Free Republic

A surprising discovery in hair follicle biology has scientists rethinking everything we know about baldness. A single overlooked protein appears to control whether hair grows—or vanishes for good. ***************************************************************** A newly published study in Nature Communications has identified a critical protein that helps sustain hair follicle stem cells, potentially opening the door to new treatment options for baldness. The research was led by an international team from Australia, Singapore, and China, and offers new insight into the biology of hair regeneration. A Protein With Protective Power Hair follicles go through repeated cycles of growth, rest, and shedding. At the heart...

Scientists, led by the University of California, Irvine, have identified the mechanism by which senescent pigment cells in the skin stimulate hair growth in skin moles, or nevi. The study revealed the crucial role of osteopontin and CD44 molecules in activating hair growth within hairy skin nevi, despite the presence of a high number of senescent pigment cells. This discovery contradicts the commonly held belief that senescent cells, which are usually associated with the aging process, are detrimental to regeneration. Findings may offer a road map for the next generation of therapies for androgenetic alopecia. Researchers have discovered that senescent...

Dr. Harold Bornstein said he felt "raped" after White House aide Keith Schiller and lawyer Alan Garten showed up unannounced and took Trump's files. In February 2017, a top White House aide who was Trump's longtime personal bodyguard, along with the top lawyer at the Trump Organization and a third man, showed up at the office of Trump's New York doctor without notice and took all the president's medical records. The incident, which Dr. Harold Bornstein described as a "raid," took place two days after Bornstein told a newspaper that he had prescribed a hair growth medicine for the president...

Restoring hair loss is a task undertaken not only by beauty practitioners. Previous studies have identified signals from the skin that help prompt new phases of hair growth. However, how different types of cells that reside in the skin communicate to activate hair growth has continued to puzzle biologists. An exciting study publishing on December 23 in the open access journal PLOS Biology reveals a new way to spur hair growth. A group from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) has discovered an unexpected connection—a link between the body's defense system and skin regeneration. It turns out that macrophages...

The FDA has approved Latisse, the first drug to promote eyelash growth, according to Allergan, the company that makes Latisse. Latisse, which will be available by prescription starting in the first quarter of 2009, contains the active ingredient of the glaucoma drug Lumigan, which is also made by Allergan. Eyelash growth is a known side effect of Lumigan. But Lumigan and Latisse are used differently. Lumigan is an eyedrop, and Latisse gets dabbed along the lash line on the upper eyelids to promote longer, thicker, darker lashes. Allergan states that "Latisse users can expect to experience longer, fuller, and darker...