Hair thinning is a common problem for both men and women. One major cause is androgenetic alopecia, better known as male pattern baldness or female pattern hair loss.
This condition develops slowly over time and is influenced by both hormones and family history. It happens when hair follicles become too sensitive to a hormone called DHT, which comes from testosterone.
This makes the follicles shrink and produce thinner hair, and eventually, the hair stops growing altogether.
A popular treatment for this condition is a topical medicine called minoxidil. It works by increasing blood flow to the scalp, which can help hair follicles stay in the growth phase longer and grow new hair.
But minoxidil doesn’t dissolve well in water and has trouble getting through the outer layer of the skin. Because of this, it doesn’t always work as well as it could. People have to use it regularly for months before they see any changes, and not everyone responds the same way.
Now, scientists have found a way to make minoxidil work better using something completely natural—stevioside, a sweetener that comes from the Stevia plant. This breakthrough was reported in the journal Advanced Healthcare Materials.
The research team, including Dr. Lifeng Kang from the University of Sydney, discovered that stevioside can help minoxidil pass through the skin more easily.
In tests using mice with hair loss, the scientists created a dissolvable skin patch that contained both stevioside and minoxidil. When they applied the patch, the hair follicles were triggered to start growing again. The hair entered the active growth phase and new strands appeared, showing clear signs of hair regrowth.
This approach could lead to better and more natural treatments for people struggling with hair loss. Using stevioside as a helper ingredient means the body can absorb minoxidil more effectively, possibly reducing the need for frequent applications. It may also lower the chances of side effects from using too much of the drug.
What makes this finding even more exciting is that stevioside is already well-known as a safe natural sweetener used in food. Its new use as a skin absorption enhancer could open doors for other medical treatments as well.
Hair loss affects millions of people across the world, and finding treatments that are both effective and safe is a major goal for scientists.
This study offers a hopeful new direction. While more research is needed to confirm the results in humans, the early findings are promising. A future with easier, more effective hair regrowth treatments might be closer than we think.
The study is published in Advanced Healthcare Materials.
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