goBigtime

IS A MITE THE REAL CULPRIT IN BALDNESS? THE DEMONIC DEMODEX

A scientist at i, a manufacturer of hair-care products (those nice tingly conditioners), looked at the human scalp through a new hand-held microscope that can magnify up to 1,000 times. And what did he see? Mites. Demodex follicularum feasting on the sebum. According to the UPI dispatch, "as many as a dozen of the mites burrow head-down in every hair follicle." And by late middle age, we are all infested. All of us harbor Demodex. But apparently only some of us have the unlucky genes that cause the body to mount an immune response that ends up destroying the follicles while the demonic Demodex goes on feasting. In fact, it is well known that oil-glands enlarge and increase production as the hair falls out?hence the proverbial sheen.

It?s not clear how DHT and cortisol fit in with this new discovery. There is no doubt, however, that steroids profoundly modulate the immune system. Since Demodex has long been known to cause hair loss in animals, there is a good reason to take the mite seriously.

The scientists at i are already busy trying to find a way to starve Demodex by blocking jits ability to digest sebum. The big question remains:

suppose you do succeed in wiping out the mite?will there still be androgenic baldness?

My grandmother used to say, "Whoever discovers the cure for baldness is going to be the richest person in the world." Nioxin has joined the race. Stay tuned.

(Source: a recent UPI news release on Dr. W. i lecture at the 1998 annual dermatology meeting in Miami; supplied by Starla Taliaferro)




Maybe we all just need an ocassional flea dip?



Google for demodex + hair if you have any interest in this... I won't hijack Chokers thread anymore. Just wanted to throw this out there for him.