NationStates Jolt Archive


Baldly going where no person has gone before...

Londim
02-06-2008, 23:08
Lab-grown cells 'treat baldness'
Bald man
Remaining hair cells are multiplied to fill bald areas

Cells grown in the laboratory may offer a possible solution to hair loss, preliminary trials have suggested.

The technique involves taking small amounts of the remaining hair cells, multiplying them, then injecting them into bald areas.

Six months after treatment, 11 out of 19 patients had grown new hair, UK researchers told an Italian conference.

However, a UK specialist said further work would be needed so that the new hair looked right.


It will revolutionise hair care, I think
Dr Paul Kemp, Intercytex

Hair loss affects two-fifths of men over 50, and can be a long-term problem for some people following radiotherapy or burns.

Currently available methods of hair transplantation involve taking large clumps of remaining follicles under local anaesthetic and moving them to the desired area, a technique dependent on the amount of hair left, as no new hair is created.

The new method, called "follicular cell implantation", developed by UK firm Intercytex, claims to be able to provide a limitless supply of replacement hair cells, and, if other trials show it to be safe and effective, could be available within five years.

Doctors take only the dermal papilla cells - cells found in the follicle which are responsible for hair growth.

They are harvested from areas on the back of the head, which usually still have hair growth, and then bathed in a specially-developed chemical in the laboratory, before being placed back into bald areas of the scalp.

The early results suggest that most patients appear to benefit after just a few months, although the numbers involved in the trial are relatively small.

Dr Paul Kemp, Intercytex's Scientific Officer, said that the presence of the dermal papilla cells encouraged skin cells to start building a brand new hair follicle, or rejuvenated follicles which have stopped producing hair properly.

He said: "It will revolutionise hair care, I think. People will use this when they are starting to go bald - they'll come and see us, we'll take a few dermal papilla cells, grow them up in the lab, freeze most of them, and inject some.

"They can keep coming back as the balding process continues. I'm convinced it will work, it's just a question of fine-tuning the technique."

Other organs

He said that the same principles could one day be harnessed to grow replacement teeth, or other organs.

"Every hair is a tiny little organ, after all."

Professor Val Randall, from the University of Bradford, said that the progress made was "exciting".

She said: "To get anything growing at all is a real achievement, although it will be difficult to make the hair come back in the right way, pointing in the right direction, with the hair follicles lined up the right way."

Dr Andrew Messenger, a consultant dermatologist at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield, said that if new hair follicles had been produced, then it would constitute an advance.

However, he added: "We don't yet know for certain whether these are new hair follicles, and it's actually quite hard to prove that they are, not just the result of rubbing on the scalp or another effect."

Source (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7431092.stm)

If you went bald would you get this treatment?
Guibou
02-06-2008, 23:12
Source (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7431092.stm)

If you went bald would you get this treatment?

Of course I would, why the heck not?
Dinaverg
02-06-2008, 23:16
Of course I would, why the heck not?

The injection goes too deep and you get a hairy skull?
The blessed Chris
02-06-2008, 23:17
I'd get laser hair surgery. I'm sure as fuck not going bald, however, given the follicular fortunes of my family, I suspect I won't anyway.
Guibou
02-06-2008, 23:19
The injection goes too deep and you get a hairy skull?

Lol, I'm sure that would look cool 50 years after I'm dead.
Call to power
02-06-2008, 23:19
am I the only one thinking of putting pubes on peoples heads? though I'm immune to this hideous genetic defect

also now that science has reached its goal I guess we can pack all this rationality in and go on living as permed cavemen
Guibou
02-06-2008, 23:22
am I the only one thinking of putting pubes on peoples heads?

also now that science has reached its goal I guess we can pack all this rationality in and go on living as permed cavemen

It's already been done.

Also, cavemen ftw.
Turaan
02-06-2008, 23:34
I find it pretty contradictory that balding men, who feel their manliness threatened in some way by losing hair, choose one of the least manly methods of countering it: cosmetic surgery. Hair implants and all forms thereof go on the list populated by botox and silicone implants. If you're disturbed by the fact that you're starting to look like a monk, just shave your head. If you're not wearing boots and braces, you can safely do so.

In any case, if you're a middle-aged man, it's not the hair that attracts women. It's the money. So quit spending it on medical experiments. Speaking of medical experiments... aren't you supposed to be GIVEN money for that? The world's starting to make less sense by the minute...
Potarius
02-06-2008, 23:38
am I the only one thinking of putting pubes on peoples heads? though I'm immune to this hideous genetic defect

also now that science has reached its goal I guess we can pack all this rationality in and go on living as permed cavemen

That gives whole new meaning to the term "dickhead".
IL Ruffino
03-06-2008, 00:02
So did you mean for me to misread the title as "Badly"?
Lunatic Goofballs
03-06-2008, 00:44
I'd get laser hair surgery. I'm sure as fuck not going bald, however, given the follicular fortunes of my family, I suspect I won't anyway.

Laser hair would be cool!
Cannot think of a name
03-06-2008, 02:48
Laser hair would be cool!

Especially if I used by saying "Laser Hair, Activate!"


I talked to a surgeon that does that micro hair replacement thing (not plugs) at he said it was like $12k (I was there doing a documentary on tattoo removal, which is remarkably easy it turns out). I started balding at @17-18 years old. It'd be nice if my last hair style on this earth wasn't a fucking mullet. (look, it was the 80s, it was a rural/suburb area...I didn't know any better, for some reason business in the front, party in the back seemed like a good idea...). But $12k...too much. If this was cheaper and not to invasive, yeah I'd do it.
Free Soviets
03-06-2008, 03:30
I find it pretty contradictory that balding men, who feel their manliness threatened in some way by losing hair, choose one of the least manly methods of countering it: cosmetic surgery. Hair implants and all forms thereof go on the list populated by botox and silicone implants. If you're disturbed by the fact that you're starting to look like a monk, just shave your head. If you're not wearing boots and braces, you can safely do so.

to be fair, not everyone can pull off the shaved head look very well. to them i recommend going back in time and living it up while the living was good. suckas!
Bann-ed
03-06-2008, 03:33
If I go bald I'll just invest in a bandana, leather jacket, torn denim jeans, a motorcycle, and a bad attitude.
Cannot think of a name
03-06-2008, 03:40
to be fair, not everyone can pull off the shaved head look very well. to them i recommend going back in time and living it up while the living was good. suckas!

For me, the world doesn't need another big guy with a bald head and big goatee.
New Malachite Square
03-06-2008, 06:48
If you went bald would you get this treatment?

If I went bald, I would be prepared to try any treatment.

Even something… *shudder* herbal…