatives to chemotherapy.
Severtsgaard’s persistence led her to a genetic epidemiologist, Paola Laska. With Laska’s guidance, she tailored her treatment plan effectively, and after undergoing chemotherapy, her cancer was in remission by November.
Ambitious Goals with Risks
Laska’s aim is to help patients gather specific health information to make better-informed treatment decisions. She’s developing a platform utilizing blockchain technology for secure data management, intending for patients to control their health information. While she doesn’t plan to incorporate tokens in her initiative, Laska sees potential in empowering patients for more personalized care. Severtsgaard’s case illustrates how this model could lead to effective outcomes.
Both Laska and Narayan acknowledge that disparities still persist in shared decision-making between patients and physicians. They argue that decentralized methods could help bridge these gaps. However, when a patient’s voice carries more weight than a doctor’s, it doesn’t always guarantee positive outcomes. The hope is that platforms like CEtHI can facilitate effective communication and minimize the risk of unproven treatments, ultimately improving patient care.
While cryptocurrency models in healthcare can offer democratic access, they do come with potential financial motivations that complicate the ethics of decision-making. Narayan points out that when voting power correlates to financial investment in tokens, this could skew the democratic nature of the process. So, while the idea is appealing emotionally, it doesn’t necessarily ensure better access or outcomes for patients.
