Minoxidil For Hair Loss. What Is Minoxidil And Does It Work?
Author: Peter Clark Date posted: Oct 25, 2009 Article views: 81 Wordcount: 631 Ezine Ready
If you suffer from hair loss you may have heard of minoxidil. Minoxidil is a treatment for both men and women suffering from some degree of thinning hair, usually because they are experiencing the genetic condition known as pattern baldness. Male pattern baldness and female pattern baldness are the causes of the vast degree of thinning hair in men and women and minoxidil is the only treatment approved for use by women.
There are a range of reasons for women's hair loss or men's hair loss. For example women can experience some degree of thinning hair or even dramatic hair loss following childbirth. This reverses later on. Inadequate diet can cause thinning hair in men and women because the health of your hair is as dependent upon an adequate supply of nutrients as is the health of your other organs. Just as we can get sick from the American diet too high in processed foods, red meat, salt and sugar and low in vitamins and minerals our hair can also get sick and start to fall out.
And there are more reasons for men's and women's hair loss. For example hair loss, particularly hair thinning in patches or falling out very fast, can be a symptom of an underlying medical problem. For this reason if you experience sudden hair loss should visit your doctor.
However the vast majority of cases of balding in women and men is as a result of male pattern baldness or female pattern baldness. This is known technically as androgenetic alopecia and is an inherited condition. Those susceptible to it, estimated to be 4 in 7 men and one in 4 women, suffer from hair loss as a result of the actions of a hormone called DHT (dihydrotestosterone) which slowly affects the ability of the hair follicle to take up nutrients in adequate amounts. This leads to the hair follicle shrinking and the hair thinning and prematurely dying.
There is one product approved as a hair loss treatment by the FDA for men and women. This is topical minoxidil. Minoxidil was originally a treatment for high blood pressure but it was also found to increase hair growth and for this reason studies commenced on the use of topical minoxidil for hair restoration. Studies found that minoxidil does work as a balding treatment but of course like all of these things it does not work for everybody, and in fact there is no hair loss product that works for everybody.
Whilst there are 2 products approved as balding treatments for men, minoxidil is the only treatment approved for women's hair loss. Minoxidil extra strength (5% minoxidil) is approved for men but not for women.
It is not fully understood how minoxidil works to restore hair growth however it is thought that minoxidil effects the ability of the hair follicle to take up nutrients by supplying more blood to the follicle. Logically it follows that if the follicle has an improved blood supply it can take up more nutrients but only if those nutrients are available. One company has recognized the possibilities in this approach and has provided a total proprietary hair restoration product combining the use of minoxidil with a range of essential hair nutrients to maximize the possibility that the hair will be able to restore itself to full health and regrow successfully.
Minoxidil does indeed work to restore hair growth, but as mentioned it does not work for everybody. However if you are concerned about the possibility of advancing baldness it's important to get onto the problem early and one of the best ways to do is is to use a product that supplies not only minoxidil but also a range of essential hair nutrients to maximize the possibility that your hair will regrow successfully.
