A news story has aired recently with scientists believing that they have found a cure for baldness thanks to a new medical breakthrough, but what is this new knowledge and how would a cure work? The majority of people on the planet who experience hair loss feel insecure about their baldness or balding appearance at some point during their lifetime, but up until recently with hair loss the main solution was a toupee or wig.
This new scientific breakthrough that can apparently reverse and cure hair loss that is directly linked to ageing has been discovered by scientists at the New York School of Medicine, who say that the process involves carrying out hair regrowth on wounded skin. It links to a pathway in the brain known as the “sonic hedgehog” pathway (which, for something that isn’t related to a video game is a pretty weird name in a scientific breakthrough) and while this pathway is active in a person whilst they are in the womb and the hair follicles are being initially formed, it slows and stops with age and within damaged skin.
Their team of scientists focused on cells known as fibroblasts which contain collagen, something commonly known within the beauty world to give vibrant and beautiful skin but in the hair world it is necessary for maintaining the strength and shape of the hair strands. By activating the “sonic hedgehog” signalling pathway to trigger cells to communicate with each other, the researchers saw regrowth in the hair on their test mice within four weeks and after approximately nine weeks, the roots and shaft structures found within the hair had started to grow and appear.
The results have clearly shown that by stimulating fibroblast cells via the “sonic hedgehog” pathway can trigger hair regrowth that has not previously been seen before in wound healing. In theory, if the right cells can communicate as well as they do in their embryonic form, the hair cells can eventually begin growing back on skin that has been damaged by things like scarring and burning, as well as then being used to target hair growth in people who have experienced any form of hair loss, whether that is just a minor amount or breaking into full blown baldness. What this means is the theoretically, this can be a cure for baldness.
Now while this is a reason for people who have been experiencing hair loss to jump for joy and start to rejoice, this is currently just a scientific study being carried out on mice and as it stands it is not a viable method of hair loss rejuvenation. In the current market, if you are starting to lose your hair or experiencing hair loss in any degree, the best thing that you can do is speak to a consultant and look into the options available to you. These will be different for every individual case, but with options such as medication, scalp micropigmentation and the FUE and FUT methods there are a number of ways to combat the signs and effects of hair loss.