For the purposes of this post, I have equated the UK to be the same as Great Britain (or British). I did not want to use only one of those names repeatedly throughout the text.
Long-time readers of this blog will know that I include links from the UK’s Daily Mail more frequently than from any other newspaper in the world. The Daily Mail is superb when it comes to covering the latest developments in the hair loss world, including sometimes very technical science and research related breakthroughs. Very surprising, considering all the trashy content and pop-up ads throughout this paper’s website. They have hired a good team to cover both celebrity and scientific hair loss related news.
Having said that, other major UK based newspapers such as Daily Mirror, Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, Metro, The Sun, The Independent, Daily Express, London Evening Standard, The Times and BBC (online only) all have very good coverage when it comes to hair loss news.
British media hair loss related content has been especially prolific and interesting this past couple of weeks. Something sorely lacking in the US.
Some interesting recent hair related stories from the UK:
Metro: Drastic weight loss leads to hair darkening and thickening
Really hard to believe this August 29th story from Metro. A man named Brian Mcauley lost over 100 pounds (lbs) of weight. Then his completely white hair became entirely dark. On top of that, his hair became thicker than before. He sounds quite sincere, but of course this seems ludicrous.
The Guardian: How close is a cure for baldness?
On August 31st, The Guardian published an interesting article on how close we are to a cure for baldness. While the author omits discussion of most of the potential future cures and treatments for hair loss, he does provide an update on osteoporosis drug WAY-316606. He also discusses its related hair loss drug’s potential clinical trials via Italian company Giuliani Pharma.
Apparently, Dr. Nathan Hawkshaw has stopped research work in this area, but Giuliani Pharma hopes to take his findings and proceed to clinical trials. Very unlikely that we will see this drug come to market anytime in the next 3-4 years even if trials do proceed on time.
The Guardian article also mentions RiverTown’s RT1640, which involves a similar treatment mechanism, but via the direct use of Cyclosporine A and several other compounds.
Daily Mail: An egg a day keeps hair loss at bay
On September 1st, The Daily Mail covered some unusual recent findings from Japan regarding egg yolks potentially helping stimulate hair growth. These scalp hair benefits all stem from the VEGF growth factor protein found in egg yolks. Unfortunately, this hair stimulation from egg-based VEGF is too minimal to take this research seriously. Nevertheless, an interesting story.
BBC: Fighting against my receding hairline
While the BBC does not have a print edition, historically it has always been the world’s most well known and longest running English language news source when it come to TV and radio mediums. Even for online news during the past two decades, the BBC has an edge over CNN as the world’s foremost news source.
On September 4th, BBC online had an interesting video about a British guy treating his hair loss via a hair transplant in Turkey. Make sure to read my post on the dangers of getting a hair transplant abroad.
The Sun: David Beckham hair transplant
On August 24th, The Sun had a headline claiming that famous former soccer player David Beckham just became one of a growing number of celebrities who has had a hair transplant.
On September 7th, the same Sun newspaper changed its mind and asked: “Has David Beckham had a hair transplant?”
The Telegraph: Conman dupes retirees to pay for hair transplant
A September 11th story from The Telegraph is not as shocking to me as it may seem to others. One guy became so desperate for hair, that he decided to rob an elderly couple with dementia. The stolen funds were subsequently used to pay for a hair transplant.