The ads and inflated claims are all over the place. Most of these products don't work for hair loss.
There is an endless array of useless hair-growth remedies. He said that because people are desperate, such hair growth remedies still exist.
He and other dermatologists say that there is a cheap treatment that restores hair in a lot of patients. Minoxidil is an old and well-known hair-loss treatment drug. It is being prescribed in very low-dose pills rather than being applied directly to the hair.
You can sign up for The Morning newsletter.
Although a growing group of dermatologists is offering low-dose minoxidil pills, the treatment is not well known to most patients and doctors. It isn't approved by the FDA for this purpose and so is prescribed off-label.
Dr. Adam Friedman is a professor at George Washington University. He said that doctors can try drugs off-label if they know how medicines work. It is usually clear if a treatment is helping. Is a rash still there?
The professor and chair of the department at the school agreed.
He told people that most things they do are off-label. The standard treatments for off-label conditions include skin inflammatory disorders and relentless itching.
The generic version of Minoxidil was approved for women in 1992, but it was first approved for men in 1988. It was accidental that the medicine was used as a hair-growth treatment. Patients often noticed that the minoxidil pills caused hair growth on their bodies. The manufacturer of the minoxidil lotion was able to get it approved to grow hair on bald heads.
Some patients don't like the foam or lotion and stop taking it. Hair gets in the way when it comes to getting on the head. Women stop using it because they don't like leaving sticky substance in their hair.
The current owners of Rogaine did not respond to questions.
It doesn't work for others. Minoxidil needs to be converted to an active form by the sulfotransferases in order for it to work. The drug is converted to an active form when it's taken with a pill.
The low-dose pills were found not because of that, but because of something else. The discovery took place 20 years ago.
A professor at the University of Melbourne had a patient with hair loss. She didn't like the way her hair looked. Unlike most of his patients, she developed an allergy to the drug and developed a rash on her head. Her hair would become thinner if she stopped taking it.
Sinclair explained that he was stuck. One way to desensitize a patient if they have an allergy to a medicine is to give them a low dose of it.
Sinclair attempted to cut minoxidil pills into quarters. He was surprised that the low dose made her hair grow but did not affect her blood pressure.
He lowered the dose more and more until he got to the point where he could prescribe the drug. The patient is the first to take it.
In 2015, Sinclair reported that low doses of minoxidil caused hair growth in 100 women in a row.
In order to conduct the necessary studies, some patients would be randomly assigned to take minoxidil and others a pill. That has not occurred. He said he has treated thousands of people.
A growing number of hair-loss dermatologists are giving low-dose pills to patients with male and female pattern hair loss.
It's just starting to see a surge in popularity according to a doctor. Success stories are being shared more and more at conferences.
She said that doctors who don't specialize in hair loss wouldn't know about oral minoxidil, a treatment for high blood pressure that can cause heart problems. The warning is for much higher levels.
Minoxidil won't help if hair loss is too bad. If a man is bald, it won't work. There is no restoration. The ideal patient is not completely bald but has lost a lot of hair.
The use of minoxidil pills for hair loss is not on the FDA's approved list. It is likely to stay that way.
The cost of oral minoxidil is pennies a day. There isn't much incentive to test it in a trial. The study is never going to be completed.
Some patients taking minoxidil notice stray hairs on their face and chin. Sinclair has added a drug called spironolactone, which blocks sex hormones, to try to prevent hair growth.
There are two FDA-approved products for hair growth left for patients who don't want to use the off-label option.
There is a generic medicine used to treat a benign enlarged prostrate. It's approved for men only. It has been associated with sexual problems.
There is a word of mouth about minoxidil.
He said he had seen miracles.
One of the cases involved Brandy Gray.
She said that she had lost her hair. I started having no hair. They continued to get worse and worse.
She had seen another doctor, but he didn't give her anything. She said her doctor told her there was nothing she could do to help her.
She was given a low dose of minoxidil. Her hair was thick and plentiful.
She said she could part her hair in a variety of ways. I have stopped wearing wigs.
It's as if that hair loss didn't happen.
The New York Times Company is owned by The New York Times.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
