Hair Loss Treatments To Regrow Hair
Posted on 26. Oct, 2009 by Al Baron in Women's Health
Helping people deal with their hair loss is big business but the reality is there are very few products that actually will treat the hair loss effectively. You can find all kinds of remedies and natural hair growth products on the web by just doing a simple search. But, when you really look into their claims you see that most of the methods have never been studied in a clinical trial setting.
The good news is there are two US FDA approved drugs that have been shown to have positive effects on hair loss. These products are predominately used to stop hair loss and keep what hair you have growing and staying healthy. They both will get some of the hair follicles that have stopped producing hair shaft material active again but in reality not a lot.
The first drug, Finasteride, was originally being developed to treat male urinary tract problems. In particular, it was targeting enlarge prostates. During clinical trials anecdotal evidence indicated many men on the drug were also seeing relief from their hair problems.
Further testing proved that this drug does help to stop hair loss and improve the health of existing hair units. Finasteride is taken in tablet form once a day every day. Treatment is ongoing because the gains are quickly lost if the drug is not longer consumed.
This drug works well for men but is not prescribed to women of child bearing age because of the potential for birth defects. It is so powerful that women are not even allowed to handle the tablets. Although effective, there are concerns about other side effects that should be looked into.
The second drug is called Minoxidil. It also was being developed to treat another condition. In this case, the drug was in trials as a treatment for high blood pressure. It works by enlarging the small blood vessels in the body.
Increasing the size of the blood vessels apparently counteracts the effects of the male and female pattern baldness and allows the follicles to continue to produce hair shaft material. The Minoxidil is applied to the scalp daily with a 5% solution for men and a 2% solution for women. This is the only drug that has been targeted to the effects of the pattern baldness condition on women.
These two drugs have been shown to be effective in the fight against hair loss. If you are a man you can use either drug but women can only use the second. The point is, there are actually remedies for hair loss that do provide results.
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