Hair Loss Research Raises Hope for New Treatments
A recent article at SFGate.com explores the use of biotechnology in searching for new hair loss treatments. While not a life threatening disease, hair loss certainly has a devastating effect on sufferers. Kaiser Permanente dermatologist Paradi Mirmirani explains, “”I have tearful patients in my office many times a day. When they lose their hair, they feel like they’ve lost their identity.”
A Multibillion Dollar Industry
Although most health insurance providers don’t reimburse policy holders for hair loss treatments, many individuals are willing to pay out of pocket. Over one billion dollars are spent every years on hair loss drugs and transplants, making it a lucrative industry. The good news for hair loss sufferers is that this kind of revenue motivates pharmaceutical companies and academic researchers to search for more effective treatments.
They’re throwing an arsenal of high-tech tools at the condition: genome studies, stem cell stimulation, gene therapy, a type of tissue engineering often called “hair cloning” and even robotics.
Currently there are only two drugs for hair loss that are approved by both the Food and Drug Administration and The American Hair Loss Association. Those are Merck’s Propecia and Johnson & Johnson’s Rogaine (generic name minoxidil). However, several companies are looking to expand on the number of effective drug treatments for hair loss. They are also looking beyond drugs, to improving transplants and cultivating hair follicles to increase hair growth.
Drugs Under Development
• Pfizer, Inc is developing a drug that works the same way as Rogaine for topical use.
• Pfizer is also working on another drug treatment, which will mimic the effect of thyroid hormones.
• AndroScience Corp. is working on a drug that degrades cell receptors for dihydrotestosterone (DHT), the hormone that stops hair follicles from producing new hairs.
Transplant Improvements
• Restoration Robotics is developing surgical equipment that would allow surgeons to perform faster and cheaper transplants.
Follicle Cultivation
• Follica Inc. is working on methods for generating new hair follicles, which is currently seen as high risk and is in extremely early stages of development.
• Aderans Research Institute is looking at ways to multiply key cells from the scalp, which would then be injected or seeded into the scalp to generate new follicles.
The promise for better solutions to hair loss has many hair loss sufferers feeling hopeful that in the near future there will be more choices and better treatments.
You can read the entire SFGate article at the following link:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/06/BU4IVBIV2.DTL&type=tech
Scientists discover new hair loss gene. Promising new baldness treatments may be on the horizon.
According to researchers in London, the discovery of a gene associated with a rare form of hair loss could lead to the development of new drugs to treat baldness. The identified gene causes a condition know as Hypertricosis simplex. It affects 1 in 200,000 people causing them to begin losing hair in childhood. The hair loss is thought to be triggered by a gene mutation that causes a defect in hair follicle growth receptors. ” There is a very good chance of developing a therapy to treat hair loss based on this finding, ” reported Regina Betz, the study’s leader and researcher at the Institute of Human Genetics.
The researchers gathered data by studying DNA samples from 11 members of a Saudi Arabian family afflicted with the condition. They believe that their findings will lead to the creation of effective treatments for many different types of hair loss. The findings were reported in the journal Nature Genetics.
Click here to read the article in its entirety. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23334554/
No TagsHair Transplant Bait and Switch
Dear AHLA,
I was researching my hair replacement options and stumbled across a website that promoted scarless hair transplants. When I went in for a consultation the salesperson told me that I was not a candidate for the scarless operation and suggested that I have a traditional hair transplant. Is this a common bait and switch technique or did I go to the wrong company?
This is actually becoming a very common scenario. Many of the unethical clinics will do anything to get vulnerable hair loss sufferers in the door only to tell them that even though they are not candidates for the advertised hair transplant procedure, they can still be “helped” by a more invasion operation and in some cases a more expensive procedure.
Be very wary of these charlatans. Before considering surgical hair restoration make sure you do your home work. Contact The International Alliance of Hair Restoration Surgeons for advice.
The IAHRS is a consumer organization comprised of the most skilled and ethical hair transplant surgeons on the field and the only surgeons recommended by the AHLA.
Dr. Kevin McElwee Will Be Pursuing a Unique Line of Alopecia Areata Genetic Study
Dr. Kevin McElwee will be pursuing a unique line of Alopecia Areata genetic study.
Alopecia areata (AA) is a common disfiguring autoimmune disease which results in distressing and extensive hair hair loss in men, women, and children. Approximately 640,000 Canadians will experience AA - a ratio of 1 in 50 - which makes it a statistically significant disease to understand. Treatment options for AA are limited and there is no cure.
Dr. McElwee’s long-term goal is to determine the contribution of genes to the development of AA. The Michael Smith Foundation award will sponsor his study to test the hypothesis that AA is due to a genetic susceptibility towards disease development. The first step in proving this is to identify genes associated with AA in a rat model, and then define the specific genes involved and what the genes do.
Already Dr. McElwee’s team has identified several candidate regions on chromosomes where genes coding for susceptibility to AA are present by using controlled breeding strategies and screening across the entire genome.
Using a system called single nucleotide polymorphism the team will determine whether there are significant changes in the identified genes associated with rat AA, and will look for differences in gene expression and gene products.
Once genes have been identified in the rat model, they will use the information derived from the model to define a large scale study of AA affected humans. The nature of these genes may help us to understand how AA develops and, in the long term, such genes may be the target of new and effective treatments for AA.
More information is available at the Michael Smith Foundation For Health Research
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