Hair Loss Treatments
In general we can split hair growth agents into dihydrotestosterone (DHT) blockers, also called antinandrogens, and hair growth stimulants. Considering methods of application, they can be divided into oral treatments, topicals and others, such as LaserComb. And lastly, hair growth agents can be broken into medicinal treatments and natural treatments.
Current antiandrogen modes of action include (a) preventing the creation of DHT, (b) preventing DHT from binding to the receptor site and (c) blocking activity in the androgen receptor itself. The best known drug amongst DHT blockers is finasteride (Propecia). It is often described as a 5-alpha reductase inhibitor and its selective action blocks only the effects of DHT and not the effects of testosterone. 5-alpha reductase inhibitor properties are currently attributed to far too many substances, though only few of them work at the level of hair follicles. Some antiandrogens, such as finasteride, are only used in men and some, such as spironolactone, only in women.
Hair growth stimulants can also work by different modes of action. Some are said to directly stimulate epithelial growth of hair follicles, some counteract the hardening of the hair follicles but the exact mechanism is not known. The common denominator for products in this category is to increase the length of the hair growth cycle, thus improving the ratio of hair in the growth phase and to increase the diameter of each hair. The best known representative of this category of hair loss treatments is minoxidil.
Natural treatments are often presented by their marketers as being superior to medicinal treatments in terms of their efficacy and safety. The fact is that too many nutritional/herbal remedies make bold claims but none of them has ever been clinically tested for treating hair loss and their side effects are usually unknown. Caution is advised for any nutritional/herbal supplement you decide to take to treat your hair loss. For many, like those mentioned on this website, they may not hurt you, but their efficacy in treating baldness is far from guaranteed. The only proven products for treating baldness are medicinal treatments. Natural products are only sold as cosmetics. FDA approval is often referred to as a stamp of quality and safety not only in the US but worldwide. The fact is that the only FDA approved hair loss cures to date are two medicinal treatments (minoxidil and finasteride) and the recently approved LaserComb. Minoxidil and finasteride have been approved by the equivalent health authorities in many other countries of the world.
Greyhairloss.com brings you unbiased and unsponsored reviews of the best-known hair loss cures. This section presents a basic assessment of the potency of active substances used in commercial hair loss products. You can use it as a point of reference in your own research of the potency of commercial cures. Please refer to the blog to read reviews of commercial hair loss remedies. You are invited to rate and write a review on any commercial product examined on the blog.