If you look at the hair loss research centers around the world page (scroll below the world map for better details), Tokyo is one of the leading cities in the world where significant resources are being devoted to hair loss research. Among the key companies and/or researchers to look out for in Tokyo include the renowned Shiseido and Dr. Takashi Tsuji that have both been covered on this blog before. The Japanese government’s less stringent new regulations governing regenerative medicine testing in humans will likely result in a few other domestic and foreign companies testing new hair loss treatments in Japan in the coming years.
Earlier this month, I read an interesting article about the Men’s Health Clinic Tokyo that has developed a technology to carry out an image-based diagnosis of androgenic alopecia by using an ultra-high resolution scalp MRI. This new MRI can take clear images of 200-300μm hair follicles. This is a much needed development. In my opinion, newer treatments such as PRP and laser are often benefiting hair growth at levels where the naked eye can see very little change, positive or negative. Moreover, it is increasingly crucial to figure out whether a newer treatment is regrowing miniaturized hair longer, or whether a treatment is just maintaining existing hair and perhaps making it thicker. Any treatment that reverses miniaturization even on a millimeter basis is something worth getting excited over, and this MRI will hopefully enable more accurate measurements of hair follicle structural changes.
Perhaps of more significance, the Men’s Health Clinic Tokyo has a section devoted to androgenic alopecia (AGA). Most web browsers nowadays have a translate option that you can access via right clicking when on a page you wish to translate. On the home page of the Men’s Health Clinic of Tokyo, the translation to English from Japanese results in a pretty funny title:
“Men’s Health Clinic in Tokyo is focused on testosterone (male hormone), is Japan’s first clinic to increase the male force.”
When it comes to my scalp, I definitely wish I had the female force rather than the male force!
It seems like besides the Men’s Health Clinic Tokyo, there are a number of other places in Japan that cater to men suffering from hair loss (e.g., Azabu Skin Clinic and Hair Medical and Shibuya Clinic).
