英科學家發現男人脫髮禿頂根本原因

The US team told the JournAl of Clinical Investigation the fault lies with the stem cells that make new hair. A manufacturing defect means the hair produced is so small it appears invisible to the naked eye, giving the classic bald spot or receding hairline.

該團隊告訴《臨牀分析期刊》，問題出在製造新頭髮的幹細胞上。由於新頭髮存在缺陷，所以變得極其細小，以至於我們肉眼無法看到，這便形成了頭上光禿的區域和後退的髮際線。

資料圖:英科學家發現男性禿髮的“根本原因”

It may be possible to "cure" male baldness by restoring the normal function of these cells, the experts hope. Ultimately, they hope to be able to develop a cream that could be applied to the scalp to help the stem cells grow normal hair.

專家們希望通過恢復這些幹細胞的功能來“治癒”男性禿髮，最好的方式是發明一種藥膏，抹在頭皮上就能幫助那些幹細胞長成正常的頭髮。The University of Pennsylvania team compared hair follicles in bald patches and hairy areas of the scalp. Although bald areas had the same number of hair-making stem cells as normal scalp, there were fewer of a more mature type, called the progenitor cell. This difference means that hair follicles in bald patches shrink rather than disappear and the new hairs made are microscopic compared to normal hair.

賓夕法尼亞大學科研人員對比研究了禿髮區域的頭髮毛囊與正常頭皮的毛囊。他們發現，雖然禿髮區域製造頭髮的幹細胞數量與正常區域的數量是一樣的，但前者成熟的祖細胞數量要少一些。這說明禿髮區域的頭髮毛囊縮小而不是消失，這些縮小的頭髮只能用顯微鏡才能看到。

Dr George Cotsarelis who led the research said: "This implies that there is a problem in the activation of stem cells converting progenitor cells in bald scalp. The fact that there are normal numbers of stem cells in bald scalp gives us hope for reactivating those stem cells."

負責這項研究的喬治 考特塞偌里斯博士說：“這暗示着禿髮區域的幹細胞在轉化爲祖細胞的過程中出現了問題。在禿髮區域有正常數量的幹細胞這個事實給了我們重新激活它們的希望。”

資料圖:英科學家發現男性禿髮的“根本原因”

Until now it has been unclear what the exact cause of male pattern baldness is, but experts believe the male hormone testosterone is involved and baldness also tends to run in families.

到目前爲止，男性禿髮的確切原因是什麼還沒有一個明確的答案，但是專家們相信男性荷爾蒙和家族遺傳與之有關。