GOOD NEWS FOR BALD MEN...

The search for a cure for baldness has been going on for decades, but new research may have cracked it. It turns out special immune cells known as Tregs play a key role in hair growth.

Now scientists have discovered that these Tregs function as triggers for hair growth.

A series of experiments on mice showed how Tregs in the skin send out signals that stimulate hair follicle stem cells to regenerate and spark new hair growth.

Lead scientist Dr Michael Rosenblum, from the University of California in San Francisco, said: “Our hair follicles are constantly recycling. When a hair falls out, the whole hair follicle has to grow back. This has been thought to be an entirely stem cell-dependent process, but it turns out Tregs are essential.

The research could lead to new treatments for alopecia areata – an autoimmune disease that causes patchy hair loss from the scalp and eyebrows – or even male-pattern baldness.