Hair Loss Remedy
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Hair Loss and what you can do to take control of the situation

Another name for hair multiplication is hair cloning. As the name would imply this is actually a very new science that is at its very infancy at the moment. The current practice of hair multiplication is dodgy at best with results that can never be accurately determined before the actual surgery and the follicles start their growth cycle again.

The current practice for hair multiplication is to simply pluck hair from a hair rich area such as the back or the chest and simply implant it into the bald areas. The idea is that the plucked hair will still have some elements of the follicle that are still present and when implanted will heal itself over time and still manage to develop hair in the new implanted area. The old follicle where the hair was removed from will still be reasonably intact so there is no reason that the hair will not regenerate at the harvested area. The problem is that it is so hard to predict the success of the treatment that most don’t even consider it a proper form of treatment at all.

The practice is currently so backward because of the severe lacking when it comes to the inspection of both the hair on the area which is to be harvested and also the follicle that will remain in the harvested area. In order for the procedure to be a proven success each follicle and hair has to be examined closely and parts of the follicle and the hair have to be spliced in perfect proportions in order for the right amount of tissue to remain on the hair so that it can repair itself when in its transplanted area while still keeping the original follicle healthy and able to produce hair. In order to guarantee this high level of precision a lot of time has to be spent on a single follicle which when you consider that a normal hair transplant with use over 60,000 follicles it simply isn’t possible with a human specialist even if you are able to pay for the astronomical costs.

There are also modified types of these types of procedures that have yet to make it to the market but are looking extremely promising for future use. Instead of taking the hair shaft and implanting it in the relocation site immediately, the hair along with its bulbs which should still have bits of the follicle which are cultured in vitro (in the lab) to form clones of the original. This is all done then the patient comes in to have all the cloned follicles and bulbs implanted to the balding areas of the scalp. This treatment is very much in its infancy stages and isn’t ready for treatment of humans.

One of the main tough areas when it comes to hair multiplication is how to clone hair follicles properly. We have only recently understood the use of stem cells in cloning whole animals (e.g. Dolly the sheep) but still have not mastered the use of stem cells to replicate certain parts of the body. Currently it is simply too complex to and beyond the realms of our current knowledge and understanding.

There has however been developments in the use of human dermal sheath cells which are cells that are found under the hair follicle. Initial studies have indicated that cells harvested from one individual can then be injected into another individual to promote the development of a follicle that might already be dormant. Studies indicated that the body of the injected host did not reject the sheath cell. Although the donor might have hair that is different (e.g. black in color) the site of the implanted cell will always have the same type of hair that the recipient always had meaning that no genetic information was passed on from the sheath cell and that cloning of the sheath cell is very much a possibility. A whole bank of sheath cells can be cultivated and used on patients when the demand is there.

Overall we recommend that hair multiplication should not be used at the current moment as the procedure isn’t yet up to acceptable levels that respectable results can be expected. We think that other procedures are currently more acceptable. Having said that we also see hair multiplication as one of the best treatment options when it is fully tested and approved. Another 10-20 years we will see hair multiplication as the best option for hair loss.