Scientists may have accidentally stumbled upon a potential new treatment for the most common form of baldness. It even works as well as commercial hair loss treatments.

It all started with research on deoxyribose sugar that naturally occurs in the body and helps form DNA.

While studying how these sugars heal the wounds of mice when applied topically, scientists at the University of Sheffield and COMSATS University in Pakistan noticed that the fur around the lesions was growing back faster than in untreated mice.

Together, the team designed a biodegradable, non-toxic gel made from deoxyribose, and applied the treatment to mouse models of male-pattern baldness.

Minoxidil was also tested on balding mouse models, and some of the animals received a dose of both sugar gel and minoxidil for good measure.

Compared to mice that received a gel without any medicine, those that received a gel with deoxyribose sugar began to sprout new hair follicles.

Both minoxidil and the sugar gel promoted 80 to 90 percent hair regrowth in mice with male pattern baldness. Combining the treatments, however, did not make much more of a difference.

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• https://www.sciencealert.com/surprise-hair-loss-breakthrough-sugar-gel-triggers-robust-regrowth