One of the most upsetting parts of having cancer is hair loss...

A team of scientists in Japan has been researching a type of antibiotic which could help people who suffer from hair loss during chemotherapy for cancer to retain their hair. The cancer disease is obviously a very stressful and unpleasant experience for anyone to undergo, however one must not underestimate the distress and pain that is caused by the resultant hair loss and any treatment that could be utilised to alleviate the mental stress of hair loss would be much appreciated by cancer patients.

The Japanese scientists said that alopestatin could reduce the amount of hair loss by as much as 70 percent in studies using rats.The rats were given Etoposide that is a very common anti cancer drug used to help people who suffer from lung cancer as well as other types. Like with most cancer drugs, a side effect of the Etoposide is hair loss.

The researchers from the Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine said that they wanted to put their study into human use in the near future however much more research is required before it could be put to proper commercial use. Previously the research with cancer drugs has always concentrated on getting them to work better and more efficiently and the issue of hair loss has been very much sidelined. Scientists argued that it is far more important to save lives with cancer drugs then to save hair.

At Ukmedix News we have come across reports where people have said that one of the most upsetting parts of having cancer was that they knew that they were going to lose their hair and they rated it even more serious than the disease itself. There is definitely much commercial potential in having anti cancer drugs and medications that would help people to retain their hair.