With this week’s hair blog, we report on yet another accidental discovery recently made in the world of hair loss research. Researchers at the University of California San Francisco have discovered that a specialized type of immune cell normally associated with inflammation also plays a vital role in stimulating stem cells within the skin to promote hair-follicle regrowth.
We start today’s hair blog with a strange question: What is Neurofibromatosis? Neurofibromatosis Type 1 is a rare hereditary disease that causes multiple noncancerous (benign) tumors of nerves and skin (neurofibromas) patches of abnormal skin color (birth marks) but may also cause tumors in the brain, eyes, breast, bones etc. Now you might be wondering, “What does research into Neurofibromatosis have to do with balding and hair loss research in general?” Good question.
According to a recent study published in the Journal PLOS Genetics and reported by WebMD, a group of researchers in Scotland have successfully found 287 genetic “coding regions” linked to severe hair loss in men. Researchers performed genetic analysis of 52,000 subjects, ages 40-69, making this the largest study of its type to date.
