Scientists May Have Accidentally Found a Cure for Baldness
A surprisingly-simple sugar solution may be able to restore lost hair.
Exciting progress is being made in the field of hair regrowth. Now, new innovations offer fresh possibilities for those seeking to restore thick, healthy locks.
Scientists from the University of Sheffield in the UK and COMSATS Universitycin Pakistan may have accidentally stumbled upon a method for reversing baldness, Popular Mechanics reported. The 2024 study that was published in the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology, came up with an innovative therapy which has already shown promise in mice.
The therapy utilizes naturally-occurring sugars to stimulate hair follicles. Early findings suggest it may be able to restore hair in people as well with less side effects than current therapies.
Current Hair Loss Treatments
Up to 50 percent of men worldwide suffer from male-pattern baldness. This condition is attributed to a variety of causes, including aging, stress, hormones, and genetics, according to Science Alert. Androgenic alopecia, also known as hereditary-pattern baldness, can affect women as well, although the condition manifests in different ways for males and females.
Still, the study of baldness is very challenging. There are currently only two FDA-approved therapies for treating hair loss. The first, minoxidil, slows hair loss in some individuals but is ineffective in others and may not help regrow lost hair.
The second treatment, finasteride, is 80 to 90 percent effective at restoring lost locks, but it comes at a cost. The treatment is linked with a host of side effects, including depression, pain, and changes in sexual function.
An Accidental Discovery
Popular Mechanics reported that the researchers may have accidentally stumbled on a breakthrough method for stimulating hair regrowth, while studying wound healing in mice. The team of British and Pakistani scientists applied a naturally-occurring sugar called 2-deoxy-D-ribose (2dDR) to lesions on mice, with the aim of exploring whether this sugar would aid in skin regrowth.
Incidentally the research team found that fur seemed to grow thicker and more quickly in the area that they applied the 2dDR solution to. After making this observation researchers shifted the focus of their study.
The team gave the mice a condition that mimicked testosterone-driven hair loss in humans and studied the effect of the sugar on the mice’s hair follicles. They found that the hair regrew within weeks. Not only did the fur grow back quickly it also grew longer, thicker, and denser than before and had more blood vessels supplying it.
A Promising Treatment
A 20-day trial of the 2dDR gel found that the sugar solution had an 80 to 90 percent efficacy rate in regrowing mice hair, marking it as a promising future treatment for male-pattern baldness and other forms of hair loss. The sugar solution is naturally-occurring, biodegradable, non-toxic, and may be associated with fewer side effects than current therapies, according to a press release from the University of Sheffield.
“This pro-angiogenic deoxy ribose sugar is naturally occurring, inexpensive and stable and we have shown it can be delivered from a variety of carrier gels or dressings. This makes it an attractive candidate to explore further for treatment of hair loss in men,” Professor Muhammed Yar of IRCBM, COMSATS University Pakistan, said in the press release.
His colleague, Sheila MacNeil, emeritus professor of Tissue Engineering at the University of Sheffield, who also collaborated on the study, shared that, “Our research suggests that the answer to treating hair loss might be as simple as using a naturally occurring 2-deoxy-D-ribose sugar to boost the blood supply to the hair follicles to encourage hair growth.”
While the research is very promising, more investigation is still necessary. But this shows
that the most surprising and useful discoveries happen by chance. An accidental finding could mark a turning point in the search for safer and more effective hair loss treatments. Imagine a future where a simple sugar solution could reliably and harmlessly reverse baldness.
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