Can hair loss and balding be reversed now?

Is the age-related loss of hair reversible?

Age-related hair loss is a big problem for men in particular. Researchers have now discovered how to reverse the process of gradual balding.

The New York School of Medicine researchers have recently come up with a method to reverse the gradual formation of a bald head. The physicians published the results of their study in the English-language journal "Nature Communications".

Researchers activate special brain path

The experts have achieved a true medical breakthrough by successfully rebuilding hair on wounded skin. This could also cause a gradual formation of baldness to be reversed. The researchers activated a special path in the brain. This is very active when babies are in the womb and hair follicles are formed. In aged or wounded skin, however, this path is no longer active.

Experts examined so-called fibroblasts

The study looked at damaged skin in laboratory mice and focused on cells called fibroblasts that excrete collagen. Collagen is a protein responsible for maintaining the shape and strength of the skin and hair. The researchers also focused on fibroblasts because it is known that these cells help control some of the biological processes involved in healing. The research team activated a special brain path through which cells communicate with each other. By initiating communication between these cells, hair growth was initiated in the mice within four weeks. After nine weeks, hair roots and stem structures appeared, explain the authors of the study.

Hair grew on damaged skin

The results show that stimulating fibroblasts can induce hair growth through a special pathway in the brain that has not previously been seen in wound healing. The regrowth of hair on damaged skin is a challenge not yet mastered in medicine. People with traumas, burns, and other injuries could benefit. The results are not only an improvement for the treatment of wounded skin, but they are also promising for the improvement of hair growth in mature skin, explain the doctors.

Side effects of current hair loss remedies

Other experiments dealing with the special pathway in our brain showed an increased risk for tumors. To avoid such risks, the team only switched to fibroblasts that were located just below the surface of the skin, where the roots of hair follicles appear for the first time. Now, likely drug targets for hair regrowth need to be identified, the researchers say. Currently licensed drugs may have unwanted side effects. Minoxidil, for example, increases blood flow to the scalp and nourishes hair follicles. This helps about two-thirds of the patients, but may have side effects ranging from rapid heartbeat to swollen feet and abdominal pain. Finasteride blocks an enzyme that converts testosterone into dihydrotestosterone (DHT), another form of the hormone that causes the formation of a bald head. Finasterides induce some hair growth in up to 80 percent of men, but every sixth user experiences impotence. The risk increases further, the longer people take the drug. (As)