The Alopecia Help Collection

Does melatonin do more than help us sleep? Hair follicles produce their own melatonin, yet scientists are only beginning to understand why. A fascinating new laboratory study suggests melatonin may influence the stem cells responsible for growing new hair, adding another piece to the complex puzzle of androgenetic alopecia.

Hair loss is often explained using words such as miniaturisation, dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and follicular units. These are scientifically accurate terms, but they can be difficult to picture. What if, instead, you imagined your scalp as a town? This essay explores androgenetic alopecia through a simple analogy inspired by published trichoscopy research, helping to explain why the town often becomes quieter before it becomes smaller.

Hair follicles and eyes share an unusual biological feature: both depend on carefully controlled immune privilege.

Why does hair loss usually affect the top of the scalp while the hair at the back and sides often remains thick for decades? Modern research suggests that hair follicles from different parts of the scalp are biologically different and may even carry a “memory” of where they came from. Dr Gwen Adey explores one of the most fascinating mysteries in hair biology: how hair follicles seem to know where they are.