In the News – Do Balding Men Have Sleeping Hair?
Snippet from the article:
It sounds more like an explanation that would be used by nursery children than respected scientists, but researchers have found that rather than losing their hair altogether, people who are going bald are suffering from “sleeping” hair follicles.
Trichologists have discovered that hair follicles on the scalp can become trapped in a resting state where they do not grow new hair, leading to thinning.
They now claim to have identified a way of waking the follicles up again to help restore a fuller head of hair to people who are going bald.
Read the rest — Balding men offered hope of waking their ‘sleeping’ hair
We have long believed that the stem cells that eventually grow into hair are probably still present in many people. Are they really dead in the balding man or can they be restarted by finding some defect in the pathway to the creation of an anagen hair? We really do not know this, so is it reasonable to call this sleeping hair?
L’Oreal in Paris carried out the research, and they’re reportedly working on a shampoo or cream to be a used as a new hair loss treatment. No time frame has been announced so far on this treatment, though.
I seriously doubt something as complex as MPB will ever be effectively treated with a topical treatment, let alone with a shampoo that will be on your hair and scalp for a minute or two. It isn’t a rash.