Hair Loss News
Through the years, researchers have not stopped trying to discover the actual cause of hair loss and to find methods to prevent the condition or to promote hair growth.
Stem cell research related to hair growth has been on the news in recent years.
Elaine Fuchs, investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Rockefeller University, discovered that two molecules signal immature stem cells to start producing hair follicles.
With this knowledge, Fuchs and her team are seeking ways to use drugs to activate natural factors that would signal hair follicle growth in desired places and inhibitor drugs to stop hair growth in unwanted areas.
In separate news, but still related to stem cell research, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine were able to isolate the stem cell responsible for hair follicle growth.
With the knowledge of which stem cell produces hair, researchers are pushing their study to find ways to manipulate hair growth.
The next step is to use stem cell transplant as a treatment for hair loss.
A common problem for a cancer patient is hair loss, but recent news has reported a new radiation technique that prevents hair loss from occurring in brain cancer patients.
Brain cancer treatment subjects the patient to a whole brain radiotherapy wherein two radiation beams are used to target the cancer from each side of the head.
By using Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), doctors are able to regulate the intensity and shape of the radiation beam to focus on the cancer without damaging the surrounding healthy cells, including hair follicles, thus reducing the amount of hair lost.
For a long period of time, an effective hair loss medication called finasteride is unapproved by the Food and Drug Administration to be taken by women because of its effects on fetus, but recent news reported that Matilde Iorizzo of the University of Bologna, Italy, has recommended that the medication be combined with contraceptives to treat hair loss.
Studies conducted on women over a one-year period showed significant improvement in their hair loss condition using this method.
Stem cell research related to hair growth has been on the news in recent years.
Elaine Fuchs, investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Rockefeller University, discovered that two molecules signal immature stem cells to start producing hair follicles.
With this knowledge, Fuchs and her team are seeking ways to use drugs to activate natural factors that would signal hair follicle growth in desired places and inhibitor drugs to stop hair growth in unwanted areas.
In separate news, but still related to stem cell research, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine were able to isolate the stem cell responsible for hair follicle growth.
With the knowledge of which stem cell produces hair, researchers are pushing their study to find ways to manipulate hair growth.
The next step is to use stem cell transplant as a treatment for hair loss.
A common problem for a cancer patient is hair loss, but recent news has reported a new radiation technique that prevents hair loss from occurring in brain cancer patients.
Brain cancer treatment subjects the patient to a whole brain radiotherapy wherein two radiation beams are used to target the cancer from each side of the head.
By using Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), doctors are able to regulate the intensity and shape of the radiation beam to focus on the cancer without damaging the surrounding healthy cells, including hair follicles, thus reducing the amount of hair lost.
For a long period of time, an effective hair loss medication called finasteride is unapproved by the Food and Drug Administration to be taken by women because of its effects on fetus, but recent news reported that Matilde Iorizzo of the University of Bologna, Italy, has recommended that the medication be combined with contraceptives to treat hair loss.
Studies conducted on women over a one-year period showed significant improvement in their hair loss condition using this method.
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