Genetic discovery could lead to baldness cure
By ANIFriday, July 2, 2010
WASHINGTON - Baldness, a trauma for men and women alike, could finally be cured - thanks to a new discovery by researchers.
Researchers have linked alopecia areata, an autoimmune disease that causes hair thinning and hair loss, to eight genes, which are also related to other autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and typ-1 diabetes, Health Day reported.
The findings will likely open the floodgates for new treatments, say researchers.
According to Dr. Angela Christiano, professor of dermatology and genetics and development at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, this means that drugs already in development could be used to treat this condition - a huge advantage.
However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet approved any treatments for alopecia areata.
One gene in particular - ULBP3 - attracted the toxic cells that attack the follicle, resulting in hair loss.
“It’s like putting nectar on the hair follicle, then the ‘bees’ come in and do their damage,” Fox News quoted Vicki Kalabokes, president and CEO of the Alopecia Foundation, as saying.
The study was published in the July issue of the journal Nature. (ANI)
