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Baldness Cure could be on shelves in 2 years?
I came across it so i thought i should share:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9485807/Baldness-cure-...
They are already talking with pharmaceutical firms about making the product, which would work by stopping the effects of a single guilty enzyme.
US-based dermatologists announced earlier this year that they had found that an enzyme, called prostaglandin D2 (PGD2), instructed follicles to stop producing hair.
They identified it by screening 250 genes implicated in hair loss.
George Cotsarelis, head of dermatology at Pennsylvania University, said the one responsible for levels of PGD2 played “the major role”.
He said he was now talking with several drugs firms about creating the anti-baldness product.
Drugs are already available that reduce PGD2 levels, as it has been implicated in asthma, holding out the hope that developing a related product for baldness could be speedy.
About four in five men will experience some degree of baldness by the age of 70. In bald patches follicles are still making hairs, but less well than before. The hairs get shorter and shorter until they are either barely visible or do not even break the skin’s surface.
Cotsarelis and colleagues found that in 17 men with hair loss, PGD2 levels were three times higher in bald spots than in hairy areas.
When the original study was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine in March, he said: “We really do think if you remove the inhibition [caused by PGD2}, you get longer hair.”
He said the finding raised the possibility of not only stopping hair loss, but of bald men also being able to regrow full heads of hair.
Des Tobin, director of the centre for skin sciences at Bradford University, described the advance as “a big step forward”.
He said: “I can’t see why we won’t soon be able to intervene to prevent hair loss.”
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by claudiaclaude on
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I tried to visit this doctor since I live in the area. He was not accepting new patients. To my understanding he only researches male pattern baldness. Not sure what this will do for other forms of alopecia or for baldness in women.
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Permalink Reply by Deejay on
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well claudia, i think a giant leap in any direction to fight hairloss would be appreciated. At least to me. So many of us have Alopecia for so many different reasons, our pattern of hairloss differs and so do the types of treatments we respond to. I for one, have a pattern of hairloss i've never seen on a woman. It looks very much like male patterned baldness but is classified as AA that has progressed over a span of 20years. We're not sure what this will mean for the Alopecia community as a whole but i'm sure if they can get a recognized medical cure out there, it would do SOMEONE some good. Man, woman or child. :)
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By the way, several patients with female patterned baldness and some other forms of alopecia (though i havn't heard of AU) have responded positively to treatments such as Minoxil and Finasteride which were originally formulated for male patterned baldness. To me, it'll be just another option.
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I understand your points, of course. I think the thing that upsets me a little about this particular doctor is that the money is in curing male pattern baldness, not the kinds of baldness that affect women routinely. That is where the money is. Those of us with rarer conditions--I have scarring alopecia--are left with a tangle of ad hoc solutions that can cause harm sometimes. And all of us have our individual body chemistry that will impact how we react to treatments. The medical establishment has worked wonders but it is a business like any other, and it's going for the bottom line.
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hey, if i knew i was going to be bald for the most part of my adult life, i would had been a doctor and dedicated my career to a cure for alopecia. But the condition is so unpredictable i think it scares doctors and even dermatologists to deal with it. I remember the first time i saw a derm for my hairloss, he took a biopsy and asked me to come back in a week. A week later, he told me, "You have Alopecia". I said, "well what can i do?" He replied, "Nothing. your hair won't grow back". I promise you that's exactly how that conversation went. He looked at me waiting for me to leave his office. I spent the next 10years hiding behind hair pieces and hats. If i had addressed (what i later discovered out my my own research)my Alopecia Areata, at that time, i knew i would have hair now. Or at least have something to blend into society with. I used to think of my alopecia as a disease that is not terminal, but killed me every day i lived with it. Robbed my confidence, altered my personally, dictated where i could go to and who i could go with. I didn't go anywhere i couldn't wear hats. My quality of life was very strained. I'm sorry i keep rambling, i just talk too much. LOL
But here's the deal: They don't take this condition very seriously. I can't even find an insurance company to cover care for it. The general public considers the pursuit for a cure for hairloss similar to a pursuit for the fountain of youth. Or Atlantis. They think we're Vain for wanting our hair back. They found out about DHT (main cause of male patterned baldness) and did what they could with it. Hair Clubs make tons of money from rich men for hair transplants. They go for the money period and to where the profit comes in. They brought you Viagra and Rogain. We put a man on the moon over 30yrs ago but we still can't grow hair in 2012. LOL
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Permalink Reply by Erin Brown on
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I just fell in love with you deejay!
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Permalink Reply by ellauk on
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I have a jagged hairline and some small bald patches in the hairline caused by Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia. Would this advancement help people like me I wonder? Thanks for posting this :)
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Permalink Reply by SabineTawni on
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I cannot understand why insurance companies can get away with not covering Alopecia Areata hair loss. Alopecia Areata is an autoimmune disease. Insurance companies have always covered appearance-related problems if they were caused by injury, accident, disease, illness, or birth defects. So why is Alopecia Areata treatment excluded?
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