How do you cureĀ Hypotrichosis?
Researchers have identified the gene responsible for Hypotrichosis (hypo- + tricho- + -osis), a disease of abnormal hair patterns – mostly loss or decrease simplex.
Hair loss is dependant on DNA, shown by a recent scientific research published in Nature .
The study could be an important starting point with regards to the development of new treatments to combat baldness which, remember, in our country alone affects as many as 11 million people (mostly of the male sex).
Although there are thousands of thinning treatments currently available, ranging from natural remedies, food supplements, to drug therapy as well as hygiene products specific for transplants, in actual fact excessive loss of hair is still not completely curable; at least not in 100% of cases.
There are no effective treatments for the specific diseases linked to balding which would ensure the resolution of the problem; and though in many cases the thinning stops, in others patients the same therapies are void.
Is hair loss due to DNA?
Research conducted by the Rockefeller University together with Columbia University in New York and at the University of Stanford (which involved the collaboration of the Italian Serena Belli belonging to the Company Provincial Health of Trento), studied a rare form of baldness named Hereditary Hypotrichosis Simplex.
This condition has the same characteristics of a common baldness but in reality has some substantial differences.
It is a thinning that occurs in the early years of life and that is related to the changeofgeneApcdd1, in particular located on chromosome18.
When this gene mutates, it blocks the signal connected to the growth of the hair, thus kicking off the so-called miniaturization of the hair follicle: the hair tends to have more and more split ends, a reduction that leads the hair to become fuzzy, thin and very fragile.
As this condition is not sufficient to explain the complex process tied the triggering of male pattern baldness, the identification of specific gene mutation that appears to be responsible for the hereditary hypotrichosis simplex , is an important step regarding the search for cures effective against hair loss.
Certainly, this research is only the first stage of a long journey, which will one day find a suitable treatment to a large number of unsolved cases.
The ultimate goal would be to invigorate and fortify the hair follicle
causing the hair to return strong and healthy but, as stated by Dr. Angela Christiano of Columbia University, the gene mutation may not be the only cause of balding.
Therefore, further study and research is needed to achieve effective therapy.
What then is Hypotrichosis Simplex? This is the rare form of balding we know most of.
It is specifically a lack of development of hairs that can affect both the whole body (hence the thinning in this case may cover the eyebrows, eyelashes and pubic hair) or only an area, such as precisely the skin.
Hypotrichosis Simplex is associated with abnormalities of ectodermal origin and is usually transmitted as an autosomal dominant trait.
The thinning appears in children at around 5-7 years of age and reaches its maximum development around 25-27 years, a path that, being very similar to androgenetic alopecia, often leads to confuse the two diseases.
Specifically, experts have examined the genetic data of some Pakistani and Italian families who had this disease for a number of generations. Scholars have been able to note that all patients were united by the alteration of gene Apcdd1 at a distinct area of chromosome 18, the same linked to other related disorders such as baldness androgenetic alopecia.