A new patch has done better than minoxidil, the local reference treatment against baldness.
- 811,000 men and women are now seeking help to improve the appearance of hair loss.
- They either resort to surgery (implants) or to local treatments.
While baldness affects half of men over 50, generating many complexes, Chinese researchers have developed a patch equipped with micro-needles which attacks two major causes of the phenomenon: oxidative stress and insufficiency. blood vessels surrounding the hair follicles.
“Alopecia (or baldness) is very widespread but has no really effective treatment”, explain the researchers in the preamble to their study. “We have therefore designed a patch composed of micro-needles that can attenuate oxidative stress and simultaneously promote angiogenesis* in order to reshape the perifollicular microenvironment”, they detail.
“A great potential”
Compared to minoxidil, a drug widely used for the treatment of baldness, the patch provided accelerated hair regeneration at a lower frequency of administration, without causing significant skin damage. “Therefore, this patch has great potential in the clinical treatment of alopecia,” conclude the scientists.
It is common to observe a receding hairline at the age of 35, and some may even begin to recede in their twenties. Around the age of 50, 85% of men experience severe hair loss.
*Angiogenesis corresponds to the formation of new vessels from a pre-existing network.
.
