Hair Loss Studies: Getting Closer to a Cure for Baldness

Men and women struggle with hair loss, and finding the cure is akin to the holy grail of dermatology. Despite countless studies and an array of prescription drugs and over-the-counter products that aim to treat hair loss, exciting new research points to defective stem cells as the cause of baldness.

A study by dermatologist and University of Pennsylvania researcher Dr. George Cotsarelis has found that bald people have less of a certain type of stem cell that instructs hairs on how to grow. As a result, bald men produce hairs so small in balding areas that they are invisible.

The current belief is that baldness is caused by the destruction of hair follicles, mainly by testosterone. Cotsarelis found that balding men actually have the same number of stem cells as men with full heads of hair, but the lack of a certain type of mature stem cell causes hair follicles to shrink instead. This is good news in terms of treatments for baldness, since the hope of reactivating the stem cells may be able to prompt hair regrowth.

It’s long been believed that there’s a connection between genetics and hair loss—and this belief still stands. Researchers have identified two genetic markers for hair loss, and one in seven men has both of them. One gene is responsible for testosterone binding to the hair follicle and is inherited from the mother, while the other gene is inherited from both parents. This explains the similarities between balding patterns of fathers and sons. Together, these two genes significantly increase the risk of baldness, and testing may one day be able to reveal one’s predisposition to hair loss. Researchers could then develop creams or pills that could prevent hair loss in the first place.

Current treatments for hair loss focus on the effect that testosterone has on hair follicles. Drugs like Propecia decrease the amount of testosterone that reaches the hair follicle, which has been shown to at least slow down the rate of hair loss. But testosterone is not the cause of balding in women, which is why this new stem cell discovery seems to make sense.

The big question is how to reactivate these stem cells in an effort to regrow hair. Ultimately, the magic bullet would be a cream applied to the scalp to help stem cells grow normal hair. But don’t think you can run out and buy a cream that claims to awaken stem cells today. This “cure” for baldness is still years away, but knowledge is power and we’re on our way.