Stem cell 'talk' may spur hair growth

A discovery by researchers at Yale University could lead to new treatments for baldness, Medical News Today reports.

Investigators identified stem cells within the skin’s fatty layer and showed that molecular signals from these cells were necessary to spur hair growth in mice, according to research published in the Sept. 2 issue of the journal Cell.

Medical News Today quotes lead author Valerie Horsley, Ph.D., assistant professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology at Yale, as saying, “If we can get these fat cells in the skin to ‘talk’ to the dormant stem cells at the base of hair follicles, we might be able to get hair to grow again.”

Dr. Horsley’s team observed that when hair dies, the layer of fat in the scalp that comprises most of the skin’s thickness shrinks. When hair growth begins, the fat layer expands in a process called adipogenesis. Investigators found that adipose precursor cells — stem cells involved in creation of new fat cells — were required for hair regeneration in mice. They also found that these cells produce platelet-derived growth factors, which are needed to produce hair growth.

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SOURCE Cosmetic Surgery Times

Gone today, hair tomorrow: the world of hair transplants

The hidden world of hair transplants is suddenly not so secretive, with celebrities openly embracing the holy grail of male grooming.

On the morning of June 4, a seismic shift occurred in the world of male grooming. 'Just to confirm to all my followers I have had a hair transplant,' Wayne Rooney tweeted, casually. 'I was going bald at 25 so why not?'

He went on to explain where he had had the procedure done (a Harley Street clinic), whether it hurt ('Nah, it was OK') and the healing process ('The new hair's coming along people. Swelling gone down'). He even posted pictures.

Rooney is the latest in a growing list of male celebrities happy to admit to 'hair restoration' procedures, but the glee with which he reported his was startling. 'Rooney's outing was a watershed moment,' says Mark Simpson, author of Metrosexy: A 21st Century Self-Love Story and a leading authority on the shifting nature of masculinity. 'It's a sign that something has changed. These days, there's much less shame about men caring about their appearance. In fact, there's quite a lot of out-of-the-closet pride.'

This is certainly a far cry from the days when men reluctantly accepted baldness. They now have a raft of options for restoring a thinning thatch. As well as transplants there are laser therapy treatments, which claim to bring follicles back to life, stimulating hair growth. There are nifty little weaves that attach to your existing barnet, and a concealer called Nanogen, essentially microscopic hairlike fibres that you sprinkle on your scalp like hundreds and thousands, and which cling to your thinning strands (nanogenhair.com). There is even hope for billiard-ball baldies in the shape of a tattooing treatment that creates the effect of scalp stubble (hishairclinic.com).

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SOURCE Lee Kynaston, Daily Telegraph

Wayne Rooney's doctors say going grey is common side-effect

'It's entirely normal': going grey is common side-effect of £30,000 hair transplant

The clinic who treated Wayne Rooney when he had his hair transplant have admitted that developing grey hair can be a common short-term side-effect of the procedure.

The Manchester United and England star reportedly spent £30,000 to get a full head of hair earlier this year in a bid to cure his baldness.

However, while it appears to have reversed his receding hairline, the footballer’s new thatch appeared to be slightly discoloured when he took to the field for Manchester United this weekend. 

Now the director of the clinic where Rooney had the procedure has revealed the ‘discolouration’ may last months.

Nadeem Uddin Khan, Director of the Harley Street Hair Clinic, said: ‘It isn’t possible to judge the full effect of a transplant for at least 6-12 months. The whole process is similar to transplanting a favourite plant or shrub. 

'While the roots re-establish themselves, the growth on top can be patchy and this can involve some initial loss or discolouration.'

'This is entirely normal and does not affect the ultimate outcome of a fully restored hairline featuring strong and healthy growth.'

 

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SOURCE: Daily Mail

Yale Scientists Find Stem Cells That Tell Hair It's Time To Grow

Yale researchers have discovered the source of signals that trigger hair growth, an insight that may lead to new treatments for baldness. 

The researchers identified stem cells within the skin's fatty layer and showed that molecular signals from these cells were necessary to spur hair growth in mice, according to research published in the Sept. 2 issue of the journal Cell. 

"If we can get these fat cells in the skin to talk to the dormant stem cells at the base of hair follicles, we might be able to get hair to grow again," said Valerie Horsley, assistant professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology and senior author of the paper. 

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SOURCE: MedicalNewsToday

Hair cells in bald men could be reawakened

Researchers have discovered that the skin on the heads of bald men contains just as many potential hair cells as their hirsute counterparts.

But somewhere along the line, the ability of them to grow strands of hair has been lost.

Now the researchers hope they can reactivate them – allowing for men to turn back the clock to their youth.

A team of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania looked at the "bald skin" on the head of men having hair transplants and compared it with skin where hair continued to grow.

They found they had exactly the same amount of stem cells – master cells that can convert into any other cells in the body.

However the ability of these cells to develop into a more advanced state – known as progenitor cells – had been lost.

