The most important part of the hair follicle is the dermal papilla which is enclosed within the hair bulb at the base (see diagram) and is responsible for many follicle functions. The hair that is grown in the dermal papilla results when cells divide and proliferate. The blood capillaries in the skin work with the dermal papillae to give the essential nutrients that stimulate normal hair growth. However, when the hair follicle starts to malfunction, hair disorders such as male pattern baldness and female baldness occur.
Androgens carried in the blood attach to receptors within the dermal papilla. DHT stands for dihydrotestosterone (5?-dihydrotestosterone). It is a male sex hormone, an androgen, which is synthesized with in the hair follicles of both men and women. Men with male pattern baldness and females with female pattern baldness have an increased number of androgen receptors and therefore higher levels of this hormone within the dermal papillae in the hair follicle. This makes the hair follicles much more sensitive to the effects of DHT and this leads to male pattern baldness and female pattern baldness.
When DHT gets into the dermal papilla, it reduces the ability of the dermal papillae to absorb nutrients required for healthy hair follicles and does not allow for the elimination of waste products efficiently. Since normal hair follicles have resting and growing phases, without proper nutrition their resting stages get longer while their growing phases get shorter. The follicles exposed to DHT spend more time in the telogen (resting) phase, resulting in a shorter anagen (growth) phase The follicles miniaturize (shrink), hair growth begins to slow and grow weaker, resulting the production of shorter, finer wispy hair. The follicle actually shrinks and fails to grow. This results in male pattern baldness and female pattern baldness.
There have been many attempts to develop treatments for male pattern hair loss and female pattern hair loss, which target the cells with the follicle and/or the dermal papillae. However, there are only 2 drugs that have been proven effective in treating male pattern baldness, and only 1 drug for female pattern baldness. Unfortunately, while they can stimulate hair growth, they sometimes cause serious side effects.
On the other hand, the HairMax LaserComb has been proven to reverse the miniaturization of the hair, by stimulating the follicle to enter the anagen (growth) phase to effective treat male pattern baldness and female pattern baldness and stimulate hair growth. This results in the growth of new, thicker and more vibrant hair and helps keep the hair that people have when they suffer from male pattern baldness and female pattern baldness. Best of all, unlike drugs for hair loss, no serious side effects have ever been reported from treatment with the HairMax LaserComb.
