Baldness and Vitamin D3

I urge you to verify your vitamin D level.
Even if you are not bald...

Vitamin-Boosted Stem Cells Show Promise in Curing Baldness

July 2012 — A team of researchers in Japan has discovered that VD₃, a super-active form of Vitamin D, boosts stem cells to enhance and maintain their ability to induce hair growth. This new study, reported in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine, builds upon previous studies that have demonstrated how dermal papilla cells (DPCs) can stimulate epithelial stem cells to become hair.

"We had already discovered how VD₃ increases the transforming growth factor TGF-ß₂ and alkali-phosphatase activity — two essential features of hair-inducing DPCs. This time we focused on VD₃'s therapeutic potency and values for hair regeneration," said Kotaro Yoshimura, M.D. "The results suggest that it may be useful in expanding human DPCs with good quality, and help establish a DPC transplantation therapy for growing hair."

Yoshimura and Noriyuki Aoi, M.D., both of the University of Tokyo (UT) School of Medicine, led scientists from UT, Osaka University and the Japan Science and Technology Agency in the investigation. After running more tests on how VD₃ affected another crucial element for hair growth called Wnt10b gene expression, they collected DPCs from volunteers who had undergone facelifts, incubated the DPCs with VD₃ and then grafted them onto hairless skin samples taken from rats.

"We found that treating the dermal papilla cells with VD₃ significantly enhanced the growth of new hair over that of the control group," Dr. Aoi said. "We also observed a better rate of maturation of the follicles. In other words, the hair grew thicker and lasted longer."

"This study may contribute to the development of a cell-based therapy for hair regeneration," said Anthony Atala, MD, Editor of STEM CELLS Translational Medicine and director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine. "The research team shows the potential impact of vitamin D to boost the capacity of certain cells in the skin to form hair."

The full article, "1a, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃ modulates the hair-inductive capacity of dermal papilla cells: therapeutic potential for hair regeneration," can be accessed at http://www.StemCellsTM.com.

More on baldness and allopathic treatments
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Psychiatry/Depression/34105?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DailyHeadlines&utm_source=WC&eun=g432148d0r&userid=432148&email=guyandrepelouze@gmail.com&mu_id=5529932

And:

Depressive Symptoms and Suicidal Thoughts Among Former Users of Finasteride With Persistent Sexual Side Effects

Michael S. Irwig, MD

J Clin Psychiatry

10.4088/JCP.12m07887

Copyright 2012 Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc.

Objective: Finasteride, a commonly prescribed medication for male pattern hair loss, has recently been associated with persistent sexual side effects. In addition, depression has recently been added to the product labeling of Propecia (finasteride 1 mg). Finasteride reduces the levels of several neuroactive steroids linked to sexual function and depression. This study assesses depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts in former users of finasteride who developed persistent sexual side effects despite the discontinuation of finasteride.

Method: In 2010–2011, former users of finasteride (n = 61) with persistent sexual side effects for ≥ 3 months were administered standardized interviews that gathered demographic information, medical and psychiatric histories, and information on medication use, sexual function, and alcohol consumption. All former users were otherwise healthy men with no baseline sexual dysfunction, chronic medical conditions, current or past psychiatric conditions, or use of oral prescription medications before or during finasteride use. A control group of men (n = 29), recruited from the community, had male pattern hair loss but had never used finasteride and denied any history of psychiatric conditions or use of psychiatric medications. The primary outcomes were the prevalence of depressive symptoms and the prevalence of suicidal thoughts as determined by the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II); all subjects self-administered this questionnaire at the time of the interview or up to 10 months later.

Results: Rates of depressive symptoms (BDI-II score ≥ 14) were significantly higher in the former finasteride users (75%; 46/61) as compared to the controls (10%; 3/29) (P < .0001). Moderate or severe depressive symptoms (BDI-II score ≥ 20) were present in 64% (39/61) of the finasteride group and 0% of the controls. Suicidal thoughts were present in 44% (27/61) of the former finasteride users and in 3% (1/29) of the controls (P < .0001).

Conclusions: Clinicians and potential users of finasteride should be aware of the potential risk of depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts. The preliminary findings of this study warrant further research with controlled studies.

J Clin Psychiatry

Copyright 2012 Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc.

Submitted: May 10, 2012; accepted June 25, 2012.

Online ahead of print: August 7, 2012 (doi:10.4088/JCP.12m07887).

Corresponding author: Michael S. Irwig, MD, Division of Endocrinology, Medical Faculty Associates and George Washington University, 2150 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Ste 3-416, Washington, DC 20037 (mirwig@mfa.gwu.edu)
.