Hair

In pursuit of a treatment for alopecia areata, an autoimmune disorder that causes hair loss, scientists have found new success by repurposing a common arthritis drug which proved effective in around a third of subjects.

A new player has entered the hair loss scene promising a new form of treatment that takes a more efficient approach to regenerating lost follicles, by skipping a common step in the production of induced hair stem cells.

A new study has uncovered a previously unknown mechanism whereby stem cells can lose their adhesiveness and become dislodged from hair follicles in aging mice, leading to hair loss. They've also identified genes that could be key to reversing the process.

Scientists in China are throwing a new potential hair loss treatment into the mix that uses a dissolvable microneedle patch to stimulate hair growth, with the technology proving high effective in mouse models of hereditary pattern baldness.

A new study has produced first-of-a-kind scientific evidence of the connection between stress and graying hair, identifying proteins that seem to drive this process while also demonstrating how it might even be reversed.

Harvard scientists have published a paper detailing how stress hormones suppress the regenerative capabilities of hair follicles, adding to our knowledge around hair loss and raising new possibilities around how it might be tackled.

Researchers studying hair loss Japan have shed yet more light on the topic, discovering a new mechanism by which dividing cells can drive hair follicles to exhaustion, subduing their regenerative abilities as we age.

A breakthrough study from scientists in Japan has homed in on the specific characteristics of stem cells responsible for hair cell regeneration and identified the optimal ingredients to generate continual hair follicle growth.

Besides laundry-washing and lawn-sprinkling, the daily washing of hair uses up a lot of water. L’Oréal's new Water Saver system is designed to help, by reportedly reducing the amount of water used in hair-washing by up to 80 percent.

Researchers have identified a particular microRNA molecule that appears to regulate hair regeneration. This could be a new drug target for hair loss, bypassing the promising stem cell treatments without needing to grow and transplant whole cells.

A landmark study is offering evidence to suggest age-related hearing loss is primarily caused by accumulated damage to inner ear sensory hair cells, and hair-regeneration technologies may offer new treatments to restore hearing loss in old age.

Technology could really use some more sustainable sources, and now researchers at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) have turned to an unusual one. The team has shown that human hair from barber shops can be used to create OLED displays.