Drug for glaucoma found to have hair growth benefits: Study

UK-based researchers have discovered that a drug used in the treatment of glaucoma may help scalp hair regrowth.

Bimatoprost, which has been effective in regrowing eyelashes, could also help people who are balding to regrow hair, according to the research appearing online in The FASEB Journal.

The glaucoma drug is already commercially available to regrow eyelashes, but the data from the report shows that it can grow human hair from the scalp, according to cosmeticsdesign-europe.com.

University of Bradford, Bradford, UK, teacher Valerie Randall, who is also a researcher involved in this analysis, said they are hoping that through this study that they will be led to the development of a new therapy for reversing balding.

"Further research should increase our understanding of how hair follicles work and thereby allow new therapeutic approaches for many hair growth disorders," said Randall.

They came to this conclusion after conducting three sets of experiments; two involving human cells and the other involving mice.

In the tests on human cells, hair follicles growing in organ culture and also those taken directly from the human scalp were used.

In both of these tests, bimatoprost was found to lead to hair growth.

Gerald Weissmann MD at The FASEB Journal believes this is a breakthrough in the hair loss field, which would gain currency soon for people looking to regrow hair.