BALDNESS AND BLOOD FLOW

[Armando]

Baldness and blood flow


Relative importance of the blood flow

The problems of the blood flow have been associated with the loss of hair during decades. Its foundation is simple: a deficit in the nutrition of hair affects negatively to the hair growth; if the blood flow is increased, we have already beat baldness. But shamefully, the good goals were not accomplished. The drug Minoxidil, we should revise History to know which was its first prescription, it barely works, and the lattest studies seem to indicate that the trichogenous action of minoxidil is a result of its role as donor of groups of nitric oxide (iNOs) and possibly related to the immune system. Moreover, a lot of years ago the use of other vasodilators more effective than minoxidil has been ruled out.
Another intriguer detail is the fact that the pilosebaceous unit is able to regulate its own vascular system of the attached tissue through the VEGF (Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor), i.e. it has the capacity of creating the necessary capillary which change during the different phases of hair. It has neither been found marked differences in the blood supply of the alopecic areas and the ones covered with hair. It also seems that the capillary are not physically joined to the hair structure, because of the fact that when one hair is pulled out, no blood appears (there is not rupture of capillaries). Likewise, so that hair grows is not essential, at least temporally, the existence of a blood system, since hair can grow after a person has died or even in a test tube. The blood system is not very affected when hair is lost.
Finally, and so as not to be annoying, I would like to mention that there is a doctor in Belgium who has made thousands of operations in order to make the ligature of the arteries of the scalp as a treatment for alopecia (1), and I suppose that some of them successfully. On the other hand, massages on scalp are partly effective to stop the baldness process. In my opinion, the blood irrigation of hair is a controversial factor, is another piece of the puzzle, another factor that takes part in common baldness, but not the most important one, and I am almost sure that it is not the triggering fact of the alopecic process. It must be only an added target in the multifactorial fight against baldness.

(1) New Treatment for Seborrheic Alopecia: The Ligature of Arteries of the Scalp. Raymond E. Marechal. J Nat Med Asso 1977; 69 (10) :709-11.


What is your opinion?

Armando

[HairLossFight.com]

I think you are correct when you say the following about blood flow and hair loss:

It must be only an added target in the multifactorial fight against baldness.

With regards to Minoxidil, it is not really understood why it works, but there is a general consensus that it is working from more than just improving blood flow to the scalp. There must be some other mechanism(s) at play with how Minoxidil works to regrow hair.

Regards,
Sam