Hair Loss News

Wouldn’t it be convenient to only have to get a shot once a month and not have to remember to take Propecia every day?

That’s a possibility in the future according to this recent study.  It appears researchers in China are testing whether it’s possible to create a time-release form of finasteride, the active ingredient in Propecia.

The idea behind time-release medication is that it’s encapsulated in such a way that the drug releases into the body in a controlled fashion over an extended period of time, thereby eliminating the need to take a tablet every day.

In this test the finasteride was encapsulated in a propylene carbonate maleate plastic.    When placed into a lab testing solution, the drug was found to release continuously for a period of 5-6 weeks.

This is just an early test, but since there are already time-release drugs for birth control, it’s quite possible that in the future this type of drug delivery method will be available to users of Propecia.
 

Preparation of novel polymeric microspheres for controlled release of finasteride.

Int J Pharm. 2007 May 13.
Peng D, Huang K, Liu Y, Liu S.
College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China.

The utility of the novel polycarbonate, poly(propylene carbonate maleate) (PPCM) to encapsulate and control the release of finasteride, via microspheres, was investigated. The PPCM microspheres loaded with finasteride were elaborated by a simple oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion-solvent evaporation method. Various manufacturing parameters, including the concentration of polymer in dichloromethane (DCM) and the polymer:finasteride ratios were altered to optimize process variables during the microspheres production. The effects of these changes on the characteristics of the microspheres were examined. The structure and morphology were characterized by wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WXRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that the mean diameter of microspheres was approximately 2mum, and had both smooth and spherical surfaces. Greater encapsulation efficiency was obtained by increasing the ratios of polymer:finasteride and the concentration of PPCM in DCM. In vitro drug release of these microcapsules was performed in a pH 7.4 phosphate-buffered solution. The release profiles of finasteride from PPCM microcapsules were found to be biphasic with a burst release followed by a gradual release phase. A prolonged in vitro drug release profile was observed. After an initial burst, a continuous drug release was observed for up to 5-6 weeks.
 

PMID: 17580108 

In this medical report a 4 year-old girl was examined by doctors after suffering from hair loss for several weeks.

The medical examination appeared to show that she was healthy and had no apparent symptoms of any medical problems and she was not taking medications.   She however did drink a lot of cow’s milk.

Numerous tests were conducted including blood tests.  Everything appeared to be normal except that her zinc levels were low.  The doctors told her parents to give her a 50 mg zinc supplement daily for 6 months.

Within 3 weeks of taking it her hair loss stopped and by 4 months she showed no signs of any hair loss.

Zinc can be depleted by high stress levels and can cause hair loss as in this case. In order to get sufficient zinc in your diet some good sources are wheat germ, brewer’s yeast, pumpkin seeds, oysters, shrimps and egg yolks.  Otherwise zinc supplements are readily available.

The US recommended daily amount (RDA) of zinc is 15 mg.  Don’t overdo it because if you take too much zinc it’s also bad for you and can cause hair loss too.  The key is to take just the right amount.

While cases like this are unusual, there are some dietary deficiencies that can cause hair loss.   This is why it’s important for people to seek a medical diagnosis for their hair loss rather than self-diagnosing themselves.

• Read more: Child suffers from alopecia due to zinc deficiency

Researchers in Japan have found that chemical compounds found in cayenne peppers and soy beans stimulate hair growth.

Capsaicin - a chemical component in cayenne peppers – has been shown to increase IGF-I production in previous studies. Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) plays an important role in hair growth.  In another separate study isoflavone - a phytoestrogen found in soy beans - was also found to increase IGF-1 production.

In the study below the researchers decided to test a combination of capsaicin and isoflavone as a hair growth stimulant.
   
They first tested it on mice and gave the mice oral doses of capsaicin and isoflavone for a period of 4 weeks.   After the 4 weeks they found that the mice that had been given these chemical compounds had increased IGF-I levels in their dermal papillae of their hair follicles.

The researchers then gave it to human volunteers suffering with hair loss.   Volunteers with alopecia (hair loss) were given oral doses of capsaicin (6mg/day) and isoflavone (75mg/day) for 5 months.

After 5 months the plasma (blood) levels of IGF-I were significantly increased from baseline levels in the 31 volunteers who had taken the active ingredients, compared to the 17 volunteers who just got a placebo.

