Discover the origin of baldness ( aka hair loss, male pattern baldness, etc )

Discover the origin of baldness
Despite the enormous distress that cause common baldness, until now little was known about its causes at the cellular level.

But now U.S. researchers discovered that stem cells play a surprising role in the origin of baldness.

According to research published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation (Journal of Clinical Investigation), the problem is not hair loss but the production of hair so small it barely visible to the naked eye, which brings up the classic bald patches.

This is due to a defect in the way stem cells from hair follicles produce, say scientists at the School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.

Researchers hope to eventually create a cure for alopecia restoring the normal function of these cells.

For example, they say, could develop a cream that can be applied to the scalp to help stem cells to produce normal hair.

Missing cells

In the skin, hair follicles are responsible for producing hair growth because stem cells are concentrated in them.

The researchers used cell samples of men who were undergoing hair transplants and compared the bald scalp follicles and normal.

They found that in the scalp of one person, balding areas had the same number of stem cells that regions with normal hair.

But they also discovered that in the follicles from balding scalps, the number of other more mature cells, called progenitor cells, was markedly reduced.

This difference means that the follicles shrink the bald areas, but not disappear, and therefore produce microscopic hair hair compared to normal areas.

Possible cure

"The fact that a bald patch has a normal number of stem cells gives us hope of reactivating those stem cells that produce normal hair," he told the BBC Dr. George Cotsarelis, who led the research.

"If we had not found stem cells in these areas would be much more difficult to create a treatment," he adds.

Scientists do not know why this change occurs, but Dr. Cotsarelis said: "We are now studying various factors that may be responsible for the inhibition of stem cells."

All currently available therapies are aimed at maintaining the hair that remains on the scalp, but there are no treatments that cause hair growth in patches of alopecia.

Bald Man

However, Dr. Cotsarelis said, "this study shows that, because stem cells are still there, it is possible to achieve growth of hair.

"Therefore, we believe that treatment can be developed to activate these stem cells to permit the development and growth of hair," explains the researcher told the BBC.

Although this finding has implications more cosmetic than medical, there will undoubtedly be a huge market for any remedy to achieve reverse alopecia.

"Undoubtedly there will be many people very interested in this breakthrough," said Dr Cotsarelis.

"It is not just for vanity, for baldness cause great distress to many people. The hair is part of our identity and, when lost, for many people is like losing part of his personality. "

"This not only affects men, because 30% of women show a significant loss of hair when they reach age 50. So now we plan to study whether this alteration occurs in the same way as female pattern baldness, "adds the scientist.

Note: I differ greatly with the view of Dr.George Cotsarelis, University of Pennsylvania; not think cause "great distress" to lose hair, there are worse things that can cause such distress. Our identity is not just hair.

Source : hair transplant cost