Could wigs, weaves or transplants someday become a thing of the past? Scientists report they were able to grow hair with stem cells in animal studies.

So far the technique has only been tried on mice, and results may not be the same in humans. But researchers say they have been able to grow natural-looking hair through the skin using stem cells.

Highly controlled method

This could bring new hope to men and women with hair loss, the researchers said – if the technique proves successful in people.

“Now we have a robust, highly controlled method for generating natural-looking hair that grows through the skin,” said Alexey Terskikh, an associate professor in the development, ageing and regeneration programme at Sanford Burham Prebys, a non-profit research institute in La Jolla, California.

The findings were presented at a meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, in Los Angeles. Research presented at meetings is typically considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

The researchers said the system uses cells called dermal papilla. Found in the hair follicle, these cells control hair thickness, length and how fast hair grows.

The cells are laced through a biodegradable scaffold made of the same material as dissolvable stitches. The scaffold controls the direction the hair grows in and helps the cells become part of the skin.

Groundbreaking technology

“This is a critical breakthrough in the development of cell-based hair-loss therapies and the regenerative medicine field,” Terskikh said in a meeting news release.

For their experiments, researchers implanted a combination of mouse and human cells on hairless mice.

The lab is now working with human cells to make hair follicles that can be transplanted.

“Hair loss profoundly affects many people’s lives. A significant part of my practice involves both men and women who are seeking solutions to their hair loss,” said Dr Richard Chaffoo, a plastic surgeon who is a medical adviser to Stemson Therapeutics, the company formed to promote this technology.

“I am eager to advance this groundbreaking technology, which could improve the lives of millions of people who struggle with hair loss,” he said in the news release.

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Parkinson’s disease, a neurodegenerative disorder that affects more than 6 million people worldwide, is caused by the buildup of alpha-synuclein proteins in the brain. The biological function of alpha-synuclein is still not well understood, but because of its role in neurodegenerative diseases, researchers are actively studying this protein to understand the mechanisms of the disease and to look for new treatment strategies.

Rearing its head in infancy, Christianson Syndrome is a rare disorder whose symptoms include intellectual disability, seizures and difficulty standing or walking. Although it is becoming increasingly diagnosed, with little being known about the neural mechanism behind the disease, therapeutic options for patients remain limited.

Perfumes that use the most popular scents do not always obtain the highest number of ratings, according to an analysis of online perfume reviews.

But campaigners and a former Conservative health minister have criticised his idea.

The invasive Group A streptococcal bacterium has now infected 34 people across Essex.

Anna O’Brien, better known as Glitter + Lazers, uses social media to promote body positivity and size inclusiveness among her 361K followers. But her latest post tackles another topic: how sometimes her messages are taken the wrong way. 

On July 2, O’Brien posted a photo of herself posing in a bikini on Instagram. Shot from behind, it shows off the blogger's revealing two piece and backside—but O'Brien explained that the bootylicious photo wasn't meant to be sexy. 

RELATED: This Plus-Sized Model’s Bikini Pic Is Sparking Controversy on Twitter

“I’ve always struggled showing the back of my body in photos,” O’Brien wrote in her caption. “Even though these images are never intended to be sexual, because of the shape of my body they get perceived as such. It’s especially difficult for me, because I would not consider myself an overtly sexual person (nothing wrong with being so, it’s just not something I identify with).”

O'Brien explained that while she often gets compliments on her empowering images, they aren't the kind of comments she is looking to receive. 

“When I get comments on these images complimenting my sexiness, it can feel a bit off- especially when it’s not what I was hoping to portray,” she continued. “Images like this, are literally just a different side of my body. Life is experienced in all angles.”

O'Brien has shared dozens of bikini photos to her Instagram account, proving that body shape and beauty aren't mutually exclusive. Last year, the blogger shared that she was asked to stop taking pictures in a bikini because of her size. After the incident, she opened up to People about plus size bodies and their representation in the media. 

“I think it just goes to show that a plus size woman wearing what every other woman wears is still foreign and scary to a lot of people,” she told People. “It’s a reminder that taking images like this is important—to normalize them.”

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The anti-vaccination movement is now a global crisis, an international panel of scientists say, and everyone must do more to combat it.

