Vitamin D Receptor May Eventually Treat Hair Loss

According to the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, male pattern baldness affects 35 million U.S. men, and nearly $2 billion a year is spent worldwide on surgical procedures to treat hair loss. Clearly, there is a demand for hair replacement treatments, and a breakthrough may be on the horizon.

The most successful hair loss treatments to date are topical products, such as Rogaine, or surgical hair transplants. Recently, however, scientists have found that Vitamin D and its receptors seem to play a role in hair follicle health. Vitamin D is known for keeping bones and skin healthy, but according to Mark Haussler, a professor at the University of Arizona, Vitamin D receptors are “crucial for the regeneration of hair.” The receptors are believed to activate the hair growth, not the vitamin itself.

Researchers are challenged, though, because hair follicles do not grow hair very well outside of the body. Also, too much Vitamin D can have negative side effects, so any successful potential treatment must be aimed at manipulating Vitamin D and its receptors only in the skin.

Since cancer patients, new moms and many other people suffer from hair loss, a more effective treatment could change a number of lives. For now, we just have to wait and see if this Vitamin D receptor will continue to show promise and if more research will lead to a breakthrough treatment.