Regaine hair

Regaine hair

Minoxidil was the first ‘main stream’ medication for hair loss and has proven an enormous help for many. It was originally developed as an anti-hypertensive i.e. it lowers blood pressure. It was taken for blood pressure in tablet form known as Loniten. As a side effect however, certain patients reported increase in hair growth. The pharmaceutical company who had developed minoxidil then conducted clinical trials using a topical lotion and from those trials minoxidil 2% (known as Regaine) was produced as a treatment for hair loss.

Male pattern baldness (MPB) is principally caused by two main factors - possibly assisted by some other more minor ones. The two factors are: Presence of a substance called Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in the vicinity of the hair roots. This substance is produced from the male hormone testosterone by the action of a particular enzyme called 5-alpha reductase. Inherited genetic information. When a man inherits the necessary gene for some of his hair roots to become susceptible to attack by DHT he will lose hair. MPB therefore has nothing to do with the amount of male hormone a man has - merely the fact that he has any at all is enough to cause the hair loss provided he has also inherited the necessary genetic detail. Only those hair roots which have been programmed will be attacked by DHT. Normally these will be somewhere through the top region of the scalp with at least those hair roots around the sides and back of the scalp not being susceptible to attack by DHT. Hence, many men are left with a ‘monks fringe’ of hair at the sides and back. The chart below outlines the normal progression of male pattern baldness:

Regaine Dht Hormone treatments hair loss Serena repens Hair treatments