The Best Medicinal Treatment Options Available - A Discussion


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Medicinal Treatments For Hair Loss

Baldness evokes different reactions in different people, but one reaction is common - everyone is looking for that miraculous cure that will solve their problem permanently. "Miracle" is far too heavy a word for any hair loss treatment, but yes, some treatments are available.

Baldness evokes different reactions in different people, but one reaction is common - everyone is looking for that miraculous cure that will solve their problem permanently. "Miracle" is far too heavy a word for any hair loss treatment, but yes, some treatments are available.

  • Hair loss, behind which the causes are chemotherapy or some serious chronic illnesses, can be treated by some medications like minoxidil. But it is a very slow process.
  • Hair loss or balding occurring due to side effects of some medications, might be reversed if the medication is discontinued. Of course if the medication continues, the hair loss will persist.
  • Balding occurring due to infection can be cured fully by medication against the infection.
  • Inflammatory conditions like alopecia areata hair loss can be treated with drugs that suppress immune actions.
All the above kinds of hair loss are fairly uncommon causes of hair loss. In the case of pattern baldness the following medications are seen to work with various degrees of success.


Minoxidil
Minoxidil or Rogaine (in Europe it is called Regaine), a vasodilator drug, applied twice a day topically to the scalp has been shown to promote hair growth in about 25% of men and women. This is quite effective treatment for hair loss but it may take several months to work.

This medicine is available over the counter in countries like the USA and UK but you need to be patient if you want to see results with this drug. The new growth, seen mostly on the top of the head, not at the hairline, is soft, downy and barely visible initially. With continued use, this new hair may become the same color and thickness as the rest of the hair.

How and why Minoxidil works is not clearly known. It is certainly not the vasodialating effect, as other vasodialators have failed to spur new hair growth in clinical research trials.

And yes if you stop applying it, the re-growth will disappear after three to four months, and the balding process will kick-in again.

So far as the side effects are concerned, most people will report no more than skin irritation. But since it is a vasodilator, people with heart conditions might complain of dizziness and increased heart rate. These kinds of people should consult with their doctors before starting to apply Minoxidil.


Finasteride
Finasteride (also called Proscar or Propecia), an azasteroid restores hair growth by acting as a dihydrotestosterone (DHT) inhibitor. This treatment for hair loss is prescribed only to men.

DHT harms hair follicles and is major cause of male pattern baldness. Finasteride actually hampers the production of DHT in hair follicles by blocking the production of 5-alpha-reductase, the enzyme responsible for the conversion of free testosterone to DHT.

Finasteride is prescribed (it is not an over-the-counter drug and a doctor's prescription is necessary to purchase it) to be taken as a daily dosage of one tablet, with or without food.

Finasteride is found to be effective in about 80 per cent of men, though it may take three to six months of treatment before seeing any noticeable results. Also, its continuous use is necessary to enjoy re-growth. If discontinued, the re-growth will disappear in about 9 to 12 months.

The reported side effects are sexual problems such as a decrease in sex drive and temporary impotence. However these issues are rare and even when they do occur they tend to go away even with continued use of the drug.

To reiterate it is officially NOT for women, not even in small parts or the active ingredient might cause feminization of a male fetus in pregnancy.


Dutasteride
Dutasteride, a dual 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor (just like Finasteride, only more potent) otherwise used in the treatment of symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in men with an enlarged prostate was found to be about 1.5 times as effective as finasteride for hair re-growth.

It is taken in capsule form and has shown dramatic success in restoring hair to bald men in trials. It works just like Finasteride by hampering the production of DHT in hair follicles by blocking the production of 5-alpha-reductase, the enzyme responsible for the conversion of free testosterone to DHT.

These are the major drugs prescribed by the doctors to treat male pattern baldness and in case of Minoxidil or Rogaine to both kinds of pattern hair loss. There are some other drugs such as Saw palmetto (a herbal DHT inhibitor), and copper peptides (applied topically to the scalp, acts by shortening the resting phase of hair follicles) which have been used by some doctors, but they are not so common as the drugs discussed above.