A Crop of Baldness Treatments in Works
When “artful” combing no longer hides bald spots, some men don hats or hairpieces. Others try minoxidil (Rogaine), the high-blood pressure medicine with hair-sprouting side effects.
If neither “cure” suits you, several other treatments for male-pattern baldness, or androgenetic alopecia, look promising, experts say. Unfortunately, they are not just around the corner.
Electrical stimulation of the scalp might sound like a desperate measure, but a Canadian company is just wrapping up testing of the method here and in Canada, encouraged by results of a small study published in 1990.
Once a week, men wear an inverted-bowl-like device on their heads that gently pulses electrical stimulation for about 10 minutes.
Results of the most recent study are expected late this year, says Jeff Murdock, a spokesman for Current Technology Corp. in Vancouver.
Theoretically, a balding man would undergo weekly sessions of electrical stimulation until hair growth increases, then switch to a less frequent maintenance schedule.
A local company, Chantal Pharmaceutical, is putting its money on a drug called Cyoctol. In studies conducted at UCLA, 10 of 12 men who used a higher strength of the drug twice a day for about a year had an increase in hair. It amounted to about 11% more hair than what they started with, says Chantal Burnison, the company’s chief executive officer and president. Five of 9 men who used a lower strength of the drug had hair growth. Researchers say a stronger drug might yield better results, and the company hopes to resume studies soon.
The drug works by hindering male hormones from binding with receptor sites in the scalp’s hair follicle cells, thus keeping follicle production up and running. This binding somehow affects baldness, some researchers say, but they cannot yet describe exactly how or why.
Meanwhile, a Miami dermatologist believes an enzyme deficiency may be to blame, at least in some balding men. Dr. Marty Sawaya, an assistant professor of dermatology and biochemistry at the University of Miami, measured the levels of an enzyme called aromatase in the hair follicles of 15 men and 15 women. Balding men had lower levels of this enzyme, which helps govern male hormone balance in the hair follicles.
None of the treatments described is expected on the market for at least two years.
The scope of research studies reflects differing opinions about the root of baldness. Some experts, including Dr. Harry Roth, clinical professor of dermatology at UC San Francisco School of Medicine, believe the trick is “to block the receptor site on the hair follicle that receives the testosterone molecule.”
Others suggest that the key to hair growth might be stimulation of new blood vessel growth in the scalp or other methods.
The puzzle of baldness is slowly unlocking. As bald spots spread, here’s what’s happening below, says Dr. Richard Strick, a UCLA clinical professor of dermatology who led the Cyoctol study:
“The follicle shrinks in volume, resulting in a thinner diameter. Hair spends less time in the growing phase of the cycle. It becomes finer and shorter.” Balding hair also loses pigment. “Eventually the follicle either stops production entirely or just produces a very tiny non-pigmented hair.”
On one point most researchers agree: No single treatment works for everyone.
When minoxidil was introduced as a baldness treatment in 1988, some hoped it would be a cure-all. This is not the case, as even the manufacturer acknowledges.
“Virtually half of men saw moderate hair regrowth, 36% saw minimal regrowth and 16% saw no regrowth,” says Laura Harwin, an Upjohn Co. spokeswoman, summing up results of clinical studies with more than 2,000 men.
The timing of treatment can affect outcome. Minoxidil, for instance, works best on men in their 20s or 30s who have just begun to lose hair, says Harwin, adding, “It’s not going to grow hair on someone with the head of a billiard ball.”
The expectations of balding men are often inflated, Burnison finds. “The expectation is that a baldness remedy will grow a full head of hair.” In fact, those most likely to grow hair, she says, are men who have noticed a balding problem only over the past three to five years.