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Would you let your man spend £7,000 to hide his bald patch?

Anyone who’s caught their man secretly checking out his reflection in the bathroom mirror will know that most of them are as vain as David Beckham or Simon Cowell.

They may be able to laugh off comments about their complexion, weight or their (lack of a) six-pack, but if there’s one thing liable to put in him in a huff, it’s pointing out that he may be thinning on top.

Male pattern baldness - known medically as androgenetic alopecia - affects nearly all men by the time they are 60. For some, such as Prince William and footballer Wayne Rooney, it can begin as young as 17 or 18.

But, for most men, baldness begins in the late 20s or early 30s. By the age of 40, a large percentage have said goodbye to the thick, lustrous locks of their youth.

For those happy to go through life looking like Phil Mitchell, William Hague - or for the lucky few - Bruce Willis, it’s no big deal.

But for many others, baldness can become an obsession, as actor James Nesbitt admitted last week.

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After years of battling his thinning pate, he finally had two follicular unit transplants, which replaced much of the lost hair. ‘They’ve changed my life,’ he says. ‘It’s horrible going bald. Anyone who says it isn’t is lying.’


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Can You Reverse Hair Loss with a Laser?

Hair loss treatment with low level laser light therapy can be traced back to 1964 when Professor Andre Mester of Budapest conducted an experiment using low level laser light rays to heal the wounds of laboratory mice. He discovered that the laser rays stimulated blood circulation and caused hair located in the area of the wound to grow thicker and longer.

Low level laser light therapy is now widely used around the world as a treatment for hair loss. Laser light rays are applied directly to the scalp and penetrate deeply to activate blood circulation around the hair follicles, halting hair loss and stimulating new growth.

Until recently, this treatment was only available under medical supervision in clinics and was very costly, but the miniaturisation of the technology and stringent, international safety and quality requirements have led to the exciting development of affordable hand-held hair loss treatment lasers for personal use at home.

What Type Of Hair Laser Will Be Most Effective?

Currently there are many different types of hair laser available on the market but how do you choose which is going to be the most effective in treating your hair loss?

Each different laser light used in hair loss treatment lasers has a specific treatment and penetration depth into the scalp. The blood capillaries in direct contact with the dermal papillae lie in the hypodermis, the deepest inner layer among 3 layers of skin (scalp) tissue. The dermal papillae nourish the hair follicles and play a pivotal role in the cycle of hair formation and growth.

Does the Wavelength of the Lasers Matter?

Lasers around the 650nm / 670nm wavelength are the most commonly used in hair loss treatment lasers since their light is a clear, bright red which is immediately visible to the naked eye. It is easily observed to be working in treatment and in fact, it actually does have a beneficial therapeutic effect. They are also cheaper to use in manufacture than longer wavelength, infrared lasers. However, light at this wavelength mainly treats the surface of the scalp and does not penetrate deeply enough so, used alone, is not sufficient for effective hair loss treatment.

The more expensive infrared (invisible light) lasers which use 780nm wavelength are able to penetrate and energise deeper within the skin tissue and are more effective in treatment, although substances within the skin tissue such as melanin, water and haemoglobin absorb and weaken the energy of the laser light. Due to their cost, these lasers are rarely used by manufacturers of hair loss treatment lasers.

Laser light at 830nm wavelength is the least absorbed by the melanin, water and haemoglobin in the skin tissue and therefore able to retain more of its beneficial power to energise the hair follicles and so more light energy can be absorbed into the blood cells. This increases blood circulation and the delivery of nutrients and oxygen to the hair follicles.

Multi Wavelength Hair Loss Treatment Lasers

The most effective hair loss treatment lasers use a combination of 670nm, 780nm and 830nm lasers, such as the Wellay Personal Hair Laser which uses 21 low power multi-wavelength lasers, in 7 groups of 3 lasers at 670nm, 780nm and 830nm. The 3 different wavelengths irradiate the same area of the scalp simultaneously, each working at different layers of the tissue, maximising the benefit and proving a more effective hair growth treatment.

In clinical trials, regular treatment with a Wellay Personal Hair Laser stops the progress of hair loss in 85% of users, increases blood supply to the scalp by 54% after only one treatment, stimulates hair follicles to activate re-growth and improves the quality of the hair shaft resulting in a 25% increase in hair volume and shinier and thicker hair. It also gives noticeable hair growth in as little as 12 weeks. With continuing use, the hair will carry on growing and improving in health.

Patented Technology

The Wellay Personal Hair Laser from beauty-lasers uses world-first patented technology and is the only genuine multi-wavelength hair treatment laser for home treatment of hair loss and scalp conditions. It has CE approval, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 13485 and FDA (Korea) approval. It has been designed to the highest international safety and quality standards.

There are many scientific studies for each laser wavelength that show how effective it is in therapeutic treatment - you can read more about the different effects of each wavelength on the website of the Swedish Laser Medical Society.