Breakthrough Drugs Restores White Hair To Black
Christina Aguilera
It was recently reported from Lübeck, Germany by TheMedGuru.com that researchers from Manchester and Lübeck Universities in Germany have found a way to restore hair that turned white - due to illness, anxiety or stress - back to black.
Of course this new discovery does not refer to people or celebrities like Christina Aguilera who go white on purpose. For those cases, a visit to the haircolorist is always an option.
The newly discovered scientific restoration occurred by using a molecule that stimulates the pigment responsible for hair color.
Unfortunately this process does not undo the undo the natural progression of graying hair.
The research was conducted on six women aged between 46 and 65. A skin disease alopecia areata and a stress-related disorder telogen effluvium were mimicked. Both these diseases can lead to white hair.
K(D)PT is a naturally-occurring molecule, pretty similar to the hormones define in the body that stimulate the hair pigment melanin. Melanin is stimulated by a group of peptide hormones collectively known as ‘melanocyte stimulating hormone’ (MSH).
The study looked at whether K(D)PT, a peptide that can be synthetically produced, has the same pigmentation stimulating effects as that of a naturally occurring MSH. The results revealed that the quantity of melanin in the follicle increased considerably when treated with K(D)PT.
The study’s senior author Dr Ralf Paus, of the University of Lübeck, Germany said, “Since this tripeptide displays interesting hair pigmentation-stimulatory activities under proinflammatory conditions, clinically, K(D)PT deserves to be explored as an innovative new anti-greying agent.”
He added, “Specifically, topical application of K(D)PT may become exploitable for the treatment of postinflammatory hair whitening that is often seen during the recovery phase of alopecia areata.”
It is still early days so far as the study goes. Moreover, since the study was done in a laboratory, it cannot be applied to patients straight away. The research however could make way for new treatments that reinstate the black color.
To talk about white hair and other hair issues don’t forget to visit HairBoutique.com’s HairTalk boards. To see more images of Christina, visit her Celebrity Hairstyles Gallery.
Tags: alopecia areata, Christina Aguilera, gray hair, melanin, melanocyte stimulating hormone (MSH), natural progression of graying hair, peptide hormones, pigment responsible for hair color, Restoration of white hair to black, telogen effluvium, white hair
November 18th, 2008 at 1:38 am
Fine post about the hair care problems and it is no doubt a serious thread and a major cause of aging. Overall all the post on this blog are usefull. I think you should also write on some skin pigmentation problems which are related to the aging and has a direct relation to the hair care problems.