Accidently Reversing Baldness in Mice Might Lead To Cure for Humans
February 17, 2011
Veterinary digestive disease researcher Dr. Million Mulugeta had no idea that his research on mice might one day effect countless millions of human beings and the world as we know it.
Dr. Mulugeta and his team were were studying digestive function in mice that coincidently suffered with alopecia (hair loss) due to an increase in corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), a compound that seems to play a role in how the body responds to stress. When the team injected an antagonist, a compound that blocks CRF, once daily for five days, the mice regrew all of their hair. It was a surprising response that lasted for four months.
Although some types of hair loss have long been linked to stress, Dr. Mulugeta had no idea that inhibiting key receptors in a stress response pathway would have such a dramatic effect on stimulating once dormant hair follicles.
“This was totally unexpected,” said Mulugeta, co-director of the UCLA/CURE Digestive Diseases Research Center. “We do not work on hair; we did not set out to study hair growth.”
Read the story and join the discussion:
http://www.baldtruthtalk.com/showthread.php?t=4437
I’m 16 and I’m Going Bald!
January 26, 2010
Hair loss at any age can be devastating, but to begin the hair loss process as a teenager is beyond the scope of what most teens will ever be forced to cope with. A larger percentage of boys deal with the early onset of male pattern hair loss than most people realize. An estimated 20% of hair loss sufferers begin the process of balding before than age of twenty one, and many begin before they even graduate from high school. What these young hair loss sufferers need to know is that they are not alone and that there is life after hair loss.
It’s important that teens confide in their parents, and seek the advise of a physician who specializes in hair loss as soon as they notice any change in their hair. Early intervention is always the key to the effective treatment of hair loss, but immediate emotional support can be even more important during this extremely vulnerable time in a young hair loss sufferers life.
Last week a young man posted his story and plea for help on the BaldtruthTalk.com message forums:
“I am a 16 year old boy, and this is my story. For about a year now, I have been losing my hair.”
“Every single day, I dedicated it to finding a cure. But found nothing.. I discovered Hair Restoration on the internet, and went to a hair restoration company.. The lady at the consultation felt bad for me, so she sent me to see a surgeon.. Once I saw him, all he did was prescribe me Propecia, and tell me that my donor area was outstanding (really good). But I couldn’t fill it because they said I had to be 18.. I bought a very expensive wig to cover it up, but it makes me feel faker than ever when I wear it.. I can’t do the activities I wish to do with it on either, or it will just fall off.. I cry a lot because of it.. I don’t go outside anymore because of it.. And it hurts so much emotionally because of my age.. Some nights, I even cry myself to sleep because of it.” “I wish someone could fix this, and make it go away.”
Listen to Spencer Kobren’s audio response to this young man’s post:
