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Minoxidil simply extends the anagen (growth) stage of the hair follicles by strengthening them and improving blood flow to the scalp. If your head was a bathtu
by KMnO4 3y ago
Minoxidil simply extends the anagen (growth) stage of the hair follicles by strengthening them and improving blood flow to the scalp.
If your head was a bathtub, this would be like turning up the tap.
However, male pattern baldness (androgenic alopecia) is usually caused by the hormone DHT, which is a byproduct of testosterone. DHT can shrink hair follicles causing hair loss, and that’s primarily what you’re fighting against.
You can help prevent testosterone from being converted to DHT by inhibiting the enzyme 5-alpha-reductase. The typical prescription for this is 1.25mg of finasteride, taken orally.
Back to the bathtub analogy, this would be like putting in the plug.
When taken together, this treatment is fairly effective for most people, although side effects can be somewhat common with finasteride (eg low libido) so do more research if you go down this route.
- xchip 3y agoI am not asking how it works, I am more discussing the numbers they report, cuantitatively, and they report 18 new hairs after 48 weeks. I find this increase ridiculous, not sure why it is so extended the idea that it is effective.
- KMnO4 3y agoYou need to understand how it works if you want to analyze the numbers. If your pool had a hole in it and you saw the water level slightly go up, you would conclude that the water flowing in must have been slightly faster than the water leaking out. Now imagine if you patched the hole. I would recommend comparing with a study with both minoxidil and a 5a-reductase inhibitor.
- xchip 3y agoSorry, I am not following you. I don't think we need to understand the details of how it works to conclude the ROI is ridiculous.