A New Study Says Baldness May Be Reversible
Researchers believe that sugar naturally occurring in the human body can help stimulate hair growth.
Hair regrowth came after the formation of new blood vessels, thanks to a boost in the blood supply to hair follicles.
Male pattern baldness impacts up to 50 percent of men worldwide with few FDA-licensed treatments.
We've all been told that a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, but research shows that a it may also help regrow hair. It gets a bit more scientific than that, but a recent study showed there's some promise in using a naturally occurring sugar found in the human body to stimulate blood flow to form new blood vessels and encourage hair regrowth.
Testing the method worked in mice, and we all know the best laid schemes of mice and men may coexist, especially in a world where up to 50 percent of all men encounter male pattern baldness.
In a 2024 study published in the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology , researchers at the University of Sheffield and COMSATS University Pakistan found that the natural sugar 2-deoxy-D-ribose (2dDR) can stimulate hair regrowth.
'Our research suggests that the answer to treating hair loss might be as simple as using a naturally occurring deoxy ribose sugar to boost the blood supply to the hair follicles to encourage hair growth,' Sheila MacNeil, emeritus professor of tissue engineering at the University of Sheffield, said in a statement. 'The research we have done is very much early stage, but the results are promising and warrant further investigation.'
With only two drugs licensed by the FDA to treat male pattern baldness, a naturally occurring condition brought on by genetics, aging, stress, and hormones, MacNeil believes that the researchers are on track for something altogether new.
As researchers spent eight years studying how the sugar can help to heal wounds on mice by promoting the formation of new blood vessels, they saw that the hair around those healing wounds appeared to grow more quickly compared to those that hadn't been treated.
In came more mice. To study the hair regrowth side of the blood vessel research, the scientists created a model of testosterone-driven hair loss in mice to mimic human-style male pattern baldness and found that applying a small dose of the naturally occurring sugar helped to form new blood vessels. New blood vessels directly led to hair regrowth within weeks.
The mice 'demonstrated an increase in length, diameter, hair follicle density, anagen/telogen ratio, diameter of hair follicles, area of the hair bulb covered in melanin, and an increase in the number of blood vessels,' the authors wrote.
'This pro-angiogenic deoxy ribose sugar is naturally occurring, inexpensive, and stable, and we have shown it can be delivered from a variety of carrier gels or dressings,' Muhammed Yar, associate professor at COMSATS University Pakistan, said in a statement. 'This makes it an attractive candidate to explore further for treatment of hair loss in men.'
Of the two drugs licensed to treat hair loss, minoxidil (brand name Rogaine) is topical and approved for men and women, and finasteride (brand name Propecia) is taken orally, has been linked to side effects, and is not considered suitable for women.
The study claims the deoxy ribose sugar proved as successful as minoxidil at regrowing hair, with both between 80 and 90 percent effective. That's a lot of new blood vessels, and a fair bit of new hair.
'This could offer another approach,' MacNeil said, 'to treating this condition.'
