Hairloss PI

Posts Tagged ‘hairloss’

Before the introduction of cutting-edge hair loss medications like Rogaine and Propecia; before the development of state-of-the-art hair transplant surgery; the only available hair loss treatments were soaps, sprays and tonics pandered by the likes of questionable snake-oil salesmen to the embarrassed, balding masses.

Fortunately, along with today's wave of hair loss surgery options and prescription medications, newer, more effective hair loss shampoos, conditioners, foams and lotions have also emerged—to help manage receding hair lines on a day-to-day basis. But what makes today's hair loss shampoos and topicals any more effective than the mysterious hair loss potions of the past? To find out more about these treatments' active ingredients and how exactly they can assist with premature hair loss or thinning hair, we've compiled a list of five of today's most popular hair loss shampoos*.

Important Note: Before reading this list, please be aware that no shampoos currently available are FDA approved as a treatment for Male Pattern Baldness.  If a hair follicle has become inactive, no topical shampoo will be able to reverse that; what certain shampoos and treatments can do for hair loss patients is to cosmetically conceal the early signs of hair thinning.

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I'm thinning. Such a dramatic realisation hit me like a cold shower in December: unwelcome and harsh. It's the painful ill fortune of such calamity, a stark and unforgiving tale of life.

Why me? I question, as I awaken hunched under the falling water that is my life, why must someone so young endure such hardship?

It saw me through my teenage years: a canvas of expression. Atop my sullen teenage face, tired and loathing, was a dark mop of mouldable wonder - I used to spend hours straightening it, waxing it, sculpting it, caressing it. Now, I cannot: my hair is slowly diminishing.

At the tender age of 22, I am the cold recipient of 'male pattern baldness', and I'm far, far too young to have to deal with a hairless life, too young to accept or acknowledge the suitably stereotyped 30-plus catastrophe.

Scouring the web for information on how to stop this disastrous loss has proven to be a burden - and a horrible way to spend an evening. Typing 'baldness prevention' into Google did not provide good news.

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Smoking may be associated with age-related hair loss among Asian men, according to a report in the Archives of Dermatology.

"Androgenetic alopecia, a hereditary androgen-dependent disorder, is characterized by progressive thinning of the scalp hair defined by various patterns," the authors write as background information in the article. "It is the most common type of hair loss in men." Although risk for the condition is largely genetic, some environmental factors also may play a role.

Lin-Hui Su, M.D., M.Sc., of the Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, and Tony Hsiu-Hsi Chen, D.D.S., Ph.D., of National Taiwan University, Taipei, surveyed 740 Taiwanese men age 40 to 91 (average age 65) in 2005.

At an in-person interview, the men reported information about smoking, other risk factors for hair loss and if they had alopecia, the age at which they began losing their hair. Clinical classifications were used to assess their degree of hair loss, their height and weight were measured and blood samples were provided for analysis.

The men's risk for hair loss increased with advancing age, but remained lower than the average risk among white men. "After controlling for age and family history, statistically significant positive associations were noted between moderate or severe androgenetic alopecia and smoking status, current cigarette smoking of 20 cigarettes or more per day and smoking intensity," the authors write.

This association could be caused by several mechanisms, they note. Smoking may destroy hair follicles, damage the papilla that circulate blood and hormones to stimulate hair growth or increase production of the hormone estrogen, which may counter the effects of androgen.

"Patients with early-onset androgenetic alopecia should receive advice early to prevent more advanced progression," the authors conclude.

Journal reference: Arch Dermatol. 2007;143(11):1401-1406.