Baldness

​Despite a hefty amount of research, science still hasn’t cracked the mystery of how to stimulate hair regrowth. A study has now uncovered an entirely new way to promote human hair growth – and it's inspired by a side effect of a nearly 50-year-old drug.

There are plenty of people around the world waiting for an effective treatment for baldness and researchers from Yokohama National University have given them new hope by growing up to 5,000 hair follicle germs (HFGs) in the lab, which is the largest scale to date.

​A new study suggests there is a link between coronary artery disease and premature graying and baldness in young men. The researchers suggest that both baldness and greying are stronger risk predictors of heart disease than obesity.

A genetic mutation in an Amish population seems to help them live longer and healthier lives, and protects them from diabetes and other age-related illnesses. A drug that mimics those effects is currently being trialled in humans, and could slow aging, prevent diabetes and even counteract baldness.

If stem cells can do everything from growing skulls to generating new heart tissue, you'd think they'd also be able to help regrow hair on balding heads. In fact, they soon might be able to do just that. Researchers have now created a way to activate the stem cells found in dormant hair follicles.

A real baldness cure could be a step closer thanks to a team of scientists who have uncovered the cells that give rise to hair growth and also the genetic triggers behind hair turning gray.

Those experiencing hair loss aren't exactly spoilt for choice when it comes to addressing fading follicles. But scientists have discovered that blocking certain enzyme activity may be able to treat certain kinds of hair loss, with bald mice treated in this way sprouting new hair within 10 days.

Researchers have developed a technique to convert adult stem cells into epithelial stem cells (EpSCs) normally found at the bulge of hair follicles. The work has potential implications for wound healing, cosmetics, and hair regeneration.

A new technique that generates human hair growth from a patient's own cells could make hair transplantation feasible for those suffering male- and female-pattern hair loss, scarring alopecia, and hair loss due to burns.

Japanese scientists have induced the natural hair growth cycle in hairless mice through the implantation of bioengineered hair follicles.

Until now, the source of the signals that trigger hair growth has been unclear but the Yale researchers claim to have now discovered it, offering hope that a treatment for baldness can be developed.

While conducting research into brain-gut interactions, researchers may have inadvertently stumbled across a new treatment for hair loss.