Is there a new, gentle solution to the bitter misfortune of baldness?
Scientists claim to have accidentally discovered a revolutionary cure for male pattern baldness, a genetic condition that affects up to half of all men and a quarter of all women by the age of 50.
A research team from the University of Sheffield in England and COMSATS University in Pakistan came across the discovery while studying how the naturally occurring sugar deoxyribose could heal wounds.
Researchers were applying sugar to the wounds of lab mice when they noticed that the fur around the lesions grew back quickly.
Fascinated by this discovery, the researchers took their investigation further. They applied a small dose of sugar to male mice suffering from testosterone-induced hair loss, and found that it promoted the formation of new blood vessels, which led to hair regrowth.
“Our research suggests that the answer to treating hair loss could be as simple as using a natural deoxyribose sugar to stimulate blood flow to hair follicles to promote hair growth,” said Sheila MacNeil, Emeritus Professor of Tissue Engineering at the University of Sheffield.
Researchers found that the gel treatment was just as effective as minoxidil, a hair loss treatment known by the brand name Rogaine.
Although minoxidil has been shown to slow hair loss and promote some regrowth, it does not work for everyone who suffers from hair loss.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved only two drugs to treat hereditary baldness: minoxidil and finasteride (brand name Propecia), which are designed to maintain testosterone in the body.
Finasteride, approved for men but not women, slows hair loss in 80 to 90 percent of male patients. However, finasteride has also been associated with side effects such as depression, erectile dysfunction, decreased libido, testicular pain, and suicidal ideation.
Others suffering from hair loss opt for laser treatments or hair transplants. Anti-aging guru Bryan Johnson swears by a three-pronged approach: red light therapy, microneedling, and topical treatments.
Due to limited options and potential side effects, the promise of a safer, non-invasive baldness gel could be a medical breakthrough.
If deoxyribose gel proves effective in humans, it could also be used to treat alopecia and possibly to stimulate the regrowth of hair, eyelashes and eyebrows after chemotherapy.
“This is a very understudied area and new approaches are therefore needed,” the researchers wrote last month in Frontiers in Pharmacology.
MacNeil remains cautiously optimistic about his team’s findings: “The research we’ve done is still at a very early stage, but the results are promising and warrant further research.”
