An Accidental Cure for Baldness?

[thinhead]

By Marrecca Fiore Feb 17th 2011 9:29AM

Categories: News

Scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles and the Veterans Administration say they "stumbled" upon a possible cure for baldness while researching how stress affects the stomach and gut.

The researchers said this week they've found a chemical compound that spurs hair growth by blocking a stress-related hormone associated with hair loss -- at least in mice.

"Our findings show that a short-duration treatment with this compound causes an astounding long-term hair regrowth in chronically stressed mutant mice," Million Mulugeta, an adjunct professor of medicine in the division of digestive diseases at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a corresponding author of the research, said in a statement. "This could open new venues to treat hair loss in humans ... particularly hair loss related to chronic stress and aging."

The study is published in this week's issue of the online journal PLoS One.

For the study, UCLA and VA researchers injected the compound, called astressin-B, into the bald mice to observe how it affected gastrointestinal tract function. The initial injection had no effect, so the mice were given one injection each day for five days.

After measuring the the effects of the injection on the stressed out mice, the animals were placed back into the cages with mice that had hair.

About three months later, researchers checked in on the mice and found the bald mice had regrown the hair they lost from stress and could not be distinguished from their unstressed, hairy counterparts.

"It was totally unexpected," Mulugeta said of the discovery.

The study also found that the effects of the five-day shot regimen lasted for four months, which researchers say is a long time considering that mice only live for two years.

Although the researchers aren't' sure if the results will translate to humans, they said minoxidil, sold as Rogaine, had the same effect on the mice as it does in humans leading them to believe the newly discovered compound may have a similar effect on humans as it does in mice. Further research is planned.

http://www.aolhealth.com/2011/02/17/ucl ... 3%7C201961

 

[Risugo]

It´s all over the news around the world. But let's wait and see.

 

[Ori83]

you know, the biggest science riddles always solved by "accidents", i wish hair lose would be solved in some ironic way... like cat sh*t ... or pickled cucumber... i dont know.... :jackit: just cure that crap already man...

 

[malo]

This article has to do with Stress induced hair loss not male pattern baldness. I don't know why they are making such a big deal about it. Time and money would be better spent on talking about CB-03-01, Histogen, Adreans, or even Lumigen. Any one of these products stand a better chance of getting to market sooner and helping hair loss sufferers before this does.
After I read the article in NY Times I emailed them and told them to try and interview
Dr. Gail Naughton.

 

[powersam]

Both Propecia and Rogaine (generic drugs finasteride and minoxidil, respectively) were originally approved to treat conditions other than hair loss: Propecia for enlarged prostates and Rogaine for high blood pressure. In both cases the drug companies noticed the “interestingâ€￾ side effect of hair growth, and poof: two drugs for the price of one (Merke’s story behind finasteride is an interesting one, beginning with a scientific study of a male pseudohermaphrodites in a remote Carribean village).

Bryan might bust a gasket if he reads about them suggesting finasteride for hair loss was accidental.

 

[waynakyo]

update from Aderans:

Aderans Research recently completed the first of seven protocols of a hair regeneration Phase 2 clinical study.
More than half of study participants showed significant hair growth one year after the cell product treatment
was administered. Ongoing trial protocols are evaluating additional variants from ARI’s Ji Gami™ family of
follicular cell products.

 

[waynakyo]

i wouldn t make a big dfeal of this, smells like intercytex but it would be good i someone interviewed them

 

[goata007]

Bryan might bust a gasket if he reads about them suggesting finasteride for hair loss was accidental.

LOL!