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Home > Other Hair Removal Methods
Hair Removal Photodynamic Therapy
Basic facts
Description
Advantages
Disadvantages
Quack claims
Cost
Background
History
Clinical data
Photodynamic
Basic facts
An
experimental method combining chemicals and
radiation to induce controlled hair loss or
reduction.
Photodynamic Description
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A chemical is administered which selectively
pigments a follicle's regenerative structures.
Laser
or other radiation selectively targets the
darkened
cells while sparing surrounding tissue.
Photodynamic Advantages
Theoretically could target any hair color.
Photodynamic
Disadvantages
Experimental.
Commercial
use is not expected foreseeable future
Photodynamic
Quack
Claims
None at this time.
Photodynamic
Background
Hair growth cells and cancer cells share some
interesting characteristics: rapidly dividing with multiple
potentials for differentiation. This is part of the reason many
combinations of chemotherapy and radiation result in hair loss:
they disrupt the same kinds of cellular activity.It
has been theorized that combinations of these drugs
and radiation may be used to induce a controlled
amount of hair loss or reduction.
Photodynamic
History
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been useful in treating
some types of cancers. Certain chemicals have been observed to
darken some types of skin cells, which can then be selectively
targeted by laser to induce apoptosis or "programmed cell
death." Recent data suggests PDT may have uses in the treatment
of acne as well. s
In addition, the presence or absence of certain genetic markers
in mice such as p53 have been observed to be "on-off" switches
for chemical/radiation induced hair loss. [8] Learning to
manipulate genetic markers like these in conjunction with
chemicals and/or radiation may lead to new hair reduction
treatments.
