In the News – Baldness Cure is 2 Years Away?
Snippet from the article:
They are already talking with pharmaceutical firms about making the product, which would work by stopping the effects of a single guilty enzyme.
US-based dermatologists announced earlier this year that they had found that an enzyme, called prostaglandin D2 (PGD2), instructed follicles to stop producing hair. They identified it by screening 250 genes implicated in hair loss.
George Cotsarelis, head of dermatology at Pennsylvania University, said the one responsible for levels of PGD2 played “the major roleâ€. He said he was now talking with several drugs firms about creating the anti-baldness product.
Read the rest – Baldness cure could be on shelves in two years
Two years seems like a bit of a stretch, considering there is no actual product yet… but the media is easily excited about hair loss “cures” as anyone that has been waiting for new treatments has surely seen. Apparently this new hype is based on a study of 17 people, but I don’t know where this idea came from about a proven safe and effective product being available by 2014. Whether or not PGD2 will be the next great hair loss treatment, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done first.
Just to sum this article up — apparently we went from a small study on PGD2, all the way to the miracle hair loss “cure” being on the shelves in a couple years even though there is no product just yet. I’ll believe it when I see it.
I do recall that there are already some PGD2 inhibitors either on the market or in the works; these are treatments for some sorts of allergies.
If PGD2 inhibitors have already been deemed safe by the FDA for treatment for allergies, then it may be easier for companies to bring the product to market.
Maybe there is also an opportunity to use the product off-label.
We’ll see.
Are you doubting the great George Cotsarelis? This guy is brilliant and is the real deal. Probably the only person in hair loss research I trust! He is usually very conservative…I have never heard him so sure And excited about anything. I guess you will be looking for a new job real soon..:)
Just questioning the 2 year time frame. In 2008, Dr. Cotsarelis told the Today show that a marketable cure was “possible within a few years.” The timeline moves again.
I know, i know. But you hav to be excited about hearing 2years instead of 5 doc.
I think he said if all goes well we could see treatment in a few years. This time it really seems more confident.
all this talk about pgd2. where does dht then play? all the science where castration stops hairloss, dht being a main culprit, propecia studies out the window? now its pgd2? so what happens to dht?
Bill – that doesn’t stop the media from making up a whole lot of hype though right.
Fingers crossed… Two years!!!
i hear correlation but not causation
dam telegraph keeps publishing these stories willy nilly without any real scepticism
according to them we have cures baldness 100 times over
protip others: don’t believe telegraph or daily mail on scientific stories
good point Eli……where does DHT play in all this?
I think we should not believe the hype……DR Rassman summed the article up perfectly – small study made & no actual product, but still huge hype in the Media. Seems to good to be true at this moment.
The theory of DHT is old