Scientists find key to hair loss. Partly.

No doubt you've seen the headlines:

Gene linked to early baldness -

"A family with a rare form of inherited baldness has helped scientists find a gene which plays a crucial role in normal hair growth. Researchers believe it could lead to treatments to boost hair growth in a broad range of conditions causing hair loss..."


Scientists find genetic keys to inherited hair loss -

"News Researchers have found the genetic basis of two distinct forms of inherited hair loss, opening a broad path to treatments for thinning locks, according to a pair of studies released Sunday..."

So, what's going on? Is this the holy grail we've been waiting for someone to find?

Well, the first thing to note is that the condition investigated by the researchers - Hypotrichosis simplex - is rare, it's not the cause of most people's hair loss. Secondly, these are very early days. Any information which might be useful in forming a broad based hair loss solution for the consumer needs to be fed into the usual process of testing and development - a process which takes years.

However, there are grounds for optimism. Crucially, scientists now know something which they didn't before, and that something might be very important indeed, namely a receptor which plays a role in hair growth.

Needless to say, this is something I'll be following closely.