New Hair Loss Medication for Improved Results

It always used to be the case that hair loss medication was pretty much of an anathema – a palliative prescribed to sufferers from various hair loss conditions in the hope that some of it might take. This is no longer true. Significant advances in the science of hair loss therapy by means other than transplant have identified a couple of areas where man made chemical application can either stimulate the growth of new hair or significantly retard the loss of original hair.

Much of this science has to do with male hormones, which are usually the causes of hair loss in the first place. Testosterone, the male growth hormone, converts naturally to a substance known as DHT (dihydrotestosterone) – the major culprit for all types of hereditary balding. Once the scalp starts to produce DHT the hair falls out – so modern hair loss medication concentrates on inhibiting the conversion of normal testosterone to DHT on the understanding that this should slow down the balding process. It should be noted that in most cases DHT inhibitors cannot promote hair re-growth (though if the process is arrested early enough, they can): but they do stop the march of balding for a significant period of time. Medication containing DHT inhibitors is ideal for people who find themselves going bald at an early age and wish to arrest the process without recourse to the more drastic solution of hair replacement surgery.

Hair loss medication works best on the crown of the head and has little or no success in restoring hair growth at the forehead area of the hair line. There’s no clear evidence to support theories trying to explain this phenomenon, not that it matters over much: the effect is known and there seems to be nothing that medication can do to halt hair loss in this area. Patients experiencing severely receding hair lines are advised to try hair replacement surgery treatments rather than medications.  

There is some mythology surrounding the use of diet in replacing hair, or slowing down hair loss. In general terms, this simply isn’t true. The only situations in which particular food groups, types or diets can aid hair growth regeneration are those in which the patient has lost hair as the result of an illness or dietary choice that can be reversed through eating particular foods. In these cases, some food types do qualify as hair loss medication: as a general rule, though, it’s DHT inhibitors, surgery, or nothing. 

As with hair replacement therapy, which has come a very long way since its first use all those years ago, medication to halt or reverse hair loss is now a definitely viable option. That’s great news for patients who do not wish to go as far as having hair transplants.