Genetic Cure for Baldness

For years, baldness has been a mystery in modern medical science. New research claims to have made a major breakthrough in the treatment of hair loss. Gene therapy may hold the key to curing baldness.

Promising Research

• Initially, skin cells are meant to re-grow hair follicles. According to an article on the "Guardian" website based in the United Kingdom, scientists are claiming a breakthrough in curing baldness. Researchers were able to regenerate adult skin in a group of mice that were being tested. This research study changed the initial thought that humans are born with a certain number of hair follicles and are unable to grow new ones.

  In 2007, further tests indicated that injecting a protein (Wnt) onto the patch of skin in question doubled the number of hair follicles that were formed. Likewise, when researchers blocked Wnt, hair growth stopped all together.

Why Do Some Individuals Experience Baldness?

• Some researchers say there is no cure for baldness because balding is a result of genetics, in most cases. At some point in a person's life, DNA may stop production of a hair-growth chemical, DHT. With the genetic factor, it was previously thought that nothing can be changed or cured, but new research lends hope to many balding individuals.

What Else Can You Do About it?

• Even with advancements in science, it is not likely that we will find a cure for genetic baldness in the near future. Chances of baldness increase with age.

  It may help to take vitamin E supplements on a regular basis. You can also get good vitamins and minerals by eating nuts and seeds as snacks and with meals.

  Avoid fast food and food that is high in fats and sugars. You can also try aromatherapy; honey, aloe and mulberries can also be massaged into the scalp on a daily basis as an Ayurvedic method of treatment for baldness.

  Unfortunately, though some of these measures may help, there is no replacement at this time for DHT.