Female Pattern Baldness
Introduction
Androgenetic alopecia or female pattern baldness, affects over 30 million women today. But today women can take action to stop their hair loss and even re-grow their hair caused by female pattern baldness. The drug Minoxidil is the most effective drug on the market today that can stop the effects of female pattern baldness.
The drug discovered in the 1980s has proven to be very effective when applied to the scalp with a 2% solution.
So what is it and how does it work?
Minoxidil
Minoxidil was first used in the 1970s to help people control hypertension or high blood pressure. It was then discovered that people using Minoxidil to control their blood pressure, also grew hair in places where there was no hair.
Researchers decided to further study the effects Minoxidil had on re-growing hair. They took the drug Minoxidil and made a solution out of it. They then applied it to bald spots on men and women who were suffering from male or female pattern baldness.
They found that using the 2% solution of Minoxidil, applied directly to the bald spots, actually re-grew hair. In the 1990s the Federal Drug Administration approved Minoxidil for use by women to stop hair loss and re-grow hair caused by male and female pattern baldness.
This drug has been touted as being the closest thing yet to stopping female pattern baldness.
How Does It Work?
Though the exact method on how Minoxidil works is not fully known, we do know that it is classified as a vasodilator. A vasodilator is a drug that causes dilation of the blood vessels, thus more blood gets to the scalp and hair follicles. This allows for more nutrients and oxygen to be delivered.
It is believed that having more nutrients and oxygen being delivered to the hair follicles causes the follicles to come out of their resting phase and go into their growth cycle.
It is also believed that Minoxidil helps promote cell division particularly by the hair follicle. This then provides more protein, called keratin, to the hair strand.
If you have female pattern baldness, you are probably beyond menopause and have low estrogen levels. If this is your case, Minoxidil and estrogen supplements have been shown to work well together in preventing hair loss and re-growing hair.
Conclusion
Minoxidil is the only proven and effective way for women to stop hair loss and re-grow hair caused by female pattern baldness.
