Al-Quds newspaper

A recent scientific study published in the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology for the year 2024 revealed a new glimmer of hope for millions of people suffering from baldness around the world. The results indicated that the solution to the problem of hair loss may not lie in complex chemical drugs or expensive surgical operations, but rather in a specific type of natural sugar.

This study aims to treat hereditary baldness, which affects about 40% of the world’s population, and it is a condition that is not limited to men only, but also includes women. While a normal person loses approximately 100 hairs per day, people with this type of baldness lose entire strands, which leads to a significant decrease in hair density.

The research focuses on a sugar known as ‘deoxyribose’, a compound produced naturally by the human body that plays a pivotal role in DNA stability. This sugar, along with its phosphate groups, represents the backbone of the genetic code, as it provides the structure necessary for biological replication and transcription processes within cells.

Scientific reports have shown that this sugar goes beyond being just a basic building block of life, to become a potential and effective treatment for hair loss. The proposed mechanism relies on the ability of deoxyribose to directly increase blood flow to the hair follicles, providing them with the necessary nourishment to restore their vitality and stimulate their growth again.

What is interesting about this medical discovery is that it came about by chance during research that lasted eight years and was not aimed at treating baldness at the beginning. The research team was studying the effect of sugar on the speed of wound healing in mice, and how it contributes to building new blood vessels to restore damaged tissue.

During laboratory experiments, researchers observed that mice treated with sugar grew hair around their wounds more quickly and densely compared to other groups. This unexpected variable prompted scientists to shift research to understand the relationship between this sugar compound and hair growth in areas affected by inactivity.

To confirm the results, the team simulated hair loss caused by testosterone, the main cause of male pattern baldness, on laboratory models. Experiments proved that providing small, regular doses of deoxyribose succeeded in stimulating the formation of a blood vessel network that supported hair growth again.

These results open new horizons for developing safe and low-cost topical treatments to combat baldness, far from traditional solutions such as wigs or hair transplants. Experts believe that relying on natural compounds produced by the body may reduce the side effects associated with hormonal treatments currently available on the market.