Conquering Hair Loss: A Guidebook for Understanding and Fighting Baldness by Brendon Tracey

Author:Brendon Tracey [Tracey, Brendon]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2017-01-04T16:00:00+00:00

EMERGING SOLUTIONS FOR HAIR LOSS

The section on treatments and therapies shows that while there are medical treatments that have been shown to be effective in limiting or stopping hair loss, they come with limitations. Medications require regular application in order to maintain benefits, which can be not only inconvenient, but expensive. Surgical procedures such as transplants are limited by the extent of existing hair follicles. Symptoms are treated, but in general, there is a lack of understanding of exactly why certain diseases cause the condition. While this may be the situation, there are a number of solutions newly on the market or in advanced stages of development that aim to improve the current state of hair loss treatment. The next few pages take a look at some of the most high-profile emerging examples.

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Dutasteride – This drug by GlaxoSmithKline, marketed under the brand name Avodart, is considered one of the most promising potential fixes. It is currently prescribed for the treatment of benign enlarged prostate glands. However, it is similar to Propecia in that it is a 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor which can significantly minimize the amount of testosterone being converted into dihydrotestosterone (DHT). High DHT levels in the blood cause hair follicles to limit hair growth, resulting in pattern baldness. Dutasteride has an advantage over Propecia in this activity. Usage of Propecia usually leads to a 65-70% decrease in DHT; Dutasteride has been shown to reduce DHT by 90% or more. Researchers believe Dutasteride does have side effects similar to those of Propecia; that said, their extent depends on dosage levels.

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Stem Cell Therapy – Scientists say that the ultimate hair loss solution would be finding a way to get inactive hair follicles to regenerate. Some labs are making strides in this arena – having figured how to manipulate stem cells in a test tube environment. Others are removing hair follicles from scalps and growing them along with dermal papilla (skin) cells. Growing the follicles in a culture with skin cells causes them to combine and form new follicles; an expanded version of this would increase the number of follicles available for a hair transplant. Some researchers believe this advancement – which has often been referred to as “hair cloning” — is not far off; in fact, it could be in practice as soon as five years. The most far-along research is being helmed by Aderans, a Japan-based wig manufacturer.

Another lab that has had some success is the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, which has published its findings in the journal PLOS ONE. Dr. Alexey Terskikh, an associate professor in the Development, Aging, and Regeneration Program at Sanford-Burnham, reveals that the lab has developed a process using human pluripotent stem cells to generate new cells capable of initiating human hair growth. If the solution’s success translates outside of petri dishes, it could even be used to help those victimized by the auto-immune disease alopecia areata. Terskikh indicates his institute’s process involves driving human pluripotent stem cells to differentiate into dermal papilla cells; there is evidence that they can then induce hair growth when transplanted into mice.

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