Also read: Court Orders Father To Pay Legal Fees For Refusing To Apply For Child's Passport
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gulf Insider
03-06-2025
- Gulf Insider
COVID Vaccine Removed for Kids, Pregnant Women
On Tuesday, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivered a historic course correction from the Biden-era vaccine alongside NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary, Kennedy announced that COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for healthy children and pregnant women were officially removed from the CDC's immunization schedule. 'Hi, everybody. I'm Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., your HHS secretary. And I'm here today with NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary. I couldn't be more pleased to announce that, as of today, the COVID vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant women has been removed from the CDC recommended immunization schedule.' It was an unmistakable shift away from coercive one-size-fits-all medicine, and a clear signal that data, not politics, is now leading the conversation. On Tuesday, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivered a historic course correction from the Biden-era vaccine policy. Standing alongside NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary, Kennedy announced that COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for… — The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) June 1, 2025 Today, Dr. Marty Makary took the fight straight into the lion's den—appearing on CBS to dismantle the network's go-to vaccine talking points. When host Margaret Brennan tried to paint the updated guidance as confusing, Makary didn't flinch. 'Can you clearly state what the policy is? Because this is confusing,' she asked. Makary responded without hesitation: 'Yeah, we believe the recommendation should be with a patient and their doctor.' That's when the real shift came into focus. 'So we're going to get away from these blanket recommendations in healthy young Americans.' 'On the COVID vaccine schedule, we don't want to see kids kicked out of school because a 12-year-old girl is not getting her fifth COVID booster shot.' 'We don't see the data there to support a young, healthy child getting a repeat infinite annual COVID vaccine.' He then laid out the sheer absurdity of where the old policy was heading. 'There's a theory that we should sort of blindly approve the new COVID boosters in young, healthy kids every year in perpetuity, and a young girl born today should get 80 COVID mRNA shots or other COVID shots in her average lifespan.' 'We're saying that's a theory, and we'd like to check in and get some randomized controlled data. It's been about four years since the original randomized trials. So we'd like an evidence based approach.' And then came the knockout line—delivered with facts no one could deny. 'That is a decision between a parent and their doctor—I don't know if you know these statistics, but 88% of American kids, their parents have said no to the COVID shot last season. So America, the vast majority of Americans are saying no.' Today, Dr. Marty Makary took the fight straight into the lion's den—appearing on CBS to dismantle the network's go-to vaccine talking host Margaret Brennan tried to paint the updated guidance as confusing, Makary didn't flinch.'Can you clearly state what the… — The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) June 1, 2025 Brennan tried to shift gears—falling back on CDC data to argue that even healthy kids remained at risk. 'So the CDC data said 41% of children aged 6 months to 17 years hospitalized with COVID between 2022 and 2024 did not have a known underlying condition. In other words, they looked healthy,' she said. 'And COVID was serious for them.' But Makary was ready. Calm and precise, he dismantled the claim with surgical clarity. 'So first of all, we know the CDC data is contaminated with a lot of false positives from incidental positive COVID tests with routine testing of every kid that walks in the hospital.' 'We know that data historically under the Biden administration did not distinguish being sick from COVID or an incidental positive COVID test.' He shared what he's heard from the people who actually run the ICUs in America. 'When you go to an ICU in America and you ask how many people are in the ICU that are healthy, that are sick with COVID? The answer I get again, again is we haven't seen that in a year or years.' That's why, he warned, making universal recommendations based on flawed data isn't just wrong—it's dangerous. 'And so the worst thing you can do in public health is to put out an absolute universal recommendation in young, healthy kids.' 'And the vast majority of Americans are saying, no, we want to see some data. And you say, forget about the data, just get it anyway.' Brennan tried to shift gears—falling back on CDC data to argue that even healthy kids remained at risk.'So the CDC data said 41% of children aged 6 months to 17 years hospitalized with COVID between 2022 and 2024 did not have a known underlying condition. In other words, they… — The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) June 1, 2025 But it was the final exchange that landed like a sledgehammer. When Brennan questioned why the HHS bypassed the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for the new policy shift, Makary landed a haymaker. 'That panel has been a kangaroo court where they just rubberstamp EVERY single vaccine put in front of them.' He said the committee hadn't been focused on science, but on messaging and marketing. 'You look at the minutes of the last couple of years, they say, we want a simple message for everybody just so they can understand it. It was not a data based conversation. It was a conversation based on marketing and ease.' And without real evidence, he warned, these recommendations become little more than guesswork. 'If there's zero clinical data, you're opining. I mean—it's a theory.' 'And so we don't want to put out an absolute recommendation for kids, with no clinical data to support it.' The implication was unmistakable: public health decisions should be based on evidence and transparency—not rubber stamps and slogans. For the first time in years, someone on national television was calling out the system. But it was the final exchange that landed like a Brennan questioned why the HHS bypassed the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for the new policy shift, Makary landed a haymaker.'That panel has been a kangaroo court where they just… — The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) June 1, 2025 Also read: Moderna Disables Comments On X Post Announcing New Covid Shot Amid Backlash
Gulf Insider
02-06-2025
- Gulf Insider
Moderna Disables Comments On X Post Announcing New Covid Shot Amid Backlash
Moderna shares rose in premarket trading after the company announced FDA approval of its new lower-dose Covid-19 vaccine, mNEXSPIKE, for adults aged 65 and older, as well as individuals 12–64 with underlying health conditions. However, the approval sparked backlash on X, with many questioning the Trump administration and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s 'MAHA' (Make America Healthy Again) agenda. Moderna said in a Saturday morning X post that the mNEXSPIKE (mRNA-1283) vaccine should be available in the U.S. in time for the 2025-26 respiratory virus season, which starts later this year. 'The FDA approval of our third product, mNEXSPIKE, adds an important new tool to help protect people at high risk of severe disease from COVID-19,' CEO Stéphane Bancel stated in a press release. Bancel noted, 'COVID-19 remains a serious public health threat, with more than 47,000 Americans dying from the virus last year alone. We appreciate the FDA's timely review and thank the entire Moderna team for their hard work and continued commitment to public health.' Last month, the FDA announced that Covid vaccines would not be offered this fall to healthy children and adults. At the same time, the Trump administration stated that any new Covid vaccines must undergo clinical trials using an inert placebo—such as saline—rather than being tested against existing approved vaccines. Moderna's X post was met with heavy backlash, as many users voiced outrage over the FDA's approval, under Health Secretary RFK Jr., of yet another round of Covid vaccines. Moderna's social media team disabled comments on the post. Bottom line: people are furious: X user KAS14599753: ' When your products are so safe and effective, you turn off the comments.' X user Dr Aseem Malhotra: ' Complete and total madness. This company ( like Pfizer ) should be under investigation.' X user Gadsden2020: ' Gee, I wonder why they don't let everyone comment on this? Could it be that they know people aren't buying their bullshit anymore? We know it's only about the $$$.' X user DocAhmadMalik: ' Thank you, Donald Trump, Bobby, Jay, and Aseem, for proving that you are in on the game or totally hopeless.' Click here to read more…
Gulf Insider
22-05-2025
- Gulf Insider
FDA No Longer Recommends COVID Vaccine For Healthy Babies
The U.S. government no longer recommends the COVID-19 vaccine for healthy babies thanks to new guidelines from the Trump administration, which said Tuesday it will limit approval for seasonal COVID-19 shots to seniors and others at high risk pending more data on everyone else. Top officials for the Food and Drug Administration laid out new standards for updated COVID shots, saying they'd continue to use a streamlined approach to make them available to adults 65 and older as well as children and younger adults with at least one high-risk health problem. But the FDA framework, published Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, urges companies to conduct large, lengthy studies before tweaked vaccines can be approved for healthier people. Previously, federal policy recommended an annual COVID shot for all Americans six months and older. In the paper and a subsequent online webcast, the FDA's top vaccine official said more than 100 million Americans still should qualify for what he termed a booster under the new guidance. Dr. Vinay Prasad described the new approach as a 'reasonable compromise' that will allow vaccinations in high-risk groups to continue while generating new data about whether they still benefit healthier people. 'For many Americans we simply do not know the answer as to whether or not they should be getting the seventh or eighth or ninth or tenth COVID-19 booster,' said Prasad, who joined the FDA earlier this month. He previously spent more than a decade in academia, frequently criticizing the FDA's handling of drug and vaccine approvals. It's unclear what the upcoming changes mean for people who may still want a fall COVID-19 shot but don't clearly fit into one of the categories. Provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows more than 47,000 Americans died from COVID-related causes last year. The virus was the underlying cause for two-thirds of those and it was a contributing factor for the rest. Health experts say there are legitimate questions about how much everyone still benefits from yearly COVID vaccination or whether they should be recommended only for people at increased risk. In June, an influential panel of advisers to the CDC is set to debate which vaccines should be recommended to which groups.