In addition, the number of volunteers with alopecia who showed promotion of hair growth at 5 months was significantly higher among volunteers administered capsaicin and isoflavone than the placebo group.

Based on this outcome the researchers concluded that combined administration of capsaicin and isoflavone might increase IGF-I production in hair follicles in the skin, thereby promoting hair growth.
 

• Read more: Capsaicin an ingredient in cayenne pepper stimulates hairgrowth

Traction alopecia is a totally preventable type of hair loss that results from hair being under constant stress.

In this study conducted in South Africa, researchers wanted to see if there is a correlation between various skin disorders and hair styles in Africans.

They evaluated both boys and girls in this study which examined 1,042 school children.

The researchers found that traction alopecia (TA) was significantly more common with relaxed than natural hair.   This appears to be a result of girls who had relaxed their hair and had pulled it into ponytails which then caused the stress on the hair.

Additionally it was found that with the girls, the number affected by TA increased with age from 8.6% of girls who had TA in the first year of school, to 21.7% having it in the last year of high school.

Based on this study it’s clear that traction alopecia is a result of hair styling choices and thus TA is easily preventable by avoiding hairstyles that put the hair under stress.

• Read more: Increase in traction alopecia is associated with relaxed hair in African children

Doctors in India tested a plant-based herbal hair growth solution on mice and found it to be effective.

The formula was derived from three herbs traditionally acclaimed for their hair growth-promoting potential.  The herbs are Cuscuta reflexa (Roxb.), Citrullus colocynthis (Schrad.), and Eclipta alba (Hassk.)

In the study they used several herbal formulations containing petroleum ether extracts of the three herbs in varying ratios and evaluated the formulations for their hair growth-promoting activity.

In tests done on mice the hair growth cycles were sped up and a greater number of hair follicles were in the anagen or growth phase from the use of the herbal formula, compared to the control solution.

They also tested it alongside 2% minoxidil and it appears it was comparable in terms of promoting hair growth in the mice.

The doctors concluded that the prepared formula holds the potential to be used as a hair loss treatment.   The actual formula with the percentage of each ingredient that yielded this result was not disclosed.

• Read more: Indian herbal hair growth formula found to be effective

Researchers in Switzerland wanted to find out if women with acne or hair loss who have normal serum levels of free testosterone can benefit from finasteride, the hair loss drug also known as Propecia.

These women had no clinical improvement from the classical treatments with antiandrogens, isotretinoids or corticosteroids.   Their hypothesis was that some of these women have an excessive activity of the enzyme 5alpha-reductase.

To test this they gave 12 patients – six of whom had acne and the other six hair loss – a daily dose of 5mg of finasteride.

The results were overwhelmingly positive, 9 of the 12 patients (75%) benefited from the treatment, their symptoms decreased significantly and they felt better psychologically than before the administration of finasteride. The other three patients did not benefit at all from finasteride and reported no change in the extent of the acne/alopecia. The treatment was generally well tolerated, and only a few adverse effects were noted.

They concluded that in these types of patients an excessive activity of the 5alpha-reductase enzyme may the root cause of acne or hair loss.   However since 25% of the patients had no change, there must also be other pathways in the development of acne and alopecia in women who have normal levels of free testosterone.

It’s important to state that women who are pregnant or may become pregnant should not be taking finasteride and neither Propecia nor Proscar has been approved for use by women in the USA.
 

• Read more: Effects of finasteride on hair loss and acne in women

It’s been well documented that using minoxidil (Rogaine) in combination with retinoic acid (Retin-A) is more effective than just using minoxidil on its own.

Koran researchers set out to determine why this is.   They used human hair follicles that were cultured in a lab to test the growth response to minoxidil and to a combination of both minoxidil and retinoic acid.

Their tests confirmed that the combination of retinoic acid and minoxidil was more effective than minoxidil on its own.

After evaluating the various cells and growth factors before and after the solution was applied they were able to determine that the combination works in two different ways.

1. Promoting the growth of cells more effectively than minoxidil alone.
2. Prolonging the lifespan of the dermal papilla and epithelial cells by preventing premature cell death.

• Read more: Promotive effect of minoxidil combined with retinoic acid on hair growth