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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's a negative, Red Leader. While you get more adipocytes when you gain weight, you keep them after you lose it. Get back on the treadmill!
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While you're at it, imagine there's no more wars, no more poverty, and endless youth.
That's just as realistic as trying to tell scientists what kind of research they are interested in.
Damn. Beat me to it.
On the plus side, most of the research into prolonging erections has already been done. Apparently there's a sweet spot for ideal duration. So at least we don't have to worry about that.
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You really haven't seen the shape of my head. The hair is doing everybody a favour... trust me
Cheers, Chris
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."
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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
While you're at it, imagine there's no more wars, no more poverty, and endless youth.
That's just as realistic as trying to tell scientists what kind of research they are interested in.
Somehow I think it is more a case of "which treatments will get funding" than "what scientists are interested in".
That's a negative, Red Leader. While you get more adipocytes when you gain weight, you keep them after you lose it. Get back on the treadmill!
Mod parent +Informative, because... ...shit, I start pulling my hair over this!!!
The horror: after you gained them, you need to stay on thread mill for years to get them back to the previous level (increase them exponentially, lose the linearly).
If excess weight is gained as an adult, fat cells increase in size about fourfold before dividing and increasing the absolute number of fat cells present.
...
Approximately 10% of fat cells are renewed annually at all adult ages and levels of body mass index.
Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
I wasn't losing my hair at 17 but I am now so rather than prolong the agony I just shave it every day or so.
Hair is all about vanity and insecurity. You want to look attractive but to be honest confidence is more attractive than any hair style. So grasp the nettle shave off all or most of it and get on with living your life. The sooner you do it the sooner your skin tone will even out and you know women love a confident self assured man.
The guy worried about his hair loss isn't that man.
For women hair loss is probably harder to handle and pretty common but again do it bald women have character and attitude both sexy attributes.
There is nothing wrong with standing out from the crowd in fact it is an asset.
There is no cure for baldness just ways of looking a little less bald even hair transplants don't work they look like somebody who has had a hair transplant.
so feck it go get the razor and get on with your life.
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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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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eflornithine ?
Imagine if the time you spend reading Slashdot instead went into learning biology and medicine, and then doing research on malaria yourself.
Imagine if instead of spending money for your past holiday you would instead have given that money to some researcher for his AIDS research.
Imagine if those CPU and GPU cycles you wasted playing computer games would instead have been used for folding@home.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
Have you heard of the term "diminishing returns", or "too many cooks in the kitchen"?
At some point, there will just be a bunch of redundant work, and people tripping over each other trying to get things done.
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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
pubmed results for
"hair loss": 2.554 research papers
baldness: 14.919 research papers
"erectile dysfunction": 16.292 research papers
malaria: 59.503 research papers
HIV: 229.598 research papers
Just a rough approximation, but it seems there IS research on malaria and HIV going on after all...
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.
Maybe your hair just wasn't awesome enough.
(+1, Disagree)
Women have testosterone, just not as much as men.
Hair is all about vanity and insecurity ... So grasp the nettle shave off all or most of it and get on with living your life.
Isn't shaving it all off a way to hide male pattern baldness, and thus a sign of vanity and insecurity?
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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
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?
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