Worried by hair loss?

FDA Approves a Robotic Hair Follicle Harvesting Device

2011-10-20T13:56:00.000-07:00

Hair transplantation is currently the only natural method of hair replacement, providing satisfactory and lasting results. The two main techniques currently used are called follicular unit transplantation (FUT) and follicular unit extraction (FUE). The FUE method provides the best cosmetic results as it leaves no scars at the back of the scalp but it has its weaknesses when it comes to the efficiency of the follicle harvesting. The hair follicles are being harvested individually, which often leads to their transaction and thus to their destruction. The newly approved device for follicle harvesting eliminates this problem and makes the whole procedure easier for both, the doctor and the patient, greatly increasing the efficiency. The only bad news at the moment is the fact that this device has only been tested and approved for people with black and brown straight hair.

What Do You Know about Aldactone and Hair Loss?

2011-08-19T11:10:00.000-07:00

To start with, one should realize that there are several forms of hair loss with each of them having its own causes and treatment methods. This brief review will deal exclusively with the hereditary form of hair loss also known as male or female pattern baldness. Every hair loss sufferer has heard about Propecia being the only approved medicinal pill for treating hair loss in men. It is an antiandrogen drug, blocking the activity of the metabolite of the male hormone testosterone called dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and thus protecting the hair follicles and eventually the hair from its harmful effects. The main weakness of this pill is that it can only be prescribed to male patients.

But 25% of women are also suffering from the hereditary form of hair loss and they cannot use this medication. The female form of baldness is usually less focused on the top and front of the scalp. It is diffuse, so women lose their hair less noticeably. However, due to this balding pattern they also make less suitable candidates for hair transplantation as they lack the hair density in the donor area and the hair that would be transplanted from the back of their scalp would not be necessarily resistant to balding as it is with male patients.

However, not so many doctors and only a few female hair loss sufferers know of spironolactone which is widely available as generic Aldactone. This pill can be used to treat female pattern hair loss quite effectively. However, since it has never being approved by any significant health authority for such purpose caution is required. Other applications of Aldactone (the active substance spironolactone is a diuretic that helps reduce fluid retention in the body) include the treatment of hyperkalemia, heart failure, excess body hair in women and severe acne in women. Due to its antiandrogen effects, it can also be used as a common component in hormone therapy for male-to-female transsexual and transgender people. As you can see, the therapeutic properties of spironolactone are plentiful which obviously carries the risk of negative side effects, Therefore, this medication should always be used on doctor’s prescription even if you only use it to treat hair loss.

Scarring Alopecia - a Rare form of Hair Loss

2011-05-01T13:39:00.001-07:00

Scarring alopecia also known as cicatrical alopecia is a relatively rare form of hair loss, affecting both sexes and all age groups. It is caused by the destruction of hair follicles, replacing them with scars and it leads to permanent hair loss. In many cases these inflammatory processes are painful and accompanied by burning and itching scalp and they can be rapidly progressive. Although it is not exactly known what causes scarring alopecia, it is known to affect the upper part of the hair follicles, destroying stem cells and oil glands. Once these get destroyed the hair follicle is irreversibly dead. This type of hair loss is not being associated with other health conditions and typically occurs in otherwise healthy people.

The treatment of scarring alopecia is different from other types of hair loss and largely varies from patient to patient. The most typical treatment involves anti-inflammatory medications that are applied to the scalp such as corticosteroids or used orally such as antibiotics with the goal to reduce the activity of the lymphocytic inflammatory cells, which leads to the destruction of the hair follicles. Unfortunately, hair loss caused by cicatrical alopecia is not reversible but the treatment can help eliminate inflammatory processes and thus save follicles from further destruction. Some hair growth stimulant such as Rogaine can be used later on in order to stimulate new hair growth from follicles that have not been yet completely destroyed by the scars.

LaserComb and ScalpRoller – Could They Help Treat Hair Loss?

2010-09-14T14:51:00.000-07:00

Many hair loss sufferers wish to avoid medicinal or even herbal hair loss treatments at all cost in their fear of negative side effects and are therefore looking for non-medical treatments. Hair transplantation involves a surgery and besides it being expensive it is not suitable for every patient and requires a lifetime commitment to medicinal treatments. Wigs, hair pieces and hair systems are also quite expensive if you include the cost of maintenance and replacement and are uncomfortable to wear. Hair loss concealers on the other hand are usually considered to be only a temporary solution, suitable for special occasions when you want to look younger and more attractive.

This is where LaserComb and more recently also ScalpRoller come in the spotlight. LaserComb uses low-level laser therapy, which has been used for more than two decades to speed up the healing of scalp injuries, to promote new hair growth. This device is not inexpensive but considering it longevity it is quite affordable. Although some people swear by it, it has not been proven to help regrow significant amounts of hair. A new revolutionary approach to regrowing hair seems to be through tiny scalp injuries that can induce new hair growth in the balding scalp. Although this approach has been known only for a few years and it is being still examined there is one simple product that is being available to the consumer already now. It is called ScalpRoller and it is a clone of dermarollers that are used to treat wrinkles and scars but it differs in the size and the quality of the needles. This product has not been in the market for too long yet so it is impossible to estimate its actual efficacy in treating hair loss.

Avodart as a Prevention of Prostate Cancer

2010-07-24T02:44:00.001-07:00

Avodart (dutasteride) is a drug similar in its activity to finasteride (Proscar/Propecia), having almost identical areas of application. It has been approved to treating benign prostatic hyperplasia and is being studied for its use in the fight against male pattern baldness. The Korean clinical trial has been completed already more than a year ago but its results have not yet been released and therefore Avodart has not been approved for treating male form of hair loss. The main concern here is not its efficacy but its side effects. Many hair loss sufferers buy generic Avodart online and they have confirmed the fact that it is a more powerful pill than Propecia (finasteride) in promoting new hair growth. The big question mark is its side effects, which are supposed to be more severe than for finasteride as dutasteride is a dual 5-alpha reductase inhibitor. A recent study of dutasteride by GlaxoSmithKline confirmed that Avodart (dutasteride) is effective in reducing the risk of prostate cancer, which makes it yet more similar to finasteride. Although there is no consensus among the doctors on whether dutasteride, or any other hormone-blocking substance, should be used for cancer prevention some doctors suggest it might be prudent to use dutasteride in some very high risk patients. Another finding of this study is an increased incidence of heart failure in patients treated by this drug, which needs further examination but does not add credibility to Avodart due to its already now long enough list of potential side effects.

Nizoral Shampoo as effective as Rogaine in Treating Hair Loss

2010-06-13T01:18:00.000-07:00

Nizoral shampoo is a widely used and effective anti-dandruff shampoo that is often being mentioned also as one of the top treatments for hair loss. Hair loss sufferers have always been using Nizoral shampoo to treat inflammation, itching and flaking caused by ingredients used in various hair loss treatments and many of them have noticed improvement in hair growth as a result of using this shampoo. The main active substance in Nizoral shampoo is ketoconazole in concentration of 1% and 2%. Ketoconazole 2% solution has being shown in one small hair loss study to be as effective in promoting hair growth as 2% solution of minoxidil which is equivalent to Rogaine for women. Although further studies would be needed to confirm these findings and to examine the actual efficacy of different concentrations of ketoconzole many hair loss sufferers swear by it and continue using it. Ketoconazole works better if you give it some time to get absorbed so if you are shampooing you head you should leave it in your hair for some 5 minutes or so before washing it down. Hence, it could be concluded that although there is some empirical evidence that the topical use of ketoconazole can help promote new hair growth there is very little scientific evidence it really does.

A Brief Review of Procerin Hair Loss Treatment

2010-04-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

Any hair loss sufferer who has ever tried to find some remedy for their vanishing hair must have come across Procerin. This all-natural formula is suitable only for men. It consists of oral pills and a topical lotion. The main active ingredient in the supplement pills is saw palmetto extract. This berry is often dubbed as natural finasteride, i.e. a natural dihydrotestosterone (DHT) blocker, having similar properties to men’s only FDA approved hair loss pill Propecia. There are also some other assumed DHT inhibitors contained in these pills, such as nettle root extract and pumpkin seed oil as well as a number of vital vitamins and minerals. The topical lotion happens to contain the same herbal extracts believed to block DHT as contained in the supplement pills. Other active ingredients found in the lotion include azelaic acid (first introduced by Xandrox and now available in a number of different hair loss products) and grape seed extract, which contains procyanidins often associated with inducing new hair growth.

When promoting Procerin, the main focus is usually on accentuating the beneficial effects of its main ingredient - saw palmetto. It is taken for granted that saw palmetto can effectively block DHT and thus protect our hair follicles from its harmful effects, despite the fact that not a single serious study has ever confirmed such claims. The same applies to nettle root and herbal oils rich in essential fatty acids that are so abundant in this product. The only two components that sound promising in this mixture are procyanidins and azelaic acid but further studies on a larger scale would be needed to confirm their efficacy in treating hair loss. Hence, it appears that the claims of Procerin's efficacy might have some flaws as well as the claims of its harmfulness, given the fact that many of its ingredients are known to cause allergies and various other, often serious, side effects.

What Does Rogaine Do to Regrow Hair?

2010-03-15T14:42:00.001-07:00

Rogaine is besides Propecia the best known hair loss treatment and it happens to be the oldest clinically proven and the FDA approved medication for hair loss. As it happens so often its hair growth promoting properties were discovered accidentally as minoxidil (the main active substance of Rogaine) has been used for years to treat high blood pressure in the form of Loniten. Rogaine can be used by both male and female hair loss patients and it has been shown to be effective in treating hereditary forms of pattern baldness as well as alopecia areata. Minoxidil also happens to be amongst the most frequently used ingredients in topical hair loss products. It is often said that Rogaine should be used in combination with Propecia to get best results as Propecia would stop the miniaturization process of your hair and Rogaine would help you regrow hair. But does Rogaine really regrow hair? The fact is that nobody knows how it really works as its mechanism has never been described. But if you check the stand alone consumer reviews of Rogaine you will hardly find people saying that Rogain alone has been able to regrow their hair. Most consumers will say that Rogain helped them keep what they have remaining or that it thickened their hair. But those who use it in combination with Propecia claim to have seen significant regrowth. Therefore, it can be concluded that Rogaine (or Regaine as it is known in Europe) needs Propecia (finasteride) to honor its name as “regaine”, though the reasons and its mechanism of action remains a mystery.

Examining Surgical Complications in Hair Transplantation

2010-02-02T14:49:00.000-08:00

Surgical complications in hair transplantation are relatively frequent and can be a real deterrent when you are deciding on a surgery. Most of the published studies, which have dealt with this issue, provide individual case reports rather than large scale consistently conducted reviews. In a recent study complications in 425 patients undergoing 533 hair transplant sessions were examined. Patients with androgenetic alopecia (407 men and 17 women), cicatricial alopecia (9 men and 8 women), and malformations (1 man and 3 women) with a mean age of 36.9 years (standard deviation, 10.4 yrs) underwent hair transplantation between 1995 and 2006 and were undergoing medical examinations postoperatively for at least one year. The overall complication rate in this series was determined at 4.7%, including enlarged scar (1.2%), folliculitis (1.0%), necrosis in the donor area (0.8%), keloids (0.4%), bleeding (0.2%), hiccups (0.2%), infection (0.2%), and pyogenic granuloma (0.2%). The frequency of enlarged scar increased proportionally to the number of surgical procedures that the patient has undergone. It can be concluded that the hair transplantation complication rate in this series was 4.7%. Good communication between the patient and the hair transplant surgeon, a complete clinical and laboratory assessment of the patient, accurate surgical technique, use of specific technology, a well trained surgical team and careful postoperative attention to the patient were found as crucial for successful hair transplantation and for decreasing the complication rates.

Specifics of Female Hair Loss

2010-01-03T17:00:00.000-08:00

Female hair loss can have several causes just like the men's form of hair loss. It can be caused by hormonal changes during and post menopause, after giving a birth, it can be due to alopecia areata or its different many forms, it can be stress induced (such as telogen effluvium) but the main cause of hair loss in women is the metabolite of the male hormone testosterone – dihydrotestosterone – also known as DHT, damaging and eventually killing the hair follicles. Although it may sound weird but female bodies also produce the male hormone testosterone that is being converted into DHT. This hereditary form of hair loss affects about 25% of women and it is usually most pronounced post menopause but it can start as early as in the teens. The main difference between the hair loss in men and women is in its shape – women lose their hair around their entire scalp, so that their hair loss is less noticeable since it is diffuse.

When it comes to hair loss treatments suitable for women they are in a short supply when compared to men's options. Although women can use Rogaine (minoxidil), usually only 2% strength minoxidil is being recommended to them in order to avoid unwanted facial hair growth. However, women cannot touch the men’s most powerful hair regrowth pill Propecia (finasteride) as it could cause irreparable harm to the male fetus should they be pregnant. However, there is one hair loss medication, which can be used by women that has shown to be quite effective in treating female form of hereditary hair loss. It is spironolactone also known as generic Aldactone. Generic Aldactone (spironolactone) apart from being a diuretic is also used to treat acne and excess body hair in women. In its hair growth promoting actions it is quite similar to the men’s most potent hair loss pill finasteride (Propecia), though it has never been approved for treating hair loss. Despite that many doctors prescribe spironolactone to their female hair loss patients as the treatment of the last resort. Male patients should avoid this medication due to its strong feminizing effects.

What Options Do I have to Stop My Hair Receding?

2009-12-04T15:59:00.000-08:00

The hair loss sector is a multibillion-dollar industry but the vast majority of commercially available treatments, estimated at 90%, are ineffective to the majority of hair loss sufferers. If you grew a single hair with each remedy out there, they would fill your entire head. Useless rubbish is not only bad for your wallet, it also wastes your valuable time while the hair continues receding. In order to find the most suitable treatment for your condition you need to understand how various hair loss treatments work and what you can expect from them.

The currently available approaches to treating hair loss can be, in the first place, divided into surgical and non-surgical therapies. Although there are only a few surgical techniques currently applied, the non-surgical spectrum is wide and confusing. There happen to be thousands of non-surgical treatment options available to those who seek to avoid hair transplant surgery. Propecia also known under its generic name finasteride, dutasteride, known as generic Avodart, and Rogaine (minoxidil) might be amongst the best known medications used for treating hair loss, while dried fruits of saw palmetto and a Chinese herb, He Shou Wu, also known as Fo-Ti, are amongst the natural ingredients most frequently found in alternative hair loss remedies.

The non-surgical hair loss therapies can be broken down into medicinal and alternative treatments, whereas considering methods of application, they can be divided into oral treatments, topical treatments and others, such as low-level laser light therapy. Alternative treatments are typically, but not exclusively, associated with using naturally derived active substances. Irrespective of the aforementioned breakdowns, hair regrowth treatments work either by blocking the activity of dihydrotestosterone (DHT), also called anti-androgens, or by stimulating new hair growth in the balding areas. Although scientists are constantly searching for new approaches to treating baldness such as hair cloning any such new therapies are at least five years away. Hence, for the time being you will have to put up with what has been briefly described above and use a combination of a DHT blocker and a hair growth stimulant and if you wish to see faster results a hair surgery will be the only reasonable option for you unless you want to be bothered by wearing uncomfortable hair pieces.

Generic Finasteride vs Original Propecia

2009-11-01T15:32:00.000-08:00

Undoubtedly, Propecia is the only hair loss pill that has been proven to regrow hair in a significant percentage of male patients suffering from hereditary form of hair loss. It also happens to be the best known hair loss drug and one of the best selling hair loss treatments available today. It is often blamed for causing negative side effects but the fact remains that it works better than any other available treatment for regrowing hair and its side effects, though not negligible in some patients, have been well documented. Propecia has been developed and patented by Merck & Co. as a derivative of Proscar, which is used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (prostate enlargement). Propecia contains only one active substance - finasteride and since it is not possible to secure a patent for a chemical substance and because Proscar came off patent in the most countries years ago there happen to be a number of generic producers of finasteride. They manufacture both, generic Proscar (5mg of finasteride in one pill) and generic Propecia (1mg of finasteride in one pill). The question many hair loss sufferers are asking is of whether generic Propecia (finasteride) is as powerful as the original Merck's product. Although many believe that given the huge price difference they cannot be equal in their efficacy, the fact is they are as there is no specific delivery mechanism applied to any of them and their dosage is equal. There obviously is no difference between the chemical substances and their quantity used in both pills. Hence, the main difference remains to be the price, the colour and the form of the pills as they happen to be the patent protected property of the originator so that generic producers may not emulate their colour and form. However, the efficacy is the same so if you wish to save money on Propecia you are best advised to buy generic finasteride.

Medicinal DHT Inhibitors vs Herbal DHT Blockers

2009-10-22T10:34:00.000-07:00

At the moment, there are only two medicinal treatments that have been approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in the US for treating hair loss - topical minoxidil (brand name Rogaine) and oral finasteride (Propecia). Topical minoxidil is suitable for both sexes, whereas finasteride can only be prescribed to male patients. Minoxidil is a vasodilator, initially used to treat high blood pressure, which was later found to stimulate hair growth when applied topically to the scalp. Finasteride is an antiandrogen that was first used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), also known as prostate enlargement. It acts by inhibiting conversion of the male hormone testosterone to the follicle-harming dihydrotestosterone (DHT). The discovery of finasteride's positive effects on hair regrowth led to finding the true cause of hereditary baldness, which is the harmful attacks of DHT on our hair follicles. Since making this discovery, a quest for other alternative DHT blockers has begun, especially amongst antiandrogen drugs and herbs that have, in the past, been used to treat urinary problems.

Dutasteride (brand name Avodart) is an antiandrogen drug similar to finasteride in its chemical structure and mode of action and has been studied extensively for treating hair loss. It has recently completed phase III clinical testing for efficacy and safety in the treatment of male pattern baldness but the study results have not been yet released. Like finasteride it is also used for treating BPH. Dutasteride is believed by many to be a more powerful hair loss drug than finasteride but also with more severe side effects.

Flutamide (brand name Eulexin) is a very strong antiandrogen used to treat prostate cancer. It works by binding to the androgen receptors where it competes with DHT. Oral use of flutamide can cause serious side effects but it is believed that topical applications might have less adverse side effects and could be, in the future, used to treat hereditary hair loss. More research is needed to verify such claims.

Spironolactone (trade name Aldactone) is another antiandrogen that works by binding to androgen receptors, competing with DHT. It is used in women to treat acne, hair loss and excess body hair and although there are some generic topical applications for the treatment of male pattern baldness which contain spironolactone, it has never been approved to treat hair loss in men and should be avoided. For women, spironolactone can be considered as a reasonable alternative to the men’s best hair-loss pill, finasteride, which cannot be used in women.

As has been mentioned earlier, following the discovery of DHT attacks on hair follicles being the true cause of hereditary hair loss, herbalists started looking for possible natural alternatives to finasteride among plants that have been traditionally used to treat urinary problems and, more specifically, enlarged prostates.

Saw palmetto has been used for several decades to treat prostate enlargement and it is one of the few plants used in natural remedies that have been subjected to some sort of scientific research in regards to their potential for treating BPH. Its supporters believe that it works by inhibiting the conversion of testosterone into prostate and follicle-harming DHT but no study has yet confirmed this assumption. No clinical research has ever been conducted on saw palmetto's effects on hair loss. Despite that, saw palmetto is widely used by thousands of hair loss sufferers around the world as a safe natural alternative to finasteride.

Extract from the bark of the evergreen tree pygeum africanum is another popular herbal ingredient found in natural hair-loss treatments and many herbalists believe it is more potent in treating hair loss than saw palmetto. Its rise to popularity also comes from the general assumption that this plant, thought to be beneficial for treating prostate enlargement, must be also effective in treating baldness. Pygeum africanum has been less well studied than saw palmetto and it has never been used in any clinical hair-loss study.

The third most popular herbal substance used in natural hair-loss cures is nettle root extract. This herbal drug is derived from the root of the stinging nettle, a popular healing plant found in temperate and subtropical zones of the northern hemisphere. Its use in natural hair-loss remedies also stems from the assumption that it is supposed to help shrink enlarged prostates and is thus believed to inhibit the conversion of testosterone to DHT. Like the two aforementioned herbal extracts, nettle has never been used in any clinical hair-loss study.

This list of hair-loss drugs and herbal extracts that are believed to mimic the actions of finasteride/Propecia, the only approved pill for hair loss, is not exhaustive. There are many other ingredients, mostly of natural origin, that claim the ability to block DHT and thus reverse hair loss. However, no clinical proof exists that any herb contained in the natural remedies promotes new hair growth. Whether you decide to try a commercial herbal remedy or just one or two herbs on their own, keep in mind that, besides there being no guarantee of their effectiveness, no daily dosage has been established and side effects might occur, despite the general belief that herbal hair-loss remedies are safe and free of them. Furthermore, it is not advised to try any of the aforementioned medicinal substitutes to finasteride without first consulting your doctor. In order to buy finasteride (Propecia) make sure you choose a save source as it is one of frequently copied drugs and you do not want to pay for sugar pills while your hair loss continues.

Hair Restoration Future

2009-10-10T10:53:00.000-07:00

Restoring the hair lost due to hereditary factors is the dream of many men and women. Until not too long ago, the only effective and authentic-looking options for reversing hair loss were non-surgical cover-ups. It was only with the advent of follicular unit transplantation and the discovery of the true cause of baldness - the harmful effects of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) on our hair follicles - that the hair-loss sufferer’s chances of reversing hair loss naturally have greatly improved.

The three best weapons in the fight against hair loss today are the two FDA-approved medicinal drugs – finasteride (Propecia) and minoxidil (Rogaine) and hair surgery, the follicular unit transplantation and, especially, the follicular unit extraction technique. However, no ultimate cure exists yet as each of the three aforementioned hair restoration methods has its limitations. Minoxidil and finasteride work well only in the vertex area of the scalp, and finasteride cannot be used by women. Hair surgery is suitable only for people who have sufficient hair density in the donor area, and many women, who typically suffer from diffuse thinning, do not make good candidates for hair transplantation.

Therefore, scientists around the world are relentlessly searching for new approaches to treating hair loss. There are presently several promising drugs and new techniques under development listed below but progress seems to have slowed down a bit due to the global financial crisis, as some R&D projects are finding it increasingly difficult to raise financing to further their research.

The most progress has been achieved on dutasteride. Dutasteride is an antiandrogen, in its chemical structure and mode of action it is similar to finasteride. It is used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia and since it is a dual 5-alpha reductase inhibitor, it should be a more potent DHT blocker than finasteride. Therefore, it is believed to be more effective in treating hair loss, especially in the frontal area of the scalp. Dutasteride completed Phase III clinical testing this year and the study results are expected to be published soon.

NEOSH101 was originally developed by the US medical research firm Neosil and was until recently undergoing phase IIb clinical testing. At the end of 2008, Neosil was acquired by Peplin, Inc., a development stage specialty pharmaceuticals company and since then no information on the further progress of the clinical trials has been released. In previous clinical trials, NEOSH101 was proven to be a more powerful and faster-acting, hair growth stimulant than minoxidil and it only needs applying once daily. Though significantly improving the current hair-loss treatment options, NEOSH101 is not going to become the ultimate cure for baldness. The clinical trials seem to be advancing slower than most hair-loss sufferers would like and, hence, do not hold your breath waiting for it to hit the market anytime soon.

Another promising line of development is the telomerase research. Telomerase is an enzyme that is able to put natural caps on telomeres and thus protect them from shortening. Telomerase thereby maintains the genomic integrity. Shortened telomeres are associated with premature aging processes. However, the uncontrolled activation of telomerase can cause cancer. Cancer research is the main focus of the telomerase studies but scientists are also looking for other applications, such as anti-aging drugs and drugs against baldness and grey hair. Telomerase research could really change the world of medicine but its commercial application might be a good 15 years away.

Hair multiplication, often called hair regeneration or hair cloning, is the next hopeful treatment option being developed. This technique involves extracting hair follicles from the back of the patient's scalp, culturing and multiplying them and injecting the newly-grown hair cells into the bald scalp. The UK healthcare firm Intercytex appears to be the frontrunner in hair multiplication research. Intercytex has already completed phase II clinical study of ICX-TRC (a suspension of a patient's own dermal papilla cells). The main benefit of hair multiplication would be solving the shortage of donor hair that is the main limiting factor in hair transplantation. However, Intercytex is currently facing financial difficulties and after failing to find an investor, it will have to continue operating on its own. Aderans, the main competitor of Intercytex, has also recently launched a Phase II clinical study on cell-based hair regeneration for men and women.

Generating new hair follicles in hair-free skin wounds is a completely new approach to regrowing hair. It was discovered accidentally when wounded skin in mice started producing new hair. This technology is currently being developed by the US medical device company, Follica, which has licensed this technology from the University of Pennsylvania. Though this method may sound weird, it is said to only use common instruments and drugs that have already been medically approved and thus it might not take too long for it to become available.

This list of the undergoing projects in the field of hair loss research includes the most promising lines of development but it is not exhaustive. However, none of the new therapies, with the exception of dutasteride, is expected to hit the market before 2013 and the immediate future of hair restoration lies in improving the surgical techniques, increasing the yields of the follicular unit extraction method and making it more affordable to a larger portion of the population.

Is It Possible To Grow Hair Faster?

2009-09-06T00:19:00.000-07:00

Many people, for one reason or the other, wish that their hair grew a bit faster. Most of them take myriad of hair vitamins and believe they would help them achieve this goal. They can be useful with some consumers but their impact on their liver and kidneys may not be worth the improvement they achieve. A normal healthy hair grows approximately 1mm in three days, which is 1.0cm-1.2cm a month. The best hair vitamin will not help you speed up this growth by more than 1mm-2mm a month but its effectiveness will be short-lived. So if you are looking for a long term solution that would visibly speed up your hair growth for many months or years, then you need to try methylsulfonylmethane, also known as MSM.

MSM is an organosulphur compound that you can find in almost any living organism and it is abundant in fish, milk, grain, fresh fruits and vegetables. Due to its known properties of speeding up hair growth you can also find it in some composite hair vitamins and pills for maintaining healthy hair. You can buy it in stores in most countries of the world as a food supplement as it is believed to be perfectly harmless as negative side effects are extremely rare. Although there is no defined daily dose for speeding up hair growth most people would use around 800mg-1200mg daily. The effect can be usually seen already after a few weeks as MSM will make your hair grow as fast as it possibly can.

Dutasteride as a Hair Loss Drug

2009-08-25T12:11:00.000-07:00

Dutasteride is an anti-androgen, in its structure and activity similar to finasteride, the only FDA approved oral hair loss pill available today. However, dutasteride is a more powerful anti-androgen as it inhibits both types of 5-alpha reductase and therefore it is often held to be a more powerful weapon in the fight against male pattern baldness than finasteride. Like its twin brother, dutasteride is also used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (enlarged prostate) and it is currently awaiting an FDA approval for treating male hair loss as it happens to be in the Phase III clinical testing. Despite the fact that it has not yet been approved for treating hair loss it is already used by hundreds of thousands of hair loss sufferers around the world and even prescribed by some hair loss clinics to male patients who no longer respond to finasteride. Preliminary clinical evidence shows that dutasteride is no less efficient in reducing and reversing hair loss than finasteride but probably it is not much more powerful either. However, it is feared that this treatment could be accompanied by more severe side effects than treatment with finasteride as it stays in you body for many months after you have abandoned the treatment whereas finasteride virtually disappears within 24 hours. Despite all this uncertainty and potentially increased health risk many hair loss sufferers are using this medicine and most of them buy dutasteride online in one of many offshore or online pharmacies. Some of them swear by it and claim to experience no side effects but you should think twice before ordering this treatment online since after some period of time spent on this treatment you may be confronted with its negative side effects that are impossible to assess at the moment.

Why Is Female Hair Loss Different

2009-08-09T03:32:00.000-07:00

It is a well accepted fact that men are losing their hair as they age and very little can be done to change it. Many men do not seem worry about their hair becoming thinner at all and never try any treatment. However, hair loss for a woman can be a real disaster. Female hair loss is much more common than it may seem as it affects about 25% of the adult female population. This number only includes hereditary form of hair loss called female pattern baldness. Women are often losing hair also for a variety of different other reasons such as due to overprocessing their hair or due to the hormonal changes after giving birth but in these instances their hair loss is usually only temporary and reversible.

Female pattern baldness has the same main cause as the male form, which is the metabolite of the male hormone testosterone – dihydrotestosterone – attacking their hair follicles. Female body also produces testosterone. Once women enter the menopause their female hormone levels decline and more testosterone becomes available to be converted in to the follicle harming dihydrotestosterone. Therefore, most women start balding at a more senior age than men.

Female balding pattern is different to men’s in that it is diffuse and therefore more difficult to recognize at an early stage. Women usually have to lose about 50% of their hair to notice they are balding. Some women can also have the typical male balding pattern in the form of a horseshoe. The main problem with treating female hair loss is the fact that women either cannot use some of the best medications that help men deal with their condition such as finasteride (Propecia) or have to use lower concentrations e.g. minoxidil (Rogaine). Secondly, women are usually not very suitable candidates for hair surgery as due to their diffuse balding pattern it is impossible to identify hair follicles that would be resistant to future thinning and could be successfully transplanted. Hence, timely recognition of the onset of hair los in women is critical to your successful treatment.

A Brief Review of the Existing Hair Systems

2009-07-19T09:44:00.000-07:00

A hair system is a name given to any type of borrowed hair in the form of a full wig, hairpiece, weave, hair extension or a toupee, which replaces your own missing hair. Hair systems are, for many hair loss patients, the only remaining hair replacement option to regain the appearance of a full head of hair. The quality and the price of hair systems depend on a variety of factors, such as the type of hair used, the production process used to make the wig, the foundation of the hair system and the method of attaching it to the scalp.

The type of hair is the first thing most prospective buyers will ask about. Both artificial and natural hair is used. The natural hair can be of human or animal origin. Some hair systems blend human hair with animal hair. The human hair can be of Asian origin (the least expensive option), Indian origin or European origin (the most expensive option). Asian and Indian hair must often be bleached, which makes it brittle and less durable. Considering the harvesting methods, virgin hair is the most expensive and hair gained from combs and hairbrushes the least expensive option. Human hair requires more care than artificial hair but it looks more authentic, lasts longer and is more comfortable to wear. Its downside is its higher cost and the fact that it can lose its colour when exposed to direct sun for long hours or break, as normal human hair does.

As far as the wig’s manufacturing technology goes, hair systems can be hand-tied or machine-tied. Hand-tied wigs can also be custom made, which happens to be the most expensive alternative. The foundation of a hair system can be either a polymer or a mesh. The polymer foundation is a more affordable but also a less comfortable option. A mesh structure breathes better than polymer structures and is therefore more comfortable to wear but, besides being more expensive, it is also a less durable alternative and more difficult to maintain. Mesh is suitable for creating authentic-looking hairlines, therefore many wigs combine both technologies, mesh for the hairline and the polymer structure for the inside of the wig.

The method of attaching a wig to your scalp and blending it with your existing hair is an extremely important factor. There are semi-permanently attached hair systems that are either glued to your scalp or woven into your existing hair and these can only be removed in a hair salon once every five or six weeks for maintenance. These systems cling tightly to your scalp but can be unhealthy as well as uncomfortable to wear after a couple of weeks of use. The temporarily-attached hair systems use double-sided sticky tape or clips to fix the hairpiece to your scalp and existing hair. They can be removed and cleaned as often as you like but can also be easily and unexpectedly removed, leading to some embarrassing situations.

The final, determining factor when deciding on buying a suitable hairpiece is the price. Any hair system is temporary in nature, it will not last for ever like hair transplants do. Nevertheless, it can be quite expensive. Hair transplants can cost as much as ten thousand dollars or even more. Although you can get a wig for a few hundred dollars, the more authentic looking pieces cost a few thousand dollars and require regular maintenance costing a couple of hundred dollars a month. Besides that, you have to buy at least two identical pieces, one to wear while the other is being maintained by your hair salon. Though not cheap, hair systems are often the only option to replace the lost hair for many alopecia areata patients, as well as a large percentage of female hair loss sufferers.

Solutions for Female Hair Loss

2009-07-03T15:19:00.000-07:00

Baldness can be caused by a variety of factors but heredity is the number one reason why men and women lose their mane. Hereditary baldness in men and women has the same main cause, which is dihydrotestosterone (DHT) attacking our hair follicles. DHT is a metabolite of the male hormone testosterone but it is also present in the female body. Men and women lose their hair not because of increased levels of DHT in their bodies but due to the susceptibility of their hair follicles to harmful DHT attacks, although the exact mechanism and reasons why certain hairs, mostly those on the top of the head, are more vulnerable to such attacks are not yet know.

The major difference between the male and female form of hereditary baldness is in its shape. The male form has a characteristic horseshoe pattern whereas the female form is typically a diffuse thinning across the entire scalp and is thus less easily-recognised. The female form of hereditary hair loss is, in its form, practically indistinguishable from hair loss caused by various other factors. The second most common reason for a woman to lose her hair is hormonal imbalances during and after pregnancy or menopause. Such changes are usually of a temporary nature and so also is the hair loss, although post-menopausal hair loss is in most cases permanent.

When it comes to treating hair loss in women there are certain specifics. First, most females do not make very good candidates for hair transplant surgery due to their diffuse thinning pattern, which makes it impossible to identify the hair that will be resistant to future miniaturisation. Secondly, finasteride, which is one of the only two FDA-approved hair loss treatments available today, cannot be used on women and neither can dutasteride, which is its closest and assumedly yet more powerful relative. Rogaine (generic name minoxidil) is the second FDA-approved hair loss treatment and its approved concentration for women is only 2% versus 5% for men. However, many doctors recommend their female patients use male formulations of minoxidil, with a concentration of 5%. Aminexil is a molecule similar to minoxidil and it is usually recommended to women who are pregnant or breastfeeding as a safer option than minoxidil.

Although some antiandrogens such as finasteride or dutasteride cannot be prescribed to women, there are other antiandrogen medications that can be effectively used to treat female pattern baldness. Spironolactone (trade name Aldactone) and cyproterone acetate (used in contraceptives such as Ginette 35, Diane 35 and Diane 50) are antiandrogens most commonly used to treat female pattern hair loss.

Another treatment with seemingly high rates of success are topical estrogen solutions such as Crinohermal, which use a female hormone, estradiol, as their principal active ingredient. Estradiol is capable of inhibiting the conversion of testosterone into follicle-harming DHT. Hormone replacement therapy is another hormonal treatment suitable for women at menopause, with estrogens and progesterone pills and creams being the most common forms of treatment. Estrogen levels in the body decline with time. As women enter the menopause, estrogen levels fall and hence more of the male hormone testosterone is then available to be converted into follicle-harming DHT.

The above list of therapies for female pattern baldness is not exhaustive, though. There are a number of other remedies that are often claimed to help promote hair growth in women, such as fluridil, flutamide, ketoconazole, alfatradiol, as well as various substances of natural origin. Despite the fact that there are female patients who will swear by some of these treatments, none of them has ever been sufficiently clinically tested, let alone approved by any reputable national health supervisory authority as a treatment for female hair loss and the claims of their guaranteed effectiveness should be taken with a grain of salt.

The List of the Best Known Herbs Used to Treat Baldness

2009-06-18T03:25:00.000-07:00

Herbs and dried fruits have been used in traditional folk medicine for thousands of years to treat various hair loss conditions. Admittedly, traditional recipes have not always been too successful in treating baldness and to this day no ultimate herbal or medicinal cure for genetically-determined hair loss conditions exists. Nevertheless, herbal remedies have experienced a strong revival in popularity recently and now account for well over 50% of all hair loss products sold. This rise began with the discovery of the true cause of hereditary baldness, now believed to be dihydrotestosterone (DHT) attacking hair follicles and the arrival of finasteride, which is capable of blocking the conversion of testosterone into follicle harming DHT. Finasteride is a drug that had been used for some time prior to the discovery of its hair growth-promoting benefits to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), also called prostate enlargement. Following this discovery, herbalists started looking for possible natural alternatives to finasteride among plants that have been traditionally used to treat urinary problems and more specifically enlarged prostates.

Saw palmetto also known as serenoa repens has been used for decades to treat prostate enlargement and it is one of the few plants used in natural remedies that have been subjected to some sort of scientific research in regards to their potential for treating BPH. Its supporters believe that it works by inhibiting the conversion of testosterone into prostate and follicle-harming DHT but no study has yet confirmed this assumption. Some studies suggest that saw palmetto works by a different mode of action to finasteride, and does not affect the levels of DHT. However, the most recent research results indicate that saw palmetto might not be effective in treating BPH at all. No clinical research has ever been conducted on saw palmetto's impact on hair loss. All of its potential hair benefits are derived from the assumption that if it is effective in treating BPH, it should be also effective in treating hereditary hair loss. Saw palmetto is widely used by thousands of hair loss sufferers around the world and it is sometimes blamed for causing side effects similar to those attributed to finasteride and thus should not be used by pregnant or breast-feeding women or by children.

Extract from the bark of the African evergreen tree pygeum africanum is another popular herbal ingredient found in natural hair loss treatments and many herbalists believe it is yet more potent in treating hair loss than saw palmetto. Its rise to fame also comes from the general assumption that this plant, thought to be beneficial for treating prostate enlargement, must be also effective in treating hair loss. Pygeum africanum has been less well studied than saw palmetto and nothing is known about the possible mechanism affecting the prostate, let alone about its effects on hair. It has never been used in any clinical hair loss study. Its inclusion in herbal, hair loss products rests on the assumption that it is a natural DHT inhibitor. For those who want to try a natural DHT blocker, pygeum africanum seems to be a safer option than saw palmetto due to its lower health risk profile.

The third most popular ingredient used in herbal hair loss cures is nettle root extract. This herbal drug is derived from the root of the stinging nettle, a perennial plant found in temperate and subtropical zones of the northern hemisphere. Its use in natural hair loss remedies also stems from the assumption that it helps shrink enlarged prostates and thus it is thus believed to inhibit the conversion of testosterone into DHT. Studies have shown that nettle root is far more effective in relieving the symptoms of BPH when used in conjunction with pygeum africanum than when used alone, but its mode of action remains unknown. Nettle has never been used in any clinical hair loss study. Caution is advised to hair loss sufferers using nettle root extract since the whole plant is known to be allergenic to a lot of people. Other than that it seems relatively safe as it has been used for centuries in many parts of the world as a vegetable and has been often compared to spinach in terms of its nutritional benefits.

Other popular herbs commonly found in natural hair loss treatments include ginkgo biloba, eleuthero root, Asian ginseng, gotu kola, green tea, rosemary, chamomile, horsetail, etc. These herbs are supposed to work by different modes of action, such as by improving the blood circulation in the scalp, fighting fungal infections and inflammation in the scalp or providing vital nutrients to the hair follicles. Although all of these herbs possess properties extensively utilized in traditional folk medicine, none of them has ever been clinically tested for treating hair loss. No scientific proof exists that any herb, vitamin, mineral or nutrient contained in the natural remedies promotes new hair growth. Whether you decide to try a commercial herbal remedy or just one or two herbs on their own, keep in mind that besides there being no guarantee of their effectiveness, no daily dosage has been established and side effects might occur despite the general belief that herbal hair loss remedies are safe and free of them.

Potential Risks and Side-Effects Accompanying Hair Surgery

2009-06-14T13:58:00.000-07:00

The available medical options for reversing hair loss hair in people suffering from hereditary forms of baldness are limited to relatively few products with most of them being effective only in the early stages of baldness. Once you have lost a big portion of hair due to hereditary factors or an accident, such as a burn, the only remaining option is to replace the missing hair. Your options can be either of a temporary nature, such as the use of hair pieces and hair loss concealers, or a permanent surgical solution. Hair transplantation happens to be the most effective way of surgical hair replacement and the only permanent solution that offers satisfactory results.

Hair transplantation surgery consists in transplanting your own hair from the back of your scalp to the balding area. The core limiting factor of hair transplantation is the shortage of donor hair and, therefore, many patients do not make a good candidate. The suitable hair transplant candidate should have a high hair density in the back of the scalp, his hair should be wavy and thick, his scalp flexible and the contrast between the colour of his hair and scalp should not be too great, and he must be in good physical condition. Women often suffer from a diffuse form of hair loss and, therefore, do not make very good hair transplant candidates. Hair transplant surgery also cannot be performed on patients suffering from unpredictable forms of hair loss such as alopecia areata.

Given the chronic shortage of donor hair, the hair transplant surgeon must be able to utilise the little hair he can use to create the optical illusion of a full head of hair. This presents the biggest risk in hair transplantation, as it can sometimes happen that the patient does not like the final result. Although you can usually arrange for another hair transplant session, some damage can be irreparable. Other risks and side effects occurring during and after hair transplant surgery include excessive bleeding and scarring, the lengthy healing of wounds, the transaction and eventual death of many implanted hair follicles, post transplant shock hair loss, which, though temporary, can affect your newly-implanted hair as well the hair in the donor area, scalp numbness and tension and the further progression of hair loss post surgery, which can lead to unnatural patterns of baldness. In one recent study, which analysed the experiences of 425 hair transplant patients who had undergone 533 hair transplant procedures in total, it was determined that about 5% of the patients experienced complications either during or after surgery.

Hair transplants can cost around ten thousand dollars, depending on the technique used, the location and reputation of the clinic, the extent of hair loss and the number of hair transplant sessions needed to achieve the eventual effect. However, sometimes it is impossible to estimate the final cost, which represents another risk you take when deciding on hair transplantation. Given the pain, time and cost involved, it pays to educate oneself prior to signing up for hair transplant surgery. The hair transplant industry is a fast-growing business and the quality and affordability of hair surgeries are improving, so do not let anybody push you into hasty uninformed decisions.

Choosing the Most Suitable Minoxidil-based Solution for Your Hair

2009-06-08T00:29:00.000-07:00

Rogaine was the first medicine in history approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating hair loss in men. By now it has been approved and is available as a cure for baldness for both, male and female patients, in many other countries of the world. Its main active ingredient is minoxidil, a vasodilator that was originally used in the form of the oral drug Loniten to treat high blood pressure. Minoxidil is a hair growth stimulant but its exact mechanism of action remains unknown. Since Loniten has long come off patent, generic minoxidil is widely available in pharmacies at a very reasonable price and in most countries it does not require a doctor's prescription.

Both Rogaine and generic minoxidil solutions come in concentrations of 2% for women and 5% for men but some generic products use concentrations of up to 20%. Minoxidil is often blamed for causing various negative side-effects. Since it has become the most frequently-used drug for treating baldness, its side-effects are very well documented and they happen to be usually exaggerated. In less than one percent of patients they include an irregular or fast heart beat, very low blood pressure, blurred vision, swelling face and ankles, numbness in the hands, etc. These symptoms are directly related to minoxidil being a vasodilator. In addition, minoxidil can cause increased hair growth on the face and other parts of the body, which is the reason why women can only use 2% solutions. This is due to its ability to stimulate hair growth. But some side effects that minoxidil is often blamed for are not caused by minoxidil itself. They include inflammation, redness and itchiness of the scalp, dandruff and allergic reactions. These side effects can be attributed to the vehicles used in the solution, such as propylene glycol and isopropyl alcohol (propanol). Many hair loss sufferers have discontinued their minoxidil treatment because of scalp problems, although minoxidil seldom causes such reactions.

Furthermore, many generic, minoxidil-based lotions contain supplementary ingredients that are supposed to enhance their overall efficacy, such as azelaic acid, retinoic acid, aminexil, procyanidins, herbal extracts, etc. These substances, especially the herbal extracts, are known to be allergenic to many people. It is advisable to try several different minoxidil-based products, for instance, those that do not contain propylene glycol, in order to examine their tolerability for your scalp. A more expensive product, e.g. the original formulation - Rogaine solution - does not have to be necessarily a better option than a less expensive generic mixture. However, Rogaine foam, though quite expensive, is usually very well tolerated. Anti-dandruff shampoos, e.g. Nizoral, can, in the majority of patients, be employed successfully to treat scalp inflammations, itchiness and dandruff caused by the use of minoxidil-based topicals. In addition, Nizoral contains ketoconazole, which is assumed to block DHT formation in the scalp and can thus help you enhance the positive effects of minoxidil.

Herbal Gray Hair Treatments

2009-06-04T00:45:00.000-07:00

Herbs have been used in the traditional folk medicine of almost any culture for thousands of years to treat premature aging conditions including premature graying hair. Admittedly, traditional medicines have not always been too effective in treating gray hair and to this day no herbal or medicinal cure for age-related and genetically-determined gray hair conditions exists. Nonetheless, herbal remedies have experienced a tremendous revival in popularity recently and now account for well over 50% of all hair care products sold. Their attractiveness stems mainly from the general belief that they are free from negative side effects and can stimulate natural healing processes in the body and thus reverse medical conditions naturally.

The most popular herb used for reversing grey hair today is Fo-Ti root. It can be found as a principal active ingredient in almost any natural gray hair remedy available today. Fo-Ti (polygonum multiflorum), is a climbing plant native to China and now commonly grown also in Japan and Taiwan. In traditional Chinese medicine it has been used for thousands of years as a popular youth tonic because of its assumed ability to counteract the body's aging processes. In China it is well known under the name He shou wu, which stands for "black haired Mr. He". The legend has it that an old villager, Mr. He, who lived in the 9th century A.D. took Fo-Ti and restored his black hair, youthful appearance and vitality and fathered children at the ripe age of 60. He lived to 130, maintaining his original black hair color. In addition to influencing the aging processes, Fo-Ti is credited with many other health-giving properties highly valued in traditional Chinese medicine. Among other things, it is also believed to extend hair’s growth cycles and thus it can be frequently found in many commercial hair loss products. As is so often the case with herbal cures, Fo-Ti has never been clinically studied as a potential gray hair treatment. Despite its immense popularity there is no scientific or recent empirical evidence that it can help reverse graying hair.

PABA (para-aminobenzoic acid) and folic acid are two vitamins from the group of B vitamins credited with the ability to reverse graying hair. Their presence in the body is absolutely necessary in order to maintain one's original hair color and it is conceivable that a shortage of any of these two vitamins might lead to hair turning gray. Their extra intake can be beneficial in gray hair conditions caused by vitamin B deficiency but will not restore your original hair color in conditions caused by hereditary factors or old age. Nevertheless, these two vitamins are used in almost any commercial gray hair remedy you can buy.

There are many other herbal ingredients such as eleuthero root, Asian ginseng, ginkgo biloba, gotu kola, green tea, rosemary, chamomile, horsetail, etc. out there that you can find in natural gray hair products, having mostly auxiliary functions, such as promoting a healthy scalp environment or providing additional nutrients to your hair follicles. Some other herbs, such as sage, can be used to add color to your hair, working as a natural hair colorant while also giving your hair more shine, which gives the impression of there being less gray. One traditional method of reversing graying hair, which may sound anecdotal, is rubbing your fingernails against each other to help circulation (as nerve endings are located under the finger nails), thereby reducing the amount of gray hair. It can be concluded that no scientific proof exists that any exercise or herb, vitamin, mineral or nutrient contained in the natural and herbal remedies can reverse premature or age-related graying of hair. If you decide to try any commercial herbal remedy for gray hair, keep in mind that besides there being no guarantee of its effectiveness, no daily dosage has been established and side effects might occur, despite the widespread belief that herbal remedies are safe and free from them.

Natural or Medicinal Hair Loss Treatment?

2009-05-31T00:10:00.000-07:00

The best known and the most frequently prescribed treatments for hereditary pattern baldness are Propecia, or some other form of finasteride, such as Proscar, and Rogaine, or its generic form - minoxidil. Some doctors will also recommend you to use supplementary vitamin and mineral pills, some special shampoo, such as Nizoral, and a laser therapy. But very few dermatologists and hair loss clinics will recommend their patients to buy natural hair loss treatments. But there are so many of them out there and most of them claim that they work better than Propecia or any other medicinal treatment prescribed by your doctor, while being free of potential negative side effects so typical of prescription medicine. And some of the manufacturers seem to be so confident regarding the effectiveness of their product as to offer you a full money back guarantee. Or is it a catch?

First, you need to differentiate between medical practice and the pharmaceutical industry on one hand and the cosmetics industry on the other. The medicinal and pharmaceuticals fields are strictly regulated in almost every country in the world, ensuring patient’s safety. Doctors are only allowed to prescribe certain medications for certain conditions and the safety and efficacy of such medications has to be approved by the national health supervisory authority. Such products are considered safe and clinically proven to help treat the given condition. If your doctor recommends you some other, unproven cosmetic hair loss product, they will be taking the risk of promoting a treatment that has not been subjected to any rigorous clinical testing. Most doctors would not do that since they have no guarantee that such a product would be beneficial to their patients and recommending a bad product could hurt their reputation and in severe situation result in withdrawing their licence.

Some of the active ingredients in natural hair loss products may pose a health risk, despite the common belief that they are safe but this is not their main controversy. The principal question is whether the natural hair loss remedies are really effective in treating baldness. They might be effective to a certain degree since many of them contain minoxidil, the only existing, clinically-proven and FDA-approved, topical medicine for treating hereditary baldness. Additional components usually include minerals, vitamins, proteins, essential fatty acids and herbal extracts. Most of these substances are either essential to ensuring healthy growth of hair and skin or they have been shown to promote hair growth, mostly in small studies conducted on rodents. They have never been clinically tested for treating baldness and thus their actual effectiveness and mechanism of action remain unknown. They may or may not help promote hair growth but since no clinical proof of their efficacy exists, the only way to find out is to buy them and try for yourself at your own risk. And should they fail to work as promised, you may find out that the generous money back guarantee, after deducting their incurred costs, only applies to a small percentage of the original price.

It can be concluded that no natural hair loss remedy has ever been clinically proven and independently verified to effectively treat hereditary baldness. This does not necessarily mean that all natural hair loss remedies are ineffective as they might work for some of us. However, they are usually overpriced and should at best be expected to maintain your existing hair rather than grow new hair from a bald patch.

The List of the Most Common Hair Loss Treatments

2009-05-09T23:19:00.000-07:00

When it comes to treating hair loss, it is medicinal pills and topicals that spring to most peoples’ minds as the most common treatment options. There are also other available treatments, such as surgical as well as non-surgical hair replacement, but to date only oral and topical medicinal treatments have been proven to reduce and reverse hair loss naturally. Hair transplant surgery, though providing the best cosmetic results, cannot slow or reverse hair loss. Natural and herbal hair loss treatments seek to mimic medicinal treatments in their mode of action but their effectiveness in treating hair loss has never been confirmed in any clinical study and many of them are associated with hair scams.

The two medicinal treatments that have been approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in the US for treating hair loss are topical minoxidil (trade name Rogaine) and oral finasteride (Propecia). These two hair loss drugs have been also approved by national health supervisory authorities in many other countries around the world. Topical minoxidil is suitable for both sexes, whereas finasteride can only be prescribed to adult male hair loss sufferers. Minoxidil is a vasodilator, originally used to treat high blood pressure, which was later found to stimulate hair growth when applied topically to the scalp. Its exact mechanism of action is not known.

Finasteride is an antiandrogen which was first applied to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), also known as prostate enlargement. It acts by blocking conversion of the male hormone testosterone to the follicle harming didydrotestosterone (DHT). The discovery of finasteride’s positive effects on hair growth led to finding the true cause of hereditary hair loss, which are the harmful attacks of DHT on our hair follicles. Since making this discovery, a quest for other alternative DHT inhibitors has set in, especially amongst antiandrogen drugs and herbs that have, in the past, been used to treat urinary problems.

Dutasteride (trade name Avodart) is a drug similar to finasteride and has been studied extensively for treating hair loss. It is currently undergoing phase III clinical testing in Korea. Avodart has been approved for treating BPH and is thus available in pharmacies in many countries around the world. Although it has not yet been approved for hair loss by any national health supervisory authority, it is being prescribed by some clinics and doctors to male patients who no longer respond to finasteride. Dutasteride is believed by many doctors and patients to be a more powerful hair loss drug than finasteride but also with more severe side effects.

Flutamide (trade name Eulexin) is a very powerful antiandrogen used to treat prostate cancer. It works by binding to the androgen receptors and thus competing with DHT. Oral use of flutamide can cause serious side effects but it is believed that topical applications might have less adverse side effects and could be, in the future, used to combat hereditary hair loss. More research is needed to verify such claims.

Spironolactone (trade name Aldactone) is another antiandrogen that acts by binding to androgen receptors, competing with DHT. It is used in women to treat acne, hair loss and excess body hair and although there are some generic topical applications out there for treatment of male pattern baldness containing spironolactone, it has never been approved to treat hair loss in men and should better be avoided.

Aminexil, was developed by L’Oreal to treat baldness in men and women and its molecule is quite similar to minoxidil. Its mode of action is not exactly known and it is considered to be a weaker weapon in the fight against hereditary baldness than minoxidil.

One of the most promising novel drugs under development is called NEOSH101. It happens to be in phase II clinical trials and is supposed to be a hair growth stimulant, distantly related in its actions to minoxidil. Although not expected to become an ultimate cure for baldness, it could improve the chances of hair loss sufferers of regrowing some of their lost hair.

The above list of medicinal treatments for hair loss is not exhaustive. There are some other drugs that are believed to help treat hereditary baldness, such as superoxide dismutase, fluridil, ketoconazole, alfatradiol, etc. but none of them has ever been proven in any serious clinical study to promote hair growth and further studies will be needed to evaluate their effects on hair loss. Therefore, for the time being, minoxidil and finasteride remain the main weapons in the fight against genetically-determined hair loss conditions in male patients whereas minoxidil and spironolactone combo seems to be the best treatment option for female patients.

Brief Hair Restoration Outlook

2009-04-03T03:41:00.000-07:00

Reversing hair loss and restoring lost hair is to many of us a distant dream. However, there are existing options for replacing lost hair and some of them may seem surprisingly effective even to the most sceptical hair loss sufferer. The three principal methods of hair restoration include surgical hair restoration, non-surgical hair replacement and therapies for regrowing hair using pills and topicals. The main technique of surgical hair restoration today is hair transplantation, whereas wigs, hairpieces, hair thickeners and hair loss concealers are the most popular aids used to replace the lost hair by non-surgical means. The non-surgical cover-up is obviously the quickest and the least expensive method of replacing lost hair, though not tremendously popular, as many people believe that wigs and concealers cannot withstand rain and wind and do not look natural. In spite of this common belief, some of them are extremely resistant to external influences and can appear very authentic. Wigs and concealers are usually the only option of restoring lost hair for people suffering from non-hereditary forms of hair loss such as unpredictable alopecia areata.

Surgical hair restoration happens to be the most expensive method of restoring lost hair but it is also the most elegant and lasting solution. It can only be used in people suffering from hereditary baldness and burn patients. Candidates should have sufficient hair density at the back of their scalp and many women suffering from female form of hair loss with its typical diffuse balding pattern do not meet this condition. Hair restoration surgery has made great advances in the past twenty years with the introduction of the two main techniques used today - follicular unit transplantation and, more recently, follicular unit extraction. These improvements in hair transplantation techniques enable the grouping of hairs very close together, which gives modern hair transplants a completely natural look. The main weakness of hair transplant surgery, besides the high cost and the pain involved, is the limited supply of donor hair and the need for multiple surgeries to achieve the final change. Furthermore, patients have to commit themselves to the use of finasteride or any other adequate medicinal hair loss therapy for the rest of their lives to prevent further loss of hair in areas adjacent to their hair transplant.

Pills and topicals do not, despite great scientific advances and the discoveries of recent years, provide adequate hair restoration results yet. The two most frequently prescribed hair loss drugs, finasteride and topical minoxidil, can be effectively used to manage hair loss but their ability to regrow lost hair is relatively weak. Their effectiveness typically declines sharply in the later stages of the balding process. There is no existing medicinal or natural hair loss cure that can deliver adequate visual results comparable to either hair transplant surgery or non-surgical hair replacements such as hair systems and hair loss concealers. Although there are some promising medicinal hair loss drugs currently under development, especially in the area of genetic research, the ultimate pill for baldness is not expected to emerge within the next fifteen years. Other advances in hair science, such as hair multiplication, often called hair cloning or the generation of new hair follicles in wounds, also hold out some promise but it appears that hair transplant surgery will in the next ten to fifteen years remain the most satisfactory method of hair restoration.

Harmful Chemical Substances Used in Hair Care Products

2009-03-16T16:28:00.000-07:00

For many women dying their hair has become a part of their monthly routine. Some men have resorted to dying their hair using regular hair dyes, too, but many of them are looking for less noticeable alternatives, such as progressive hair colorants. Progressive hair colorants work gradually by changing the hair color for several days after they have been applied, which makes the change less noticeable and allows the user to control how much gray hair he/she leaves untreated. One thing that both types of products - conventional hair dyes and progressive hair colorants - have in common is that all of them contain chemicals that can present a potential health risk to their users.

Both, hair dyes and progressive hair colorants work by a chemical reaction involving the components of the colorant and also, when applicable, melanin and/or the oxygen in the air. The essential difference between the two is that the chemical reaction in regular hair dyes lasts only for a few minutes while the substance is being applied to the hair versus working slowly for several days in progressive hair colorants. The chemicals that fuel these chemical reactions are often harmful and can trigger allergic reactions.

PPD, which is an acronym for p-phenylenediamine, is considered to be the leading cause of hair color allergic reactions with ammonia, hydrogen peroxide, diaminobenzene and, to a lesser extent, also metallic compounds said to account for their fair share, too. Metallic compounds such as lead acetate and bismuth citrate can be found mainly in progressive hair colorants whereas PPD, hydrogen peroxide, ammonia and diaminobenzene are typical of regular hair dyes. One of the recently developed molecules used in progressive hair colorants is 5, 6-dihydroxyindoline that is sometimes described as the best option amongst the chemical molecules contained in gray hair coloring products but it has also been found to cause allergic reactions.

Natural hair colorants might appear to be a healthy alternative to traditional hair coloring products. Unfortunately, the natural hair colorants are no stranger to causing allergic reactions either and were recently found to be even more allergenic than most chemical substances. Therefore, when choosing hair coloring products you should always take into account the potential health risks as most of them contain substances that can cause poisoning if used inappropriately or can lead to severe allergic reactions. You should always use a patch test before applying any such treatment and closely follow the application guidelines in order to minimize exposure to potentially harmful substances.

The Principal Hair Loss Treatments

2009-03-06T10:27:00.000-08:00

To begin with, we can split hair loss treatment options into dihydrotestosterone blockers, also called antiandrogens, and hair growth stimulants. Considering methods of application, they can be divided into oral treatments, topicals and others, such as laser therapy. And lastly, hair loss treatments can be broken into natural treatments and medicinal treatments.

The hair loss treatment options can be, in the first place, divided into surgical and non-surgical therapies. Although there are only a few surgical techniques currently used, the non-surgical spectrum is wide and extremely confusing. There appear to be thousands of non-surgical treatment options available to those who want to avoid hair surgery. Propecia and Rogaine might be the best known medicinal hair loss treatments, while dried fruits of saw palmetto and a Chinese herb, He Shou Wu, also known as Fo-Ti, are the natural substances most frequently used in alternative hair loss remedies.

Furthermore, the non-surgical hair loss therapies can be broken down into medicinal and alternative treatments, whereas when considering methods of application, they can be divided into oral treatments, topicals and others, such as low-level laser therapy. Irrespective of the aforementioned breakdowns, hair growth treatments work either by blocking the activity of dihydrotestosterone, also called antiandrogens, or by stimulating new hair growth.

Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is a biologically-active metabolite of the male hormone testosterone that is assumed to be the main culprit in causing both, male and female hereditary pattern baldness. DHT causes hair miniaturization as the hair becomes finer and thinner with each new hair growth cycle until the hair follicles refuse to produce another hair and die. The exact mechanism by which DHT works on hair follicles is not known, though. Finasteride, better known under its trade name Propecia, is the only clinically-proven and FDA-approved antiandrogen used to effectively treat male pattern baldness. It acts by preventing the creation of DHT in the scalp. Since the introduction of Propecia, many other drugs and natural therapies have appeared claiming antiandrogen activity. Some of them are supposed to work by a different mode of action than Propecia, such as preventing DHT from binding to the receptor sites in the follicle or blocking activity in the androgen receptor itself.

Minoxidil, also known under its trade name Rogaine, is the best-known hair loss medicine amongst hair-growth stimulants. It is assumed that hair growth stimulants work by directly stimulating epithelial growth of hair follicles and some of them may also counteract the hardening of the hair follicles but the exact mechanism of their action has never been explained. One thing that all hair growth stimulants have in common is their ability to prolong the length of the hair growth cycle, thus increasing the ratio of hair in the growth phase and to increase the hair's diameter.

The natural hair loss treatments are in principle assumed to work by the aforementioned modes of action and are usually marketed as safer alternatives to medicinal treatments. There are not too many hair loss treatments that have been clinically proven and independently verified to be effective in treating baldness. Of those few existing, all happen to be medicinal drugs. Natural hair loss treatments have still to live up to the claims of their manufacturers and marketers.

When deciding about the most suitable hair loss treatment option, one should think about approaching the problem from different angles. It is best advised to use a combination of antiandrogen and hair-growth stimulant, such as a Propecia with Rogaine. Alternative, hair loss treatments, for instance natural remedies, should largely be considered as a method of fine-tuning this basic regimen in order to achieve additional benefits.

Is The Strip Harvesting Of Hair Follicles Nearing Its End?

2009-03-01T05:46:00.000-08:00

The first hair transplants were performed in Japan back in the 1930s. In the old days of hair transplantation surgery relatively large strips of skin of four millimetres in diameter, the so called punch grafts, were transplanted from the back of the head to the frontal balding area. Hair transplantation procedures have evolved tremendously since then and today’s hair transplants can give you a truly natural look. This is due to the miniaturisation of hair transplants, which now contain only one hair follicle (holding between one and four hairs) and are less than one millimetre in diameter. These minuscule, single follicle grafts are then implanted into the needle-made incisions in the balding area. Today’s technology enables dense packing of hair follicles, which gives you a completely natural-looking frontal hairline. Gone are the days of pluggy grafts that made you look like a toothbrush.

The two main techniques that are used today are called Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) and Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE). The main difference between them is in harvesting hair follicles. The FUT is the older procedure, using strip harvesting, when a linear strip of skin of up to 20 centimetres long and 1.5 centimetres wide is extracted from the back of the scalp and the opening is then sewn closed. This strip is then placed under microscopes and dissected into small grafts, containing just one follicular unit each. Such follicular grafts are then implanted into the bald area. The advantage of this method is its high yield, measured as a percentage of the follicles that are successfully transplanted into the balding area. This yield is around 98%. The greatest weakness is that it leaves the patient with a linear scar at the back of the scalp. The FUT is less expensive than the FUE and is used when a large area needs to be filled with transplanted hair in one single session.

The FUE method uses a micro-extraction technology to harvest individual follicles that can be directly implanted into the small needle-poke holes in the balding area. The FUE method is the latest technology, introduced only in 2002. Its greatest benefit is the fact that it leaves the patient with only minuscule scars at the back of the head, which are hardly visible, and the healing time is much shorter than with the FUT, due to the small size of the wounds. However, this technique cannot be used to cover large areas in one session and it is more expensive than the FUT. Additionally, its yield is much lower, due to the transaction of many follicles, and since the supply of donor hair is limited, it cannot be used in patients whose hair loss has progressed above NW4 level.

Potential future surgical hair restoration technologies, such as hair cloning and the generation of new hairs in wounds, should help solve the problem with the limited amount of donor hair follicles. It appears that hair transplantation will in the long future only be used for frontal hairlines and, therefore, the follicular harvesting should manage to provide a sufficient number of hair implants. However, none of the aforementioned potential future technologies is expected to become commercially available before 2013. Therefore, the immediate future probably lies in improving the harvesting techniques of the FUE in order to improve its yields and make it financially more affordable. The FUT with its strip harvesting of hair follicles, which started a revolution in the hair transplantation industry less than two decades ago, may become history in the not too distant future.

Areas Where Hair Loss Sufferers Usually Get Wrong

2009-02-24T06:28:00.000-08:00

As there are bad hair loss products, there also seem to be bad hair loss patients, too. Following certain basic rules is necessary if you want your hair loss therapy to be successful. The first thing you should do before you start searching for a suitable hair loss treatment is to determine whether you are a hair loss patient at all and what type of hair loss you are suffering from. For male patients who have already lost a substantial portion of their hair on the top and front of their head, it is easy to self-diagnose. But if you are suffering from diffuse hair loss or your hair thinning began only recently, you need to go and see a dermatologist. It would be senseless to treat a condition that does not exist. It is very common for hair loss sufferers to skip the doctor's consultation while many others simply deny their condition. This typically leads to hair loss progressing too far for it to be treated successfully. In order to regrow hair you must have fine miniaturised hair left in your bald areas. Once your hair follicles have died and there is no baby hair left, no miracle can rejuvenate them.

Once you have determined which type of hair loss you are suffering from, the journey can begin. Whether you want to follow you doctor's advice or experiment with alternative treatments, you need to have realistic expectations. False hopes inevitably lead to frustration, no matter how effective the treatment is. Do not believe that there is a hair loss product that can regrow all of your lost hair. You will be lucky to find a treatment able to arrest your balding process and if you manage to regrow a few hairs, take it as a bonus. Keep in mind that the 'before and after' pictures on promotional websites are forged. The best possible improvement one can expect from any hair treatment is to regrow the hair you have lost in the previous three years.

Many patients fail to follow professional advice to use proven treatments and instead opt for allegedly safer alternative remedies, as they get scared off by the potential negative side effects of medicinal drugs. This is a common trick used by the marketers of hair loss scams - to spread stories exaggerating the negative side effects of proven medicinal drugs. They lure you into buying their own scam, which is obviously a waste of your time and money. Starting with unproven remedies deprives you of the opportunity to test some of the best hair loss treatments available today.

The key to any successful treatment is, besides picking the right remedy, adherence to the prescribed regimen. Many people, in their impatience, fail to follow their doctor's instructions and start experimenting with multiple treatments simultaneously believing they can enhance results. This often leads to abandoning certain treatments before they have started producing results. Any hair loss treatment requires a minimum of four months to kick in and you must allow it at least six months to deliver measurable results. Overdosing will not speed up or improve results either.

And lastly, do not overreact to shedding. Shedding is common occurrence in any effective therapy. If you start a new hair loss treatment, such as minoxidil, you will first have to shed the old fibre. Minoxidil stimulates hair follicles, resulting in an increase in the thickness of your miniaturised hair. But this will not happen overnight. First, the old thin miniaturised hair must be shed, and then the hair follicles rearrange themselves in order to start producing thicker fibre. Typically, the first indication that the treatment is working is accelerated hair loss.

The Future Hair Loss Treatment Options

2009-01-29T14:22:00.000-08:00

Men have been seeking an ultimate cure for baldness for thousands of years but until very recently all available cures were either cosmetic cover-ups or vitamin/mineral pills with many of them just being just commercial scams. It was only with the advent of finasteride and minoxidil and improvements made in hair transplantation techniques in recent years that the new era began, enabling hair loss sufferers to halt the further progression of the balding process and replace the missing hair on top of their head using the hair left at the back of their scalp. However, to this day no miracle cure for baldness exists. There are presently several promising drugs and new techniques under development but none of these new therapies is expected to hit the market before 2010.

NEOSH101 is being developed by the US firm Neosil and it is currently undergoing phase IIb clinical trials. NEOSH101 has been proven to be a more powerful and faster-acting hair growth stimulant than minoxidil and it only needs to be applied once daily. Though significantly improving the current hair loss treatment options, NEOSH101 is not likely to become an ultimate cure for baldness. The clinical trials seem to be advancing slower than most hair loss sufferers would like to see and, hence, do not hold your breath for it hitting the market anytime soon. NEOSH101 is mainly expected to replace minoxidil and some other, less powerful hair growth stimulants.

Another promising development are is the telomerase research. Telomerase is an enzyme that is able to put natural caps on telomeres and thus protect them from shortening. Telomerase thereby maintains the genomic integrity. Shortened telomeres are being associated with the premature aging processes. However, the uncontrolled activation of telomerase is thought to cause cancer. Cancer research is the main focus of the telomerase study but scientists are also looking for other applications, such as anti-aging drugs and drugs against baldness and grey hair. Although still under development, there are already some products available on the market that seek to emulate the mechanism of telomerase action but they have no scientific backing and should better be avoided. Telomerase research could really change the world of medical science but its commercial application might be a good decade or two away.

Hair multiplication, often called hair cloning, is the next hopeful treatment option being examined. This technique involves extracting the hair follicles from the back of the patient's scalp, culturing and multiplying them and injecting the newly-grown hair cells into the bald scalp. From several teams of scientists on four continents researching hair multiplication, the UK healthcare firm Intercytex appears to be the frontrunner. Intercytex reported results of the latest stage of the clinical phase II study of ICX-TRC (a suspension of a patient's dermal papilla cells) in March 2008 and they were relatively positive. The next release was expected in September 2008 but to this date no update is available. This therapy might hit the market in 2011 at the earliest. The main benefit of hair multiplication would be solving the shortage of donor hair that is the main limiting factor in hair transplantation.

Generating new hair follicles in hair-free skin wounds is an utterly new approach to re-growing hair. It was discovered accidentally as wounded skin in mice started producing new hair. This technology is currently being developed by the US medical device company Follica, which licensed this technology from the University of Pennsylvania. Though this method may sound unorthodox it only uses common instruments and drugs that have already been clinically approved and thus it might not take too long for it to become available.

This list presents only a few promising treatments for baldness that are being currently developed but many others are in the pipeline. It seems that becoming bald may soon be by choice rather than destiny.

Worried by hair loss and premature graying

2008-11-13T23:26:00.000-08:00

Hair Loss Treatment Reviews. Evaluation of the potential of available treatment options for grey hair and hair loss and consumer reviews from real consumers sharing their experiences with hair care products they have used. Learn about available treatment options from drugs and cosmetics to the latest hair transplantation techniques.