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Hair Growth Signal Dictated By Fat Cells
RogerRoast writes "According to an article published in the journal Cell, molecular signals from fat cell (adipocyte) precursors under the skin are necessary to spur hair growth in mice. Yale researchers report in the paper that these cells produce molecules called PDGF (platelet derived growth factors), which are necessary to produce hair growth. The discovery of the source of signals that trigger hair growth may lead to new treatments for baldness. The trick is in getting adipocyte precursors under the skin to talk to stem cells at the base of the hair follicles."
...That the average American now has another excuse for his obesity?
Imagine if all this research went into AIDS or malaria.
... and 16 years later, I'm comfortable with being bald. I was all the way through my 20s. I really don't understand the level of vanity that causes some men to be prepared to throw so much money at trying to fix a process that doesn't cause any harm other than in their own heads.
Just think what those researchers could have done if they'd spent their time researching cures for illnesses and real problems that society faces, rather than developing a highly profitable but purely cosmetic technique like this. I can only hope there are side-benefits to this research that will help with a genuine problem.
The trick is in getting adipocyte precursors under the skin to talk to stem cells at the base of the hair follicles.
So why not skip all the steps in between, and just sew together toupees of peeled mice?
. . . um . . . warning sticker . . . "Stay away from cats, when in use."
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
This finding has been made IN MICE. Now, I'm not usually one to suggest that just because an effect is demonstrated in a lab animal that it won't apply to humans, but hey, saccharine only caused bladder cancer in lab rats because they have a different urinary tract, and they were retaining it in a way that would never happen in humans.
Now, the disclaimer being made, women have a larger dispersion of fat about the whole body, and while they have more vellus hair then men, vellus hair is hardly noticeable, and in fact, "balding" is typically a result of the hair on one's head turning into vellus hair. So, making humans grow more vellus hair isn't really going to solve anything.
WARNING! This girl exceeds the MAXIMUM SAFE standards established by the FDA for BRATTINESS
Off of vain people although I find that being bald is not only cheaper but neater. Now if they can only find a way to get reverse the hair growth on my back.
Imagine if all this research went into AIDS or malaria.
Nothing of significance cause I guarantee you that AIDS and malaria research receives more money then one team investigating aspects of how our largest organ works.
Also accusing scientists of not doing "noble enough" research while screwing around on Slashdot is like a fat guy complaining about the form of a sprinter.
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CINC, 4th Penguin Legion
I could have told you that.
If it was true I would grow a beard on my belly.
I am a fat man that is apparently repugnant to women. Despite this, many different women have commented on the quality of my shoulder-length hair.
Am I blessed with great hair because I am a fat little man?
I imagine that on Slashdot I can't be the only fat man with great hair who can't get a date...
It's not the rule, of course. There are fat men who are bold. But, from what I see, the majority of bald men have little fat on their bodies; they are usually slim.
*imagines less AIDS and malaria victims that are bald*
Thought thinks itself.
Yeah, the editing has been going downhill for some time now, and with Taco's departure, there is no hope left.
Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
I always hear "may not work on humans." Sounds to me like scientists pretty much cured rodents of all possible disease. Even cancer, now baldness, is no longer a problem for mice.
Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the author.
These "scientists" are terrorists, I saw the word 'stem cells'
I was hoping for a link between being fat and being bald
There is a link. Hint: very few men wear their fat on the top of their head...
. silly us, there's actually three kinds. (vellus hair, and two types of terminal hair: on the head, and "axillary hair", which is vellus hair that turns to terminal hair under exposure to testosterone.)
Interesting... so which type is the hair that women have under their armpits and around their pussy? Obviously not vellus (it's to thick for that), not head hair (it's preferred by pubic lice rather than by head lice), and not "axillary hair" (where would the needed testosterone come from?)
Oh, you'd be *amazed* if you did a body-fat test on the people wearing ties at my company. I swear, they just use the ties to squich the fat up to their heads.
A lot like a colorful silk cock ring, really.
These researchers like most others in basic sciences are learning how the body works. It will be a pharmaceutical company that will devote massive amounts of money to making the vanity drug. I doubt these researchers would see a dime from it. My wife does pain research and some day someone may make a better, non-opiod base pain medicine. She is happy just learning and contributing.
Basic research into how the body works is a very important job, even if the press wants the research to be about something else and reports it as such.
There are two potential directions that might attract follow-up studies. Many here have already pointed to treatments for baldness. The other possibility is whether it would lead to the opposite - an improved process for removal of unwanted hair. The former is mostly of concern to males, and involves the scalp. The latter is more often a female issue, and involves face, legs, pubes, etc.
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
There is no long term money to be made in curing baldness. The target has always been long term treatment.
There are no loopholes. It's either legal or it's not.
all I here is YADI YADI YA. fix it already. I whould not mind having hear again
But with science we can force them to be meek and timid so they keep in their place.
"Waste not one watt!" - CZ
Women have testosterone, just not as much as men.
and women with more testosterone tend to have more axillary hair... and tend to be a bit more daring (and crazy).
i wouldn't, for example, use mice as a valid model for say, genes having to do with brain structure in human beings. homo sapiens have made some changes in that department as compared to our mammalian cousins or even our simian cousins
but, evolutionarily speaking, we are so close to mice that a cell signalling pathway as basic as this one is most likely shared between mice and men
even if the signalling system were dormant in humans, we most likely still have the genes for it, and it could be revived in human beings under certain conditions
it's valid to talk about something like this in mice applying to humans. it would be exceptional if we did not share the same pathway
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
. silly us, there's actually three kinds. (vellus hair, and two types of terminal hair: on the head, and "axillary hair", which is vellus hair that turns to terminal hair under exposure to testosterone.)
Interesting... so which type is the hair that women have under their armpits and around their pussy? Obviously not vellus (it's to thick for that), not head hair (it's preferred by pubic lice rather than by head lice), and not "axillary hair" (where would the needed testosterone come from?)
As someone else already noted, it is axillary hair. Women have some testosterone in their systems, but not enough to usually activate axillary hair beyond the pubic area, and armpits. However, since each "axillary hair patch" has a different level of response to testosterone, pubic hair being highly sensitive, and chest hair being quite low sensitivity, women tend to get pubic hair, but not chest hair.
Women with CAIS (Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome... and no, there are no men with CAIS) actually have limited if even any pubic hair, because their whole body lacks sensitivity to androgens regardless of the location on their body. It's one of the first traits that one should use to suspect CAIS: "does she have surprisingly low amounts of body hair regardless of being well into puberty?"
Oddly, in some cases, women may have medical conditions that require a treatment with testosterone. They usually can expect increased terminal hair as a side-effect of the treatment. Namely, the mustache is usually the next axillary hair growth area and may even activate into terminal hair growth even under only natural testosterone levels.
The idea that many of our biological traits are as drastically different as our genitalia has little evidence to support it, and is actually counter to almost the entire evidence available. Functionally, men and women are nearly identical, and use testosterone and estrogen equally, and both tend to respond each to the other just as much as a person of the other gender at the same age. But when we hear, "men use androgens, and women use estrogens", we are naturally drawn by our common sense to assume that this means that those traits are exclusive traits, but they are not. Beyond the state of the gonads (testicle vs ovary), almost nothing is exclusive to only one sex.
WARNING! This girl exceeds the MAXIMUM SAFE standards established by the FDA for BRATTINESS
I suffer from Acne. Would that explain why when I don't cut my hair short my face gets full of pimples?
for me.
I gave up last year, and just shaved my whole head. Done. I hate that look like you're wearing a public toilet seat on your head, AKA the horseshoe. Now, I'd prefer a full head of hair (I love hair) but since I was losing it on top, I decided to get rid of it all - all or nothing. I wish I could've done that 20 years ago, but back then, a fully shaved head was still considered a bit freakish, ala "Mr. Clean". Nowadays it's pretty normal, and that practice is probably here to stay.
I've wondered if alopecia isn't a continuation of human evolution; we've shed most of our body hair, but why would we keep so much on our heads? Maybe it's the last bit to go?
Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
"Some had high hopes the genetic engineering would correct this trend in evolution, but sadly the greatest minds and resources where focused on conquering hair loss and prolonging erections."
N4st0r, trixx0r h0bb1tz0rz! Th3y st0l3 0ur pr3c10uzz!
Further to that, that's why some women develop beards later in life, or baldness. Neither are limited strictly to men, both are caused by higher levels of testosterone than normal, but it's only seen as a problem in women. (though having a very high level of testosterone in men increases the chance of prostate or testicular cancer... perhaps male pattern baldness or excessive body hair should be seen as a medical problem in men, too....)
I'm a bald.
And I don't give a flying shit about hair restoration.
In many places in Asia they rub the heads of hairless babies (babies born bald) with olive oil. Maybe it is more than a myth and actually helps?
Man's way of being as vain as many women...
By defining the role of the understudied adipocyte lineage cells in the skin, we have identified that these cells dynamically promote epithelial stem cell activity. Whether cells of the adipocyte lineage also play a role in other processes in the skin, such as tumorigenesis and wound healing, is not known.
This is important information on cell signaling, the implications of which are still unknown. This might be a step in curing cancer, or treating burn victims. The most immediate and attention-grabbing is potential baldness treatment, but that's not the full use of this research.
Anyway, we can already prevent both of those diseases. The continued spread of malaria and HIV is not a failure on the part of researchers. Malaria could be prevented for 3 billion dollars. HIV could be prevented with education and condoms. Baldness, on the other hand, cannot be prevented without expensive drugs, if even then.
So I have long thick beautiful hair because I'm a fat head?
Okay, cool. I still lose more hair in 1 washing then most of you guys have on your head.
So you can call me fat head, or fatty head, and i'll just keep calling you 8-ball, dick head, and of course, baldy.
Be seeing you...