According to the World Population Review statistics for 2024, the United Kingdom will be the 12th barrenest country in the world.
Just over 40% of men in the UK suffer from male pattern baldness, they say, but add that hair loss also affects women and other genders.
Some love the look; others, like those who helped the hair loss drug minoxidil reach a market share of $1.5 billion in 2022 (that figure is predicted to have continued to rise since then), may not be so keen on it.
No matter what your thoughts on hair loss are, scientists’ discovery that a naturally occurring sugar could help restore hair growth is pretty exciting.
How does it work?
In a paper published last month in Frontiers in Pharmacology, researchers from the University of Sheffield and COMSATS University Pakistan found that the topically applied pentose sugar 2-deoxy-D-ribose (2dDR) appears to promote hair growth.
The sugar is naturally present in our bodies. Scientists spent eight years studying its potential wound-healing abilities, as it helps in the formation of new blood vessels.
But as the researchers wrote in the introduction to their work, “The formation of new blood vessels can restore blood supply and stimulate the hair growth cycle.”
They assumed that this was noticeable because they noticed that the hair grew faster around the wounds treated with 2dDR than around the wounds that had not been treated.
After testing their theory on mice, they found that the results were similar to those of minoxidil.
So – can I buy it?
Take it easy! The study is still in its early stages and has so far only been tested on animals.
Nevertheless, Professor Sheila MacNeil, Emeritus Professor of Tissue Engineering and co-author of the study, seems confident.
“Our research is still at a very early stage, but the results are promising and warrant further investigation,” she told the University of Sheffield.
“This could provide another approach to treating this condition, which can affect men’s self-image and confidence.”
Her research colleague, Professor Muhammed Yar, added: “This pro-angiogenic deoxyribose sugar is naturally occurring, inexpensive and stable and we have shown that it can be delivered via a variety of carrier gels or dressings.”
“This makes it an attractive candidate for further research into the treatment of hair loss in men.”
I am curious to see where this grows goes…
