Chung-Ang University. Korea: Various
factors including stress or lifestyle, temporary spike in testosterone
account for the gradual increase in hair loss patients. But the approved
treatment options available at the moments are limited to using
testosterone suppressants such as Finasteride and Dutasteride, improving
the blood circulation by applying Minoxidil to the affected area and
undergoing surgical hair implant procedure.
Additionally,
meso therapie which improves hair growth by injecting several
substances directly to the scalp and LED treatment are some options that
can be taken in combination to the treatment methods mentioned above
but the effectiveness of such treatments are yet to be established.
Recently,
a paper on the possible use of topical epidermal growth factor as new
treatment option for hair loss (“Unwanted hair growth induced by topical
epidermal growth factor during wound healing: true or myth?”) authored
by CAU Hospital’s Professor Kim Beom Joon (Department of Dermatology)
and Catholic Kwandong University International St. Mary’s Hospital’s
Professor Yoo Kwang-Ho (Department of Dermatology) and respective teams
has been released and is gaining much attention.
Kim
& Yu’s teams discovered hair growth around the wound area in which
epidermal growth factor was applied to treat the injury and identified
its possible use as hair loss treatment.
As
epidermal growth factor stimulates epidermis growth and keratin and
fibroblast cell growth, it can be used as a form of wound treatment by
directly applying it to the injury and accelerate the speed and extend
of the healing process.
However,
there have been differences in opinions in the field on its
effectiveness on hair loss; some arguing that it can rather causes hair
loss.
But
Kim & Yu’s teams observed the healing process of a 29 year old
patient with a lacerated wound on the leg and identified noticeable hair
growth only around the wound area that have been treated with epidermal
growth factor. Following this, the team identified and presented a
paper on the inducing effect of new hair follicle formation rather than
continuous hair growth based on a literature review.
“Among
the recent research in the effect of epidermal growth factor on hair
growth, the significance of this research lies in its role of
identifying through this case study the possibility of utilizing
epidermal growth factor as a treatment option for hair loss,” said
Professor Kim.
Meanwhile, this paper is expected to be published in a SCI-E journal, International Wound Journal.