Researchers say they discovered that a cellular malfunction short-circuits the process by which hair follicle stem cells turn into hair-producing progenitor cells. That defect, rather than any loss of stem cells themselves, sparks the onset of androgenetic alopecia, the medical term for a type of genetic hair loss that affects both men and women, they report.
In men, this hair loss is commonly known as male pattern baldness, marked by the familiar receding hairline and thinning hair on top of the head -- a condition that sometimes leads to complete baldness. In women, female-pattern hair loss causes the hair to get thinner all over but rarely leads to baldness.
The findings offer "a lot more hope that you could actually get hair to grow in a bald scalp," said study co-author Dr. George Cotsarelis, chairman of the dermatology department at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Cotsarelis.
Study Offers Hope for Baldness Remedy
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