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What Is the Best Hair Loss Treatment?

If you've ever leafed through a men's magazine (and even some women's magazines), you've almost certainly seen at least one advertisement for a product that treats hair loss. No matter what the product is, the ad will offer a myriad of reasons why the solution works, and personal accounts of how it has changed someone's life. More often than not, the claim seems too good to be true--and it usually is.

  1. Significance

    • Experts can't say this enough, but the best treatments for hair loss are always those supported by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) or the AHLA (American Hair Loss Association). Next time you see an ad claiming a cure for hair loss, look long and hard at the text. The approval of either of these organizations will definitely be missing from the fine print, which means you should just turn the page.

    Identification

    • So what is the best hair loss treatment? At this time, research has shown the greatest success in trials of a drug by the name of finasteride, a DHT blocker found in both Proscar and Propecia. Finasteride has been shown to reduce the effects of 5-alpha reductase on testosterone, which is an enzyme that basically alters this natural hormone into DHT, or dihydrotestosterone. Studies have shown that 65 percent of those men on finasteride had an increase in hair growth, some of the best numbers for any treatment plan.

    Function

    • When DHT comes into contact with the hair follicle, it essentially adheres itself to the gland. Once present, it can prevent proteins, vitamins and minerals from reaching the follicle. This will then stunt the growth of the hair until it become fine and shorter than the average hair on your head. As time progresses, the hair will eventually stop growing and you'll begin to see a "loss" in hair. Typically, the average male will not notice a thinning until he has lost close to 10,000 hairs. A DHT blocker like finasteride will theoretically stop the DHT from forming.

    Time Frame

    • For a drug like finasteride to work properly, you'll need to take 1mg once daily for a period of 3 to 4 months. This is considered the most effective time frame for both you and your doctor to determine if the drug is actually working for you. Using it for any shorter period will not give the drug a chance to get into your system and affect your hair follicles. If it doesn't show any signs of working, you'll need to move onto the next drug of choice; depending on your hair loss, that choice may be different than the next guy's.

    Warning

    • Of the men who have used finasteride, less than 1 percent experienced erectile dysfunction, as well as enlargement of the glands in the breast. These side effects are exclusive from one another, and usually disappear after the drug has been removed from the system. Pregnant women should not take or even touch finasteride, as it may lead to birth defects in the baby.

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