Baldness can affect men and women, but there could be a cure. [Photo: Getty]

Hair loss can be a big strain on anyone’s confidence, but sadly, years of research have failed to find a an effective cure. But that could all be about to change.

Scientists believe they could be on the cusp of finding a treatment for balding, and it’s all down to sandalwood.

Sandalore, the artificial scent made to smell like sandalwood, a scent used in many of our perfumes and soaps, has been found to stimulate hair growth by increasing keratin levels in the scalp.

Researchers from the University of Manchester who led the research, found that sandalwood can stimulate hair growth after six days.

While this research was done on scalp tissue from face-lift patients in a lab, researchers believe they are close to testing on human subjects.

“This is actually a rather amazing finding,” Professor Ralf Paus, a scientist who led the investigation, told The Independent.

Sandalwood is a scent used in many of our perfumes and soaps. [Photo: Getty] More

What did the research find?

Well this is where it gets intriguing.

Researchers focused on a receptor found in the hair follicles called OR2AT4, which is known to be stimulated by Sandalore. Much like the smell receptors in our noses, we know that our hair follicles can, too, ‘smell’ when they are triggered by certain odorants.

Scientists found that by applying synthetic sandalwood to scalp tissue they could increase hair growth and decrease cell death, so concluding the “substantial, clinically relevant functional hair growth effects” outlined in their Nature Communications paper.

“This is the first time ever that it has been shown that the remodelling of a normal human mini-organ [a hair] can be regulated by a simple, cosmetically widely-used odorant,” Professor Paus told the publication.

While it remains to be seen if sandalwood will be bottled up and sold over the counter at chemists as an anti-hair loss treatment, this research appears extremely exciting for those suffering.

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