In the News – Stress Research in Mice Could Lead to New Hair Loss Treatment
Snippet from the article:
Mouse researchers conducting stress hormone experiments have stumbled onto a surprising new discovery — a potential treatment for hair loss.
Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Veterans Administration were working with genetically altered mice that typically develop head-to-tail baldness as a result of overproducing a stress hormone.
The experiment wasn’t focused on hair loss. Instead, it was designed to study a chemical compound that blocks the effects of stress on the gut. The researchers treated the bald mice for five days with the compound and then returned them to the cages, where they scampered about with several furry mice from a control group.
Read the full article at NY Times — In Surprise Finding, Bald Mice Find Their Fur Again
Doctors interviewed in the article are cautioning that not only might this mouse study not be applicable to humans, but that even if it is, it would likely only lead to treating stress-related hair loss (not genetic hair loss). The article also notes that mouse hair growth cycles are different from that of you and I. This is early research, so I’m sure there will be more news on the horizon.
Doctors interviewed in the article are pessimistic, but reading Plos One the introduction cites studies relating to interrupted hair growth cycles and an inhibitory effect due to stress.
Anecdotal evidence mentions people going through highly stressfull times and greying and thinning soon after. My own friend is 26, yet has has half a head of grey hairs and a thining patch on the crown a few months after being promoted, he started out a couple of years ago with dark hair.
Time to practice some yoga and take time off
i saw this on the news.. and i do agree, the cause of the mice’ hair loss is stress… therefore, this cure is only for the stress caused hair loss and not all types of hair loss. which is more serious…