“We are alarmed that the WHO [World Health Organization] this year declared vaccine hesitancy a top-10 international public health problem. This is a man-made, dangerous and wholly unnecessary crisis,” said Dr Scott Ratzan.

He’s founding editor of the Journal of Health Communication. He’s also the founder of the International Working Group (IWG) on Vaccination and Public Health Solutions.

The new Salzburg Statement on Vaccine Acceptance, published July 2, has been endorsed by 60 leaders in public health from the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.

According to the group, vaccines have prevented hundreds of millions of infectious diseases – such as polio, measles, hepatitis B and meningitis – and save up to 3 million lives a year. They are cost-effective, too. Every US dollar spent on childhood immunisation returns up to $44 in benefits, according to the IWG.

But in the United States, outbreaks of measles have recently occurred in hotspots where parents have refused to vaccinate their children.

In response, some US states have reacted by closing “personal belief” loopholes that allowed parents to not immunise a school-aged child.

“The resurgence of potentially life-threatening diseases like measles, which the US Centers for Disease Control declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, undermines the integrity of childhood protections that thousands of dedicated scientists, doctors and public health officials spent the better part of the last century putting in place,” said Lawrence Gostin.

He directs the WHO Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law, and is also co-director of the IWG.

“Parents do have rights to make informed decisions about vaccinating their children,” Gostin added, “but they do not have the right to place their children, or other children, at risk of a serious infectious disease. We need to do a far better job of reaching out to vaccine-hesitant parents.”

And the problem is now a global one, the consortium of scientists added in a journal news release. So, more must be done to combat false information about childhood vaccines being spread by anti-vaxxers.

The experts called on governments and policymakers to support laws that limit exemptions from mandatory vaccination and to regard childhood vaccination as an essential service – in line with services such as police, firefighters and public sanitation.

Social media companies and major search engines also need to better monitor the vaccine information they provide in order to prevent the spread of inaccurate and false claims about vaccine safety, just as they do for sexually explicit, violent and threatening messages, the group said.

The statement also urged advocacy groups, educators and health professionals to work together to correct misleading vaccine information and to provide reliable, accurate information through mass and social media.

Two physicians on the frontlines of the issue in the United States agreed that more must be done.

The new statement “is timely and well-reasoned,” said Dr Eric Cioe-Pena, who directs global health at Northwell Health, in New Hyde Park, New York. “It is my hope that the larger global community will take action along with the medical and public health leaders in this statement,” he said.

Dr Edward Chapnick is head of infectious diseases at Maimonides Medical Center in New York City. He called the new statement “immensely important in 2019, as the US faces its worst measles outbreak in this century.”

According to Chapnick, “it may be impossible to completely wipe out misinformation on the internet, [but] we can certainly take steps to ensure that medically sound information from established and respected sources is the default setting in every search engine.”

For their part, the IWG intends “to keep up a steady drumbeat of accurate vaccine communications until the traditional public consensus in support of childhood immunisation is restored,” Ratzan said in the news release.

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Having struggled throughout his childhood to communicate with his deaf parents, Lucky Netshidzati (26) created a hand glove which translates South African sign language into voice, text, and voice-to-sign language animation to improve communication between him and his parents. 

Netshidzati’s parents were born deaf so he wasn’t able to communicate with them. It prompted him to do something to improve the situation.

“Growing up was difficult because both my parents are deaf and I was unable to communicate with them properly because they used sign language,” he said.

“Imagine not being able to speak to your own parents because they can’t hear you or respond to what you are saying because they only use sign language and you have never been taught sign language at school?”

Innovation

Born and bred in rural Tsianda, outside Thohoyandou, Netshidzati said that he was encouraged to come up with an innovation to help deaf people communicate with everyone easily, not only for his family but for others in a similar situation to his. 

“I don’t want other children to go through what I did as a child.”

Netshidzati said that when the glove sensor is connected to a mobile application on a phone, it can also be used to make phone calls. 

“I believe it will go a long way in assisting hearing-impaired people to communicate with people who can hear, without any barrier.” He said the glove can be powered by charging it electronically, or by using a battery. 

Though it is not yet out in the market, Netshidzati believes that it will go a long way in empowering people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

– Health-e News

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Ndivhuwo Mukwevho

The government did not manage expectations after allowing doctors to prescribe cannabis, a report finds.