— young doctor’s research shows encouraging results

WHILE growing up at the valleys close to Paramakatoi village in the Potaro-Siparuni region, Dr Sevanie Williams would listen to her grandmother’s stories on herbs and other plants which the elderly woman and other family members would use to treat their hair.

She would think about the realities of transferring that treatment of the human hair from one that is more traditional to one that is scientific in nature. Today, she is progressively working towards the creation of her own products with the hope of taking the indigenous remedies from the village to the world.

Dr Williams was raised in North Pakaraima valleys near Paramakatoi and Kato. She recalled during a recent interview the treacherous journey to school up the mountains and the one-hour walk down the slope in the afternoons. This lasted all the way until secondary school and later she was offered a scholarship by the government to study medicine in Cuba.
She said while growing up at the village, she always had a keen interest in the composition of chemicals, plant life and organisms. She even recalled examining cows’ organs when they were slaughtered in the village.

She said that while medicine was her main area of study, her strength lies in research. “That’s something that I love,” she noted.
Dr Williams decided to explore the reasons for hair loss and more importantly, finding a cure for hair loss.  Since there is no cure for baldness, studies have shown that there are treatments, but none can leave an individual totally satisfied.

Dr Williams is trying to complete the treatment, one which can see a human being, being completely satisfied with the hair-regeneration process.
She told the Guyana Chronicle that she has been studying and conducting research on hair regeneration for over six years and two years ago she found a breakthrough.

‘KAPOHN’ AND HER GRANDMOTHER
She said at the moment, she is testing hair on the human head. She explained that her grandmother paid keen attention to managing her own hair and she wants to use that information which was passed down to her in scientific experiments.
Dr Williams said she focused on pattern baldness, which is caused by genetics or it can also be hereditary. She said there is no scientific data to indicate it is indeed genetic. “I have used my grandmother’s formulas, I have made some improvements, some alterations over the years to make a product,” she said.

The young doctor noted that her family members decided to cut their hair short to start the oil experiments. She said that her cousins and in-laws , many of whom were experiencing hair loss , started to see results, while her grandfather who was bald for over 40 years experienced hair regeneration after using her product which she titled “Kapohn”, an indigenous word which means a divine being.

She recalled that during the experiment, she saw a patch in the bald area of her grandfather’s head had hair, while another family member was seeing encouraging results.
“The new hair which was growing was growing black, while the roots of his grey hair were starting to get black,” she recalled of her grandfather’s head.

According to her, the product works on all forms of hair, including on individuals with Afro-textured hair. She pointed out however, that the longer someone is bald, the longer he/she may take to respond to the product.

At the moment she is working along with Dr Emmanuel Cummings, the Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Guyana and a local lab where she is conducting tests and further research.

She said with the assistance of experts, she is developing other varieties which can be applied to the hair. Dr Williams said her late grandmother had a wealth of knowledge and she noted that the information, which was told to her in the form of stories, was actually the remedies which in time may be the cure for baldness.