STEM CELLS: A POSSIBLE HAIR LOSS TREATMENT

Stem Cells: A Possible Hair Loss Treatment

Good news for men and women all over the world who are suffering from hair loss because a promising hair loss treatment has been discovered. Researchers from Tokyo University of Science have found a way to use stem cells to grow hair.

According to the American Hair Loss Association, roughly two-thirds of men who’ve reached the age of 35 will experience some degree of hair loss. By the age of 50, approximately 85% of men will suffer from advanced hair thinning. On the other hand, approximately 40% of American women are hair loss sufferers.

Though there are a lot of hair loss treatments available to address this unwanted problem. Some of these treatments are proven to be unsafe and can cause all sorts of side effects especially in men. A hair transplant is an excellent treatment for hair loss, but it involves harvesting your already depleting hair strands.

Fortunately, Japanese researchers found a way to create new hair follicle seeds from stem cells. What is great about the study is that the researchers used adult type of stem cells to generate the follicle seeds, instead of using embryonic stem cells. This means that hair follicle seeds can be made from your own stem cells, eliminating possibility of rejection from your immune system.

Sadly, the experiments have been proven a success on mice and human trials have yet to be done. The research utilized naked mice or the hairless variety of mice. The hair seeds are implanted around the nape of the mice and successfully grew hair. What’s so amazing about the experiment was the hair follicles where able to go through repeated hair growth cycles, where hair will fall off and grow back again, just like the way normal hair grows.

According to the Japanese researchers, clinical trials for human use are on their way and the treatment can be available with 4 to 5 years time.