A Short Introduction To Stem Cell Research, A New Hope For Fighting Hair Loss And Baldness

By Eugene Yeng


In recent years a major study into the behaviour of stem cells has been fairly widely publicized. While the greater part of this study concentrates on embryonic cells the study of adult stem cells has also been relatively vast. This study is of particular interest to anyone who may be regarding their receding hairlines with some concern. This is because this recent stem cell research could turn out to be the new hope to fight hair loss and baldness.

The amount of information being uncovered within this area is currently quite staggering especially when you consider that it was merely a few years ago when scientists first worked how they could effectively isolate these cells. This discovery turned out to be the major breakthrough as it then allowed these scientists to make duplications of each cell within a laboratory environment.

In fact the ability to literally clone themselves is actually the main characteristic of adult stem cells. Once this cloning process has been done the duplicates (actually officially known as progenitors) then effectively divide themselves at which point they become so-called specialized cells. Regarding the specific function of hair growth the relevant progenitors are those that comprise both the shaft of the hair and the outer and inner 'root-sheaths'.

Once these progenitors have become specialized and taken their place in the hair shaft they then proceed to migrate through the outer root sheath where eventually they encounter what is known as the 'matrix'. Here they continue to separate several times until they eventually form together in layers to build the structure of the hair follicle whilst some go to form the epidermis.

Now that the exact nature of this process has been discovered the scientists have realized that their main job now is to understand two things. First they have to understand how the progenitors manage to become specialized and secondly how they are then are successfully distributed to the areas where they can be best used,

Nonetheless, if these problems are effectively resolved it will ensure that dermatologists can begin to work on hair re-growth by taking a few measures. First, they could potentially alter the cycles of the hair follicle and second they could also potentially 'resuscitate' dormant follicles.

The hope that these measures will eventually be fairly easy to accomplish is filling the scientific community with a fair amount of optimism. In fact scientists believe this research could certainly lead to some significant breakthroughs. In fact both skin and hair specialists share their optimism in believing the work undertaken within this field will successfully provide effective methods for the treatment of hair loss.

Certainly what is not in doubt, having looked at this area in greater detail, is that the potential treatment of premature balding has considerably improved since the days when applying crocodile fat to the problem areas was about as good as it got. Moreover the information that is unfolding due to this research is giving hope to sufferers of more serious diseases such as Alzheimer's and even cancer. Nevertheless, to get back to our point, we can be optimistic about the chances for stem cell research being the new hope to fight hair loss and baldness.




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