Orange County, CA - August 3rd, 2018 - A diet that is high in saturated fats and cholesterol has been known to cause hair whitening, hair loss, and skin inflammation. Research shows that people who experience hair loss often feel as though they are losing control over their lives. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have come closer in a study on mice, by creating a drug that can reverse the signs of aging, including hair loss.
Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the paper was published in the journal Scientific Reports on July 30. It was based on a previous study that suggested fatty foods affect the production of fats called glycosphingolipids (GLS); it makes up the skin and other cell membranes.
The new study altered a group of mice to have atherosclerosis, which is a disease in which fat deposits clog the arteries. The mice were separated into two groups where one was fed standard healthy meals, while the other was fed high levels of fat and cholesterol. It was observed that the high fat and cholesterol diet caused mice to experience hair loss, hair whitening, and skin inflammation.
“Our findings show that a Western diet causes hair loss, hair whitening and skin inflammation in mice, and we believe a similar process occurs in men who lose hair and experience hair whitening when they eat a diet high in fat and cholesterol,” said Dr. Subroto Chatterjee, professor of pediatrics and medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.Around 75 percent of the mice experienced hair loss, and multiple skin lesions the longer they consumed the diet. However, when the experimental compound (D-PDMP) was given to the mice, the hair loss was cured. The hair and hair color was regained and skin inflammation decreased.
“Further research is needed, but our findings show promise for someday using the drug we developed for skin diseases such as psoriasis, and wounds resulting from diabetes or plastic surgery,” Chatterjee said.“
Hopefully someday in the future, this can mean faster, more effective recovery from baldness, hair whitening in aging populations and wound healing.”
Further testing is required in order to understand how safe the compound D-PDMP is when testing on humans. It will need to be replicated and tested to see how far the wound-healing and hair damage-reversing abilities could go.
