Hair loss breakthrough review

A healthy individual loses around a hundred hairs a day. Nothing to worry about as long as they are constantly replaced and the losses occur evenly around the whole scalp.

But when hair loss goes well beyond this level it can become quite a problem for those affected - not only superficially in terms of looks but also psychologically. A breakthrough on the hair front has now been made by an international research team headed by scientists at the University of Bonn. After six years of research they have succeeded in identifying a gene that is responsible for a rare hereditary form of hair loss known as Hypotrichosis simplex. The scientists are the first to identify a receptor that plays a role in hair growth.

"Although Hypotrichosis simplex is very uncommon, it may prove critical in our search for an understand of the mechanisms of hair growth," says project leader Dr. Regina Betz from Bonn's Institute of Human Genetics, summing up the research results. The disease is inherited and affects both men and women. Sufferers generally begin to go bald during childhood. The process of hair loss (alopecia) then advances with age, especially around the scalp. (For more information click on the top link).