Hair loss treatment

Given the currently available treatment options it appears that the premature graying process cannot be reversed. There is no scientific evidence that any existing medicine, herb, dietary supplement or natural substance can prevent or reverse graying hair. Several cosmetics and pharmaceuticals firms are working on the discovery of the ultimate cure for gray hair but no satisfactory solution is commercially available yet.

Premature gray hair is often associated with excessive stress, sudden trauma, bad diet, vitamin B deficiency, thyroid problems and smoking. The fact is, however, that the number one cause for premature graying hair is genetics. The pigment that determines the color of our hair is produced by special cells at the root of our hair called melanocytes. It is the lifespan of these cells that determines the onset of the graying process. Once melanocytes die, the hair turns white.

There is no fundamental difference between a premature and a normal, age-related greying process. It is by virtue of nature that some people will experience their first white hair in their teens and turn completely white in their early thirties, while others will keep their original hair colour for many decades. If more than 50% of a person’s hair is white by the age of 40, it is considered premature.

There are several commercial products out there that claim to be able to rejuvenate the dead pigment-producing cells and reverse grey hair. Such claims, however, are utterly unsubstantiated. The sad truth is that at this point in time no proven remedy exists that can reverse the greying process. Most of the anti-grey hair products either use Fo-Ti, referring to the centuries old legend of Mr He, who recovered his original hair colour, youthful appearance and vitality thanks to this traditional Chinese medicinal herb, also known as He Shou Wu or use vitamins B (mostly PABA and folic acid) as their main active ingredients, since some forms of premature greying are said to be caused by vitamin B deficiency. However, such products are ineffective for the majority of grey hair sufferers.

Thus, the only option for treating premature gray hair that seems to deliver guaranteed results is to cover grey hair. Women use various types of permanent, semi-permanent and demi-permanent hair dyes but men usually prefer a subtle and less noticeable change in their hair color that does not cover all their gray. Such products are usually called progressive hair colorants. It is obvious that none of these products can make the dead cells produce pigmented hair and thus they must be used continuously to cover the gray of fresh hair. Although there are some natural hair dyes that claim to effectively cover your gray hair, the products that really work well all use certain chemical substances. When deciding about hair dyes or progressive hair colorants, you should always consider the potential health risks, as most of them contain chemicals 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 product and follow the application guidelines in order to minimise exposure to aggressive chemical substances.

Men have been seeking an ultimate cure for hereditary hair loss for thousands of years but until very recently all available cures were either simple cosmetic cover-ups or unsophisticated supplement pills and herbal lotions, with many of them just being scams. It was only with the advent of finasteride and minoxidil and improvements made in hair transplantation 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 ultimate cure for hereditary hair loss exists. There are presently several promising drugs and surgical techniques under development but none of these new therapies is expected to hit the market before 2011.

NEOSH101 is being developed by the US company 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 applying once daily. Though significantly improving the current hair loss treatment options, NEOSH101 is not going to become an ultimate cure for hereditary hair loss. The clinical testing seems to be advancing slower than most hair loss sufferers would like and, hence, do not hold your breath for it hitting the market anytime soon. NEOSH101 is mainly expected to replace minoxidil and other currently available hair growth stimulants.

Another promising field 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 helps maintain the genomic integrity. Shortened telomeres are associated with the premature aging processes. However, the uncontrolled activation of telomerase can cause cancer growth. 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 hereditary hair loss and gray hair. Although still under development, there are already some products commercially available that seek to emulate the mechanism of telomerase action but they have no scientific backing and should be avoided. Telomerase research could really change the world of medicine but its commercial application might be a good decade away.

Hair multiplication, often called hair cloning, is the next hopeful treatment approach being developed. 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. Among several teams of scientists on three continents researching hair multiplication, the UK healthcare company 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 own dermal papilla cells) in March 2008 and they were quite positive. The next release is expected in Q4 2008. 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 hair follicles in wounds of hair-free skin is a completely new approach to regrowing lost 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 approach may sound weird it only uses common instruments and drugs that have already been medically approved and thus it might not take too long for it to become available.

This is the list of only a few promising treatment options for hereditary hair loss 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.

The most frequently prescribed treatments for hereditary pattern baldness by dermatologists and hair loss clinics around the world 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 shampoos, such as Nizoral, and a laser comb. But very few dermatologists and hair loss clinics will recommend their patients 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 much convinced about the effectiveness of their product as to offer you a full money back guarantee. Or is it a catch?

First, one needs to differentiate between medical practice and the pharmaceutical industry on one hand and the cosmetics industry on the other. The medicinal and pharmaceuticals areas are strictly regulated in almost every country in the world, ensuring patient safety. Doctors can only 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 remedy, they will be taking the risk of supporting 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.

Although some of the active ingredients in natural, hair loss products may pose a health risk, such as saw palmetto, despite the common belief that they are safe, this is not their main controversy. The principal question is whether the natural, hair loss remedies are effective in treating baldness. They might be effective to a certain degree since many of them contain generic minoxidil, the only existing, clinically-proven and FDA-approved, topical medicine for treating hereditary hair loss. 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 hair loss and thus their effectiveness and mechanism of action are 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. 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. This is the way some natural hair loss product manufacturers make their money.

In summary, no natural hair loss remedy has ever been clinically proven and independently verified to 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.