Some men may find one fine day that the strong hairline that they donned in their twenties has been flinching impetuously towards the back of the temples. But still there is hope for our follically challenged friends as scientists are working to find the cure to baldness.
This is something we need to discuss. There’s a dilemma on our hands now as we have both good news and bad news for men facing issues related to hair loss and baldness.
Good news first. Researchers at John Hopkins Medicine have done a successful trial for an experimental compound that reverses gray hair, hair loss, skin inflammation that is associated with high cholesterol and high fat diet that is common in the Western World [1]. We precisely want to say that we are a step closer to finding a permanent cure for male pattern baldness. Reversing hair loss is miserably difficult but are we really a step closer to solving this puzzle of hair loss/baldness. There are many solutions for receding hairline like hair transplants, but this is a costly affair. Topical solutions promote growth of hair, but the rate is inconsistent. Hair loss is a bit of mystery. And it is challenging and complicated to treat it but have scientists found a way out to cure baldness?
It is believed by the researchers that this experimental compound halts production of fats known as glycosphingolipids (GSLs) which make up skin and cell membranes [2].
Tests were done on mice that received high fat and high cholesterol diet. Post this it was found that there was discoloration of hair that went from black to gray to white, significant hair loss and skin inflammation from multiple wounds. But when the mice were given this miracle compound, the effects reversed.
Now let’s come to the bad news. This compound has only been tested on mice and according to researchers, there is no surety of its safe working on human subjects.
But this does bring home the bacon a pathway to fight hair loss. Subroto Chatterjee, professor of medicine and pediatrics at John Hopkins University School of Medicine, tells us how this finding can considerably change lives of men.
Chatterjee adds that these findings demonstrate that a Western diet results in whitening of hair, hair loss, and skin inflammation in mice and men eating a diet high in cholesterol and fat go through a similar process when they lose hair and experience whitening of hair.
As of now, the scientists will study further the compound which is known as D-PDMP in the form of pill, for determining how much is effectively required to activate growth of hair.
Considering the number of men who would not mind popping a pill every morning to restore their hair, it is a sure thing that scientists will work their way until they have figured it out. More research is needed but this drug might help with skin diseases like wounds resulting from diabetes and other skin conditions like psoriasis.
So, we are hoping that in future, this would translate into quicker and more effective recovery from hair whitening, baldness and wound healing.
