National Hair Loss Awareness Month (yes, there is such a thing) has been and gone, so it’s never been a better time to take stock of what’s new in hair loss technology this year. And there’s been a lot of new and interesting developments…
Stem cell research turns to the scalp
We’ve already mentioned some of the more exciting uses for stem cell research, but the boffins at Stanford University in California are going a little bit deeper.
They’ve been looking into the mysteries of Wnt signalling – the protein pathways that pass information from cell to cell – and have concluded that a breakdown in all that information-relaying could well be a key to hair loss. Now all they need to do is work out how to correct that…
A link to alopecia areata and a reduced risk of strokes
According to a study conducted by two hospitals in Boston, patients with alopecia areata had a decreased risk for stroke, and a trend toward decreased risk for myocardial infarction, although not statistically significant.
Laser treatments fail the test
Treatment for alopecia areata with a neodymium:yttrium aluminum garnet laser or a fractional carbon dioxide laser did not increase hair count when compared with a control patch, according to a recent study in Turkey. 32 men were treated over 36 months, and only a mere 22% showed any improvement in hair growth.
Platelet-rich plasma performs well with androgenetic alopecia
According to a recent study in Spain, patients who received a half-head treatment of platelet-rich plasma to treat androgenetic alopecia showed a clinical benefit at 6-month follow-up. 25 patients were given the platelet-rich plasma treatment on one side of the scalp, and placebo on the other half-head, over the course of six months – with a significant improvement detected on the treated side.
