Minoxidil – Does It Work?

Like many medicines, Minoxidil doesn’t have a particularly pleasing name that just rolls off the tongue.

However, for large numbers of people it has been a real hope and inspiration in that it actually represents that great rarity – a licensed treatment for thinning hair.

To understand what it is and what it does (the exact ‘how it does it’ is by no means clear), let’s have a look at the history here.

Pattern baldness

There are many known causes of hair loss and even more that remain speculative.

This article is going to refer only to that condition known as pattern baldness – something that affects males and females.

Causes of hair loss relating to illness, medical treatments, vitamin deficiencies, pregnancy, stress and the environment, won’t be considered further here.

Pattern baldness affects large numbers of men and women. Differentiations by sex are possible though it must be cautioned that they are statistical and may not apply in your individual circumstances:

• Men tend to be affected at an earlier age, the pattern of progression is different to that of women and the effects are often a little more profound in terms of total appearance;
• Women’s hair loss and thinning may be a little more evenly distributed across the head meaning fewer obvious totally bald patches – though their hair may recede;
• The condition may stabilize in women more frequently than is the case in males;
• Women may see a spurt in progression around and after the menopause.

The medical name for this problem is androgenic alopecia.

The causes

This is still subject to intensive study, debate and sometimes, heated argument!

Many researchers are now suggesting:

• The causes are most likely to be a combination of genes and hormonal in origin – coupled with age in a way not yet understood;
• The causes in women may be more complicated and not necessarily the same as for men (though probably related in principle).

The cause in males is typically ascribed as being probably due to the effects of testosterone when converted to dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT has a proven negative effect on the follicles and hair production.

This may or may not be exacerbated by a genetic predisposition to hair loss.

In females, the same causal agents are presumed to apply but this is complicated by the female’s estrogen sex hormone, which is known to promote hair growth.

It is the drastic reduction of estrogen levels after pregnancy and again in the run-up to the menopause, that may change the female’s hormonal balances with a greater preponderance of male sex hormones leading to an increased risk of pattern baldness.

Some experts argue that this complication justifies calling the condition in women affected by these hormonal changes ‘estrogenic alopecia’ to differentiate it from the typically slightly simpler (though just as little understood in totality) condition in men.

There remain, however, many mysteries and contra-indications. For example, the time in life (youth) when male sex hormones may be at their highest, may also be the time least likely to commence pattern baldness. Some women also commence hair loss during pregnancy when estrogen levels are at their highest.

Minoxidil

Minoxidil is one of only two drugs (the only one for women) formally licensed by the FDA for the treatment of pattern baldness.

Discovered quite by chance as a side effect of another treatment regime, it is also marketed under many various trade names around the world – usually in concentrations of 2% for women and 5% for men. In many countries it is now available over-the-counter from a professional pharmacist.

The good news is that it is proven to be effective in a fair percentage of cases but there are some caveats to that:

• Figures vary, but some argue it is only effective in around one-third of patients;
• Of that third, only perhaps one half will see significant improvement – the other half may see some fine downy growth that may not be satisfactory (subject to personal expectations);
• The mechanisms behind its effects are, once again, not entirely understood – something that may concern some;
• If you obtain benefit, you may have to continue to use it for your lifetime as the improvements are lost relatively quickly if you discontinue use.

However, whatever the shortcomings, Minoxidil may offer hope to the many millions that suffer from this condition.