Hair loss can be a traumatic experience for men and women. Given its effects on self-esteem, confidence and body image it’s all too easy to see why many people are always searching for a miracle cure.
Hair loss treatments, sorting the wheat from the chaff
Whilst there are a number of well established and clinics and procedures which will advise and treat hair loss with appropriate procedures such as transplants, scalp micropigmentation or mesotherapy there is an equal number of dubious products and practitioners with wild claims about successful results and hair regrowth.
One of the latest treatments to be heralded by Giuseppe Mucci, founder and owner of Bioscience Clinic in Dubai is a brand new stem cell therapy called “Hairskill”.
The procedure involves removing stem cells from the patient’s own adipose layer and injecting them 12 days later, by the hair bulb to promote regeneration of the hair. He claims the treatment can produce results in one month.
A hair transplant can take two to three years to produce hair regrowth and all other treatments only arrest hair loss so it’s hardly surprising his new treatment is creating a bit of a stir.
Does Stem Cell Therapy Work?
The question is, does it actually work? A recent article in Explore Stem Cells by Ian Murnaghan suggests that the stem cell treatment might not be that far fetched.
A study at the University of Pennsylvania found that stem cells could restore and even make new hair follicles. The study identified a gene called Wnt which has a dual action of helping wounds to heal and creating new hair follicles by stimulating stem cells.
Murnaghan is careful to point out that this research is still in the early phases though and, promising as it is, there have been no clinical trials on humans. He concludes that it may well be successful treatment for hair loss “one day”.
It’s possible that the Bioscience Clinic in Dubai is on to something but it would probably pay to do a little more research of their satisfied clients and the results of their clinical trials before investing in the “hairskill” procedure